door In these turbulent times, the exchange of prisoners of war is a recurring phenomenon—between Ukraine and Russia, and between Gaza and Israel.
Prisoner exchanges also took place during the First World War. One vessel used for this purpose was the paddle steamer Koningin Regentes.
The Koningin Regentes was owned by the Zeeland Steamship Company and was built in Scotland in 1895. It originally served as a ferry between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
During the First World War, the ship was converted into a hospital ship and used to transport prisoners of war between Boston, Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom and Rotterdam.
On 6 June 1918, while returning to Rotterdam, the ship was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-107. Seven crew members lost their lives.
A postcard featuring the ship was sent from Rotterdam to Germany by a German prisoner of war. The postmark is dated 15 May 1918, making it one of the ship’s final voyages.
