Liner (1f/2m).
L/B:
526.3 bp × 66.4 (160.4m × 20.2m). Tons:
13,465 grt. Hull:
steel. Comp.:
cabin 516; 3rd 1,000. Mach.:
steam turbines, 2 screws; 15 kts. Built:
Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd., Govan, Scotland; 1923.
Athenia was built for the Anchor-Donaldson Limited's service between Britain and Canada, and for most of her career sailed between either Glasgow or Liverpool and Quebec and Montreal, with occasional stops at Halifax and St. John. At the height of the winter season she frequently operated as a cruise ship. In 1935, the Anchor Line went out of business, and her owners became the Donaldson Atlantic Line Ltd.
Athenia was the first British ship sunk by a German U-boat in World War II. Germany had invaded Poland on September 1 and Britain declared war on Germany at 1115 on September 3, shortly after Athenia sailed from Glasgow en route to Montreal with 1,100 passengers embarked, more than 300 of whom were American citizens. That afternoon she was spotted by U-30 about 250 miles northwest of Inishtrahull, Northern Ireland. Although German U-boats were supposed to be operating under prize regulations that obliged them to stop and search any potential targets, Lieutenant Fritz-Julius Lemp decided Athenia was an armed merchant cruiser and fired two torpedoes without warning. The ship sank with the loss of 112 passengers and crew, but despite the fact that among these were 28 Americans, within hours, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had announced that his government was preparing "a declaration of American neutrality."
Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway. Terraine, Business in Great Waters.
