SS ''Athenia'' was a steam turbine

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...

passenger liner built in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland in 1923 for the Anchor-Donaldson Line, which later became the Donaldson Atlantic Line. She worked between the United Kingdom and the east coast of Canada until 3 September 1939, when a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

from the German

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

sank her in the Western Approaches. ''Athenia'' was the first UK ship to be sunk by Germany during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and the incident accounted for the Donaldson Line's greatest single loss of life at sea, with 117 civilian passengers and crew killed. The sinking was condemned as a war crime. Among those dead were 28 US citizens, causing Germany to fear that the US might join the war on the side of the UK and France. Wartime German authorities denied that one of their vessels had sunk the ship. An admission of responsibility did not come from German authorities until 1946. She was the second Donaldson ship of that name to be torpedoed and sunk off

Inishtrahull Inishtrahull ( ga, Inis Trá Tholl, possibly "island of the empty beach" or "island of the yonder beach") is the most northerly island of Ireland. It has an area of and lies about northeast of Malin Head, County Donegal. The most northerly ...

by a German submarine. The earlier was similarly attacked and sunk in 1917.

Construction

The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

in Glasgow built ''Athenia'', launching her on 28 January 1922 and completing her in 1923. She measured and , was long between perpendiculars by

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

and had a depth of . She had six steam turbines driving twin

screws A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

via double reduction gearing, giving her a speed of . She had capacity for 516 cabin class passengers and 1,000 in 3rd class. By 1930 her navigation equipment included wireless direction finding, and by 1934 this had been augmented with an

echo sounding Echo sounding or depth sounding is the use of sonar for ranging, normally to determine the depth of water (bathymetry). It involves transmitting acoustic waves into water and recording the time interval between emission and return of a pulse; ...

device and a gyrocompass.

Career

''Athenia'' was built for Anchor-Donaldson Line, which was a joint venture between Anchor Line and Donaldson Line. Fairfield built a

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, , which was launched in October 1924 and was completed in 1925. ''Athenia'' and ''Letitia'' were the two largest ships in Donaldson's various fleets. The ships worked Anchor-Donaldson's trans-Atlantic route linking

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

with

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in summer and to Halifax in winter. After the construction of the

Pier 21 Pier 21 was an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nearly one million immigrants came to Canada through Pier 21, and it is the last surviving seaport immigration facility in Canada. The fac ...

immigration complex in Halifax in 1928, ''Athenia'' became a more frequent caller at Halifax, making over 100 trips to Halifax with immigrants. In 1935 Anchor Line went into liquidation and Donaldson Line bought most of its assets. In 1936 Donaldson was reconstituted as Donaldson Atlantic Line.

Loss

On 1 September 1939 ''Athenia'', commanded by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

James Cook, left Glasgow for Montreal via Liverpool and

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. She carried 1,103 passengers, including about 500 Jewish refugees, 469 Canadians, 311 US citizens and 72 UK subjects, and 315 crew. Despite clear indications that war would break out any day, she departed Liverpool at 13:00 hrs on 2 September without recall, and on the evening of the 3rd was south of

Rockall Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland. ...

and northwest of

, Ireland, when she was sighted by the commanded by ''

Oberleutnant () is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. Austria Germany In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Trans ...

Fritz-Julius Lemp Fritz-Julius Lemp (19 February 1913 – 9 May 1941) was a captain in the Kriegsmarine during World War II and commander of , and . He sank the British passenger liner in September 1939, in violation of the Hague conventions. Germany's respon ...

around 16:30. Lemp later claimed that the fact that she was a darkened ship steering a zigzag course which seemed to be well off the normal shipping routes made him believe she was either a troopship, a

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open f ...

or an

armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

. ''U-30'' tracked ''Athenia'' for three hours until eventually, at 19:40, when both vessels were between Rockall and

Tory Island Tory Island, or simply Tory (officially known by its Irish name ''Toraigh''),Toraigh/Tory Island

distress signal A distress signal, also known as a distress call, is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a soun ...

