This 2718 ton steamship was built at Swan Hunter’s of Newcastle and launched in September 1903 under the name Ehrenfels. Her dimensions were 375.1' x 50.5' x 27.4'.
She appears to have had a relatively uneventful seagoing career until the night of the 16/17th of January 1943. The Ostende was on passage from New York to Liverpool with a cargo of war supplies which included munitions. At 12.51 a.m. she suffered a mystery explosion in the area of her bow and started taking on water. Her captain could not be certain what caused the damage to his ship as he did not see any signs of a mine or torpedo. Within minutes, No. 1 hold was 18 feet deep in water and the captain, doubtful of how long the bulkhead between No.1 and No. 2 hold would stand, decided to try and beach the ship in order to save her.
At the time of the explosion, the Ostende was 9.5 miles west of Skerryvore lighthouse but she swiftly diverted to the more sheltered waters of Loch na Lathaich near the village of Bunessan to await salvage and repair. On the night of the 20th January however fire broke out resulting in a devastating detonation of some of her cargo of ammunition resulting in the destruction of the Ostende and the drifter Lydia Long that was tied alongside her.
Two members of the Ostende’s 48 strong crew died in the ensuring inferno. Indeed many of the buildings surrounding the Loch were apparently damaged by the sheer force of the huge explosions that resulted from the fire igniting some of the munitions cargo. Wreckage from the Ostende was even flung high onto the surrounding hills and can still be found littering the surrounding hills overlooking the bay.
The Ostende was heavily salvaged by the Royal Navy after the war.
