The Atlas V was a Belgian tug boat which was armed by resistance forces under the command of Jules Hentjens during the First World War. On the night of 3 and 4 January, 1917, the boat arrived in The Netherlands with 107 people aboard, from Liege, Belgium, which was occupied by German troops.

Context

Belgium had been invaded in August 1914 by German troops, and Liege, except for the strengthened belt of Liege, was taken following this. Only the North-West of the country was still under Belgian rule, and under command of King Albert.

Many Belgians sought to join the still active Belgian army. Others attempted to escape the country. For the inhabitants of Liège, this was generally done via Maastricht

Maastricht

Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...

, in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, who were neutral. The city was only 30 kilometres from the Dutch border.

Specifications

Some of the technical specifications include:

• length: 23.5 metres
• width: 5.5 metres
• height: 3.5 metres
• power: 35 HP

Escape

The Atlas V arrived at about midnight, at the beginning of Coronmeuse, on the left bank in the north of the city. It was carried by the current, passing through the populated localities of Herstal

Herstal

Herstal, formerly known as Heristal, or Héristal, is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege along the Meuse river. Herstal is included in the "Greater Liège" agglomeration, which counts about 600,000 inhabitants...

 and Jupille

Jupille

Jupille is a former Belgian municipality. It is now a part of the city of Liège.Jupille is the location of the brewery Piedbœuf , where Jupiler is made. It is also the death place of Pepin of Herstal...

 without encumberment. The boat was discovered only near Argenteau/Hermalle-under-Argenteau, and attacked by a car-boat. This sank in its wake. The Atlas V then proceeded at 45 km/h, and encountered heavy fire all along the river, lit by powerful lights. Later, the tug boat broke the railway bridge downstream of Visé

Visé

Visé is a Walloon municipality and city of Belgium, where it is located on the river Meuse, in the province of Liège.The municipality consists of the former municipalities of Visé, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle, Argenteau and Cheratte....

, then tore off the electrified chain and wire which barred the river. It ran into a pontoon armed with machine-guns and escaped from intense fire. It approached the right bank of the Meuse

Meuse

Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

 at Eisden in the Netherlands (opposite Ében-Émael) around one in the morning, with the sound of Brabançonne and Belgian flag to the wind.

The boat was recovered by its owner in Liege 4 days later.

The family of Jules Hentjens, suspected of assisting in the escape, were arrested and given long prison sentences.