. ''Electra''s commander, Lt. Cdr. Sammy A. Buss, was senior officer present and took charge. He sent the F-class destroyer on an anti-submarine sweep of the area, while ''Electra'', another E-class destroyer, , the Swedish

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...

'', the Norwegian dry cargo ship MS ''Knute Nelson'', and the US

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

, rescued survivors. Between them they rescued about 981 passengers and crew. The German liner , en route from New York to

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

, also received ''Athenia''s distress signal, but ignored it as it was trying to evade capture by the British as a prize of war. ''City of Flint'' took 223 survivors to Pier 21 at Halifax, and ''Knute Nelson'' landed 450 at

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

Sinking of Ss Athenia, September 1939 HU51008

''Athenia'' remained afloat for more than 14 hours, until she finally sank stern first at 10:40 the next morning. Of the 1,418 aboard, 98 passengers and 19 crew members were killed. Many died in the engine room and aft stairwell, where the torpedo hit. The British crews were said to be famous for putting the passengers' lives before their own, and were expertly trained to handle such "events"; nonetheless, about 50 people died when one of the lifeboats was crushed in the propeller of ''Knute Nelson''. No. 5A lifeboat came alongside the empty tanker and tied up, against advice, astern of No 12 lifeboat. Only separated the life boat from the tanker's exposed propeller. Once No. 12 lifeboat was emptied it was cast adrift and began to sink. This fact was reported to the bridge of ''Knute Nelson''. For some reason the ship's engine order telegraph was then set to full ahead. 5A lifeboat's mooring line or "warp" parted under the stress, causing the lifeboat to be pulled back into the revolving propeller. There was a second accident at about 05:00 hrs when No. 8 lifeboat capsized in a heavy sea below the stern of the yacht ''Southern Cross'', killing ten people. Three passengers were crushed to death while trying to transfer from lifeboats to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

destroyers. Other deaths were due to falling overboard from ''Athenia'' and her lifeboats, or to injuries and exposure. 54 dead were Canadian and 28 were US citizens, which led to German fears that the incident would bring the US into the war.

Aftermath

It was not until the Nuremberg Trials after the War that the truth of the U-boat sinking of ''Athenia'' finally came out. The sinking was given dramatic publicity throughout the English-speaking world. The front pages of many newspapers ran photographs of the lost ship along with headlines about the UK's declaration of war. For example, the ''

Halifax Herald ''The Chronicle Herald'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada owned by SaltWire Network of Halifax. The paper's newsroom staff were locked out of work from January 2016 until August 2017. ''Herald'' management cont ...

'' for 4 September 1939 had a banner across its front page announcing "LINER ATHENIA IS TORPEDOED AND SUNK" with, in the centre of the page, "EMPIRE AT WAR" in outsized red print. A Canadian girl, 10-year-old Margaret Hayworth, was among the casualties, and was one of the first Canadians to be killed by enemy action. Newspapers widely publicised the story, proclaiming "Ten-Year-Old Victim of Torpedo" as "Canadians Rallying Point", and set the tone for their coverage of the rest of the war. One thousand people met the train that brought her body back to

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, and there was a public funeral attended by the mayor of Hamilton, the city council, the Lieutenant-Governor,

Albert Edward Matthews Albert Edward Matthews (May 17, 1873 – December 16, 1949) was the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Matthews was born in Lindsay, Ontario. He worked as an investment broker in Toronto and rose to the position of director of various co ...

, Premier Mitchell Hepburn, and the entire Ontario cabinet. When Grand Admiral Raeder first heard of the sinking of ''Athenia'', he made inquiries and was told that no U-boat was nearer than to the location of the sinking. He therefore told the US chargé d'affaires in good faith that the German Navy had not been responsible. When, on 27 September, ''U-30'' returned to Wilhelmshaven, Lemp reported to Admiral Dönitz that he had sunk ''Athenia'' in error. Dönitz at once sent Lemp to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he explained the incident to Raeder. In turn, Raeder reported to Hitler, who decided that the incident should be kept secret for political reasons. Raeder decided against

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ling Lemp because he considered that he had made an understandable mistake, and the log of ''U-30'', which was seen by many people, was altered to sustain the official denials. A month later the ''

Völkischer Beobachter The ''Völkischer Beobachter'' (; "'' Völkisch'' Observer") was the newspaper of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) from 25 December 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from 8 February 1923. For twenty-four years it formed part of the official pub ...

