SS Athenia
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The S.S. Athenia was the first British ship to be sunk by Germany in World War II.
Athenia was built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd., and was launched at Govan, Scotland in 1923. She was built for Anchor-Donaldson Ltd.'s route between Britain and Canada. For most of her career she sailed between either Glasgow or Liverpool, and Quebec and Montreal. During the height of winter, she operated as a cruise ship. After 1935, her owners became the Donaldson Atlantic Line Ltd.
Athenia displaced 13,465 tons, was 526.3 feet long and had a 66.4 foot beam (160.4m x 20.2m). She had two masts and a single funnel. She carried 516 cabin class passengers and an additional 1,000 in 3rd class. She was a twin screw vessel powered by steam turbines, with a top speed of 15 knots.
On September 3, 1939, just hours after Britain declared war on Germany, U-boat U-30 (Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp) sank Athenia, mistaking her for an armed merchant cruiser. The ship had departed from Liverpool that day and U-30 sighted her 250 miles northwest of Inishtrahull, Ireland, and fired two torpedoes into Athenia's hull without warning. This was despite the fact U-boats were to be operating under prize rules that obliged them to stop and search potential targets and allow passengers and crew to abandon ship before sinking their vessel. The 13,500 ton passenger liner was carrying 1,103 civilians from Glasgow to Montreal, including more than 300 Americans, which led to German fears the incident would bring the US into the war. 112 passengers and crew were killed, including 28 Americans. Most of the fataltiies were caused by a botched rescue attempt. One of the lifeboats was crushed in the propeller of a freighter that took part in the collection of survivors. Since the torpedoing of the Athenia without warning violated the rules of war then in force, Hitler ordered evidence of it suppressed, and Lemp's log was rewritten.
Several ships, including HMS Electra, the American tanker S.S. City Of Flint, and others, raced to the site of the attack. The captain of Electra, Lt Cdr Sammy A. Buss, was Senior Officer Present, so he took charge. He sent the destroyer HMS Fame on an anti-submarine sweep of the area, while Electra, another destroyer, HMS Escort, the Swedish yacht Southern Cross, the Norwegian cargo ship MS Knute Nelson, and the City of Flint rescued the survivors. Between them, about 980 passengers and crew were rescued. Athenia sank the next morning.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Lincoln P. Paine, Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia
- LCDR Timothy J. Cain, HMS Electra (Frederick Miller, LTD, London, 1959), ISBN 0-86007-330-0