'', the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

's official newspaper, published an article which blamed the loss of ''Athenia'' on the UK, accusing

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, then First Lord of the Admiralty, of sinking the ship to turn neutral opinion against Germany. Raeder claimed not to have known about this previous to publication and said that if he had known about it, he would have prevented its appearing. In the US, 60 per cent of respondents to a Gallup poll believed the Germans were responsible, despite their initial claims that ''Athenia'' had been sunk by the UK for propaganda purposes, with only 9 per cent believing otherwise. Some anti-interventionists called for restraint while at the same time expressing their abhorrence of the sinking.

Boake Carter Harold Thomas Henry "Boake" Carter (28 September 1903 – 16 November 1944) was a British-American broadcast news commentator in the 1930s and early 1940s. Early life He was born in Baku, Russian Empire (now the capital of Azerbaijan), the son o ...

described it as a criminal act. Some were not completely convinced that Germany was in fact responsible.

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

expressed his doubts, saying, "It is such poor tactics that I cannot believe that even the clumsy Germans would do such a thing", while

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

senator

Robert Rice Reynolds Robert Rice Reynolds (June 18, 1884 – February 13, 1963) was an American politician who served as a Democratic US senator from North Carolina from 1932 to 1945. Almost from the outset of his Senate career, "Our Bob," as he was known among ...

denied that Germany had any motive to sink ''Athenia''. At best, he said, such an action "could only further inflame the world, and particularly America, against Germany, with no appreciable profits from the sinking." He added that Britain could have had a motive – "to infuriate the American people". It was not until January 1946, during the case against Admiral Raeder at the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

, that a statement by Admiral Dönitz was read in which he finally admitted that ''Athenia'' had been torpedoed by ''U-30'' and that every effort had been made to cover it up. Lemp, who claimed he had mistaken her for an armed merchant cruiser, took the first steps to conceal the facts by omitting to make an entry in the submarine's log, and swearing his crew to secrecy. After ''Athenia''s sinking, conspiracy theories were circulated by pro- Axis and anti-British circles. For example, one editor in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's ''Italian News'' suggested the ship had been sunk by British mines and blamed on German U-boats to draw America into the war. The claims were unfounded.

Cargo

A cargo of 888 tons was taken on in Glasgow, 472 tons of which were building bricks. Other items included granite curling rocks from Scotland, textbooks for the Toronto school system, a number of sealed steel boxes containing new clothes purchased in Europe by tourists, and watercolour paintings by passenger and English illustrator Winifred Walker, intended for her planned book, ''Shakespeare's Flowers''. Excavations of

Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...

antiquities by the American scholars Kirsopp and Silva Lake during 1938–1940 and most of their finds and field records were lost in the sinking of the ship. On 4 September 1939, curling stone manufacturer Andrew Kay & Co. sent a cablegram to its sales representative in Toronto stating, "We now learn that the Athenia was this morning sunk off the coast of Scotland, and we regret that the finest consignment of curling stones that have ever yet left our factory has gone with it." According to James Wyllie, secretary and director of

Kays of Scotland Kays of Scotland is the only remaining UK manufacturer and supplier of curling stones. Founded in 1851, it retains exclusive rights to harvest granite from Ailsa Craig, granted by the Marquess of Ailsa. Kays of Scotland produces the only stone ...

(as the company is now known) in 2018, three bills of lading for this shipment included 48 pairs of Blue Hone Ailsa curling stones for the London, Ontario Curling Club, 41 pairs of Blue Hone Ailsa curling stones for the Toronto High Park Curling Club, and 50 pairs of Red Hone Ailsa curling stones for the Lindsay Curling Club. This is a total of 278 Andrew Kay & Co. Excelsior Ailsa curling stones with handles and cases weighing nearly six tons with a 1939 value of (equivalent to £ in ).

Wreck discovery

In 2017, the oceanographer and marine archaeologist

David Mearns David Louis Mearns, OAM, M.Sc. (born 10 August 1958), is an American-born United Kingdom based marine scientist and oceanographer, who specializes in deep water search and recovery operations, and the discovery of the location of historic shipwrec ...

found a wreck he believes to be ''Athenia''. Mearns located the wreck on Rockall Bank using

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

imagery that was scanned by the Geological Survey of Ireland to map the sea floor. He stated "Can I go into a court of law and say, '100%, that's Athenia?' No. But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's ''Athenia''. Everything fits."

Legality of sinking

As ''Athenia'' was an unarmed passenger ship, the attack violated the Hague conventions and the

London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, and the United States that was signed on 22 April 1930. Seeking to address is ...

of 1930 that allowed all warships, including submarines, to stop and search merchant vessels, but forbade capture as prize or sinking unless the ship was carrying contraband or engaged in military activity. Even if this was the case, and if it was decided to sink their ship, it was required that passengers and crew must be transferred to a "place of safety" as a priority. Although Germany had not signed the 1930 treaty, the German 1936 Prize Rules (''Prisenordnung'') binding their naval commanders copied most of its restrictions. Lemp of ''U-30'' did none of these things, choosing instead to fire without warning.

Memorials

The lost British members of ''Athenia''s crew are commemorated at the

Tower Hill Memorial The Tower Hill Memorial is a pair of Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials in Trinity Square Gardens, on Tower Hill in London, England. The memorials, one for the First World War and one for the Second, commemorate civilian, merchant seaf ...

in London. Canadian crew who died are listed at the Halifax Memorial (Sailor's Memorial) at

Point Pleasant Park Point Pleasant Park is a large, mainly forested municipal park at the southern tip of the Halifax peninsula. It once hosted several artillery batteries, and still contains the Prince of Wales Tower - the oldest Martello tower in North America ( ...

in Halifax, Nova Scotia as well as by special plaque for Hannah Baird, a Canadian stewardess who died in the sinking and who is commemorated in a memorial to female merchant mariners in

Langford, British Columbia Langford is a city on southern Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Langford is one of the 13 component municipalities of Greater Victoria and is within the Capital Regional District. Langford was incorporated in 1992 and ...

Popular culture

No movie has been made of the full story of the sinking, but the film '' Arise, My Love'' (1940), directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Claudette Colbert and

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...

, had a sequence involving the torpedoing of the liner. The song ''Rollerskate Skinny'', written by

Rhett Miller Stewart Ransom "Rhett" Miller II (born September 1970) is the lead singer of the country rock band Old 97's. He also records and performs as a solo musician, and has been published as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. Early life Mille ...

and performed by his band

The Old 97's Old 97's is an American rock band from Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1992, they have since released twelve studio albums, two full extended plays, shared split duty on another, and have one live album. Their most recent release is ''Twelfth''. They ...

, mentions ''Athenia''s sinking. In

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and is ...

's novel ''

The Man Who Could Not Shudder ''The Man Who Could Not Shudder'', first published in 1940, is a detective story by American writer John Dickson Carr featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. It is mystery novel of the locked room mystery The "locked-room" or "impossible ...

'', Dr Fell announces the end of story by showing his audience a newspaper bearing headline "LINER ATHENIA: FULL LIST OF VICTIMS". He means to say that the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

has begun and the truth of the mystery is now unlikely to surface. The sinking of ''Athenia'' is also mentioned in

Alyson Richman Alyson Richman is an American writer best known for ''The Lost Wife'', a tale of a husband and wife who are separated in a concentration camp during World War II and reunited 60 years later at their grandchildren's wedding. Her novels have been ...

's novel '' The Lost Wife'' about pre-war Prague and how the dreams of two young lovers are shattered when they are separated by the Nazi invasion, their endurance and experiences during World War II and the Holocaust only to find one another again decades later in the United States. Recent extensive research concerning the incident appears in Cay Rademacher's 2009 book ''Drei Tage im September – die letzte Fahrt der Athenia, 1939'' published by MareVerlag of Hamburg. In the novel by Norman Collins, ''London Belongs to Me'', he describes the sinking of ''Athenia'' as war breaks out across Europe. As a result of the sinking, Londoners are in no doubt war has started, and start bracing themselves for what's to come. Similarly, at the close of Patrick Hamilton's '' Hangover Square'' (1941) the protagonist, George Bone, finds that the newspapers were "all about the sinking of the ''Athenia''". The sinking of ''Athenia'' also forms part of the beginning in the movie ''

U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien ''U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien'' () is a 1958 black-and-white German war film portraying the World War II career of the U-boat captain Günther Prien. It stars Dieter Eppler and Sabine Sesselmann and was directed by Harald Reinl. Plot The f ...

'' (1958). A graphic firsthand account of the sinking and rescue appears as the first chapter of

James A. Goodson James Alexander Goodson (March 21, 1921 – May 1, 2014) was a United States Army Air Force fighter ace who was credited with shooting down fifteen aircraft and destroying another fifteen on the ground during World War II. Military career Goods ...

's autobiographical account of his wartime experiences as a fighter ace. The sinking of ''Athenia'' plays an integral part of the plot of the novel ''Nemesis'' by Rory Clements.

Notable individuals aboard

* Andrew Allan, head of

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

Drama, fiancé of Judith Evelyn (his father was lost) * Pax Walker-Fryett, British stage and screen actress * Hannah Russell Crawford Baird, aged 66, a civilian stewardess from Montreal, who died in the sinking; she was the first Canadian killed in the war * Barbara Cass-Beggs, British-Canadian teacher, writer and musicologist (her husband and young daughter also survived) * Judith Evelyn, American stage and film actress (''

Craig's Wife ''Craig's Wife'' is a 1925 play written by American playwright George Kelly. It won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and has been adapted for three feature films. Production ''Craig's Wife'' premiered on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on ...

'') (she survived, as did her fiancé, '' Andrew Allan'') * Thomas Eldreth Finley, Jr., head of Loomis Chaffee in

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population of Windsor was 29,492 at the 2020 census. Po ...

, and his wife, Mildred Shacklett Finley *

, future fighter pilot of the RCAF and later USAAF

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

* Richard Stuart Lake, former Saskatchewan Lieutenant-Governor and federal politician, and his wife, Dorothy Schreiber Lake * Charles Prince, Sr. and Charles Prince, Jr. both from

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...

, and employees of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard * Nicola Lubitsch, the ten-month-old daughter of film director

Ernst Lubitsch Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...

(rescued from the water by her nurse, Carlina Strohmeyer) * Prof.

John H. Lawrence John Hundale Lawrence (January 7, 1904 – September 7, 1991) was an American physicist and physician best known for pioneering the field of nuclear medicine. Background John Hundale Lawrence was born in Canton, South Dakota. His parents, Carl Gu ...

, American physicist and MD, later called father of nuclear medicine. He returned to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, and worked with his brother, physicist

Ernest O. Lawrence Ernest Orlando Lawrence (August 8, 1901 – August 27, 1958) was an American nuclear physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron. He is known for his work on uranium-isotope separation f ...

Gildas Molgat Gildas Laurent Molgat, CD (January 25, 1927 – February 28, 2001) was a Canadian politician. He served as leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party from 1961 to 1969, and was subsequently appointed to the Senate of Canada, where he served as Speak ...

, future Canadian politician (with his father and two brothers) * Elizabeth Lewis and her two children, wife and children of attorney and legal advisor for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

Studios, Los Angeles 1939 * James Thornton Mustard, father of Canadian physician and cardiac surgeon

William Thornton Mustard William Thornton Mustard (August 8, 1914 – December 11, 1987) was a Canadian physician and cardiac surgeon. In 1949, he was one of the first to perform open-heart surgery using a mechanical heart pump and biological lung on a dog at the Ba ...

* Daphne Sebag-Montefiore, relation of Moses Montefiore * Agnes Sharpe, sitting

CCF CCF can refer to: Computing * Confidential Consortium Framework, a free and open source blockchain infrastructure framework developed by Microsoft * Customer Care Framework, a Microsoft product Finance * Credit conversion factor converts the a ...

alderman for Hamilton's Ward Eight, second female elected to Hamilton City Council * Prof.

Charles Wharton Stork Charles Wharton Stork (12 February 1881 – 22 May 1971) was an American literary author, poet, and translator. Life Charles Wharton Stork was born in Philadelphia on 12 February 1881 to Theophilus Baker and Hannah (Wharton) Stork. He gradu ...

, American writer and essayist (''Day Dreams of Greece'') * Dr. Edward T. Wilkes, a leader in health care for children, an author of several books on pediatrics, and founder and first president of the Pediatrics Society of New York, and his son (his wife and his other son were lost) *

Margaretta Finch-Hatton, Countess of Winchilsea Margaretta Armstrong Finch-Hatton, Countess of Winchilsea and Nottingham ('' née'' Drexel) (March 1, 1885 – December 22, 1952) was an American heiress who married into the English aristocracy. Early life Margaretta was born in 1885 into a wea ...

, widow of

Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea Guy Montagu George Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea and 9th Earl of Nottingham OBE DSC (28 May 1885 – 10 February 1939) was an English peer and banker. Finch-Hatton was brother to renowned big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton and his daught ...

* Effie Scott Mallery, wife of Addison Mallery, mayor of

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

* Helen Johnson Hannay, daughter of judge

Allen Burroughs Hannay Allen Burroughs Hannay (February 14, 1892 – October 22, 1983) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Hempstead, Texas, Hannay received a Bachelo ...

* George Penrose Woollcombe, founder of Ashbury College * Dr. Lulu Edith Sweigard, colleague of Mabel Elsworth Todd, pioneer of

Ideokinesis Ideokinesis is an approach to improving posture, alignment, and fluency of movement through structured guided imagery that uses metaphors, such as visualizing an object moving in a specific direction along various muscle groups throughout the body, ...

, author (''Human Movement Potential: Its Ideokinetic Facilitation'') * Margaret Doggett, future wife of Trammell Crow and mother of

Harlan Crow Harlan Rogers Crow (born 1949) is an American real estate developer from Dallas, Texas. Early life Harlan Crow was born in Dallas, the third son of Margaret Doggett Crow and real estate developer Trammell Crow. He has four brothers and one siste ...

* Betty Jane Stewart (1921-2001), Dallas socialite and alumna of the

Hockaday School The Hockaday School is an independent, secular, college preparatory day school for girls located in Dallas, Texas, United States. The boarding school was for girls in grades 8–12 and the day school is from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. The ...

. Future wife of Giles Edwin Miller, co-owner of the 1952 Dallas Texans (NFL), and later, paternal grandmother of singer-songwriter

, frontman for the alternative country band, Old 97's. * Bill Gadsby, later a Hall of Fame defenceman in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

from 1946 to 1966. * Winifred Walker, award-winning botanical artist and official artist to the English Royal Horticultural Society of Westminster, in England, and later, artist-in-residence at the University of California.

Citations

General sources

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External links

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IWM Interview with survivor Mary Bauchop

IWM Interview with survivor Pax Walker-Fryett

* ttp://www.maritimequest.com/liners/02_pages/a/athenia_1923_roll_of_honour.htm Roll of Honour {{DEFAULTSORT:Athenia 1922 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Maritime incidents in Ireland Maritime incidents in September 1939 Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Shipwrecks of Ireland Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II passenger ships of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 2017 archaeological discoveries