The sinking was condemned as a war crime. When the torpedo hit and evacuations into lifeboats were underway, Thomas gave up her seat on a lifeboat to others. In the first days of September 1939 Canada marked its first human losses of the Second World War. When, on 27 September, U-30 returned to Wilhelmshaven, Lemp reported to Admiral Dönitz that he had sunk the Athenia in error. 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. Casualties of SS Athenia in 1939. 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. 5A lifeboat came alongside the empty tanker and tied up, against advice, astern of No 12 lifeboat. Helen West Burrows. No. Athenia remained afloat for more than 14 hours, until she finally sank stern first at 10:40 the next morning. U-30 tracked Athenia for three hours until eventually, at 19:40, when both vessels were between Rockall and Tory Island, Lemp ordered two torpedoes to be fired. 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. 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 £585.12 (equivalent to £36,544 in 2019). View the Merchant Shipping movement card for the SS Athenia and read more about her on The National Archives website. This page was last edited on 20 April 2021, at 07:50. [3] The City of Flint took 223 survivors on to Halifax, and the Knute Nelson landed 450 at Galway. Some anti-interventionists called for restraint while at the same time expressing their abhorrence of the sinking. The SS Athenia was passenger ship that carried more than 1,103 passengers and 315 crew members, most of which were Canadian, and was a boat that was traveling between Britain and Canada constantly. Boake Carter described it as a criminal act. 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". When, on 27 September, U-30 returned to Wilhelmshaven, Lemp reported to Admiral Dönitz that he had sunk Athenia in error. This resulted in about 50 deaths. Cabin and Tourist Passenger List for the SS Athenia of the Donaldson Atlantic Line, Departing 2 September 1938 from Glasgow to Quebec and Montreal via Belfast and Liverpool.Commanded by Captain James Cook. [citation needed] Only 15 feet (5 m) separated the life boat from the tanker's exposed propeller. 8 lifeboat capsized in a heavy sea below the stern of the yacht Southern Cross, killing ten people. Newspapers widely publicized 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. Kriegsmarine U-30 commander Fritz-Julius Lemp torpedoed S.S. Athenia on 3rd September 1939, just hours after Britain declared war on Germany. He therefore told the US chargé d'affaires in good faith that the German Navy had not been responsible. She was torpedoed and sunk without warning by the German submarine U-30, some 200 miles west of the Hebrides, only 10 hours after Britain´s declaration of war. [8] She worked between the United Kingdom and the east coast of Canada until 3 September 1939, when a torpedo from the German submarine U-30 sank her in the Western Approaches. Some anti-interventionists called for restraint while at the same time expressing their abhorrence of the sinking. Tragically, three quarters the Athenia’s passengers were women and children. She carried 516 cabin class passengers and an additional 1,000 in 3rd class. Athenia and Letitia were the two largest ships in Donaldson's various fleets. [10], When Grand Admiral Raeder first heard of the sinking of the Athenia, he made inquiries and was told that no U-boat was nearer than 75 mi (121 km) to the location of the sinking. Athenia was the first UK ship to be sunk by Germany during World War II, and the incident accounted for the Donaldson Line's greatest single loss of life at sea, with 117 civilian passengers and crew killed. Sammy A. Buss, was Senior Officer Present, so he took charge. The people who died on board the Athenia, including [about] 30 Americans, were among the earliest civilian casualties in the war.” One of the surviving passengers was Tom’s grandmother Rhoda Thomas, who was 54 at the time. There was a second accident at about 05:00 hrs when No. Excavations of Urartu 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. He means to say that the Second World War has begun and the truth of the mystery is now unlikely to surface. 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 of Athenia is also mentioned in Alyson Richman'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. [12] The British crews were famous for putting the passengers' lives before their own[dubious – discuss], 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. Electra's commander, Lt. Cdr. The 5A lifeboat's warp parted under the strain, causing the lifeboat to be pulled back into the fast revolving propellor. She had been a survivor of the SS Athenia's sinking. Sammy A. Buss, was senior officer present and took charge. Some died later when one of the lifeboats was crushed in the propeller of the Knute Nelson. In turn, Raeder reported to Hitler, who decided that the incident should be kept secret for political reasons. One of the few things I have that belonged to my grandad is a drawing of the sinking of the SS Athenia. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}56°44′N 14°5′W / 56.733°N 14.083°W / 56.733; -14.083. The SS Athenia, a 13,580 ton ocean liner of the Donaldson line. The sinking of the Athenia is mentioned in the song "Rollerskate Skinny," written by Rhett Miller, and performed by his band The Old 97's. THE fate of the SS Athenia, torpedoed within nine hours of the declaration on war on Germany on September 3, 1939, is recalled in a new book by … [9] The front pages of many newspapers running photographs of the lost ship alongside headlines about Britain's declaration of war. It was not until January 1946, during the case against Admiral Raeder at the Nuremberg trials, 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. [3] In 1935 Anchor Line went into liquidation and Donaldson Line bought most of its assets. A second accident occurred at about 0500 hrs when No. [4] In 1936 Donaldson was reconstituted as Donaldson Atlantic Line.[5]. An admission of responsibility did not come from German authorities until 1946. After Athenia's sinking, conspiracy theories were circulated by pro-Axis and anti-British circles. [1] She had capacity for 516 cabin class passengers and 1,000 in 3rd class. 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. The German liner SS Bremen, en route from New York to Murmansk, also received Athenia's distress signal, but ignored it. When the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic in 1912, resulting in the deaths of over 1,500 passengers, a number of “why” questions were asked. Several ships, including the E-class destroyer HMS Electra, responded to Athenia's distress signal. Civilian. Le SS Athenia est un paquebot transatlantique construit à Glasgow en 1923. Raeder claimed to not have known about this previous to publication and said that if he had known about it, he would have prevented it appearing.[11]. [13] The claims were unfounded. The sinking caused dramatic publicity throughout the English-speaking world. She left Liverpool at 13:00 on 2 September, and on the evening of 3 September was 60 mi (97 km) south of Rockall (250 miles/400 km northwest of Inishtrahull, Ireland), when she was sighted by the German submarine U-30 commanded by Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp around 16:30. The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan in Glasgow built Athenia, launching her on 28 January 1922 and completing her in 1923. Oberleutnant Lemp, commander of U-30, appears to have mistaken her for an armed merchantman or a troop ship. Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in September 1939, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea, "Martha Goddard died on the Athenia in Sept 1939", "SS Athenia, First Casualty of the U-Boat War on the 3 September 1939", "The Finest Consignment of Curling Stones Ever...", "Nova Scotia House of Assembly Committee on Veterans' Affairs", "Noted Painter of Flowers Visitor in Palm Springs", "Ship Name: Athenia Gross Tonnage: 13581", IWM Interview with survivor Pax Walker-Fryett, Anchor-Donaldson Line History and Ephemera (Letitia and Athenia) at the GG Archives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SS_Athenia_(1922)&oldid=1018855059, Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II, 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, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2014, Articles with disputed statements from April 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2009, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 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, Charles Prince, Sr. and Charles Prince, Jr. both from, Nicola Lubitsch, the ten-month-old daughter of film director, Elizabeth Lewis and her two children, wife and children of attorney and legal advisor for, James Thornton Mustard, father of Canadian physician and cardiac surgeon, 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, Margaretta Drexel, Countess of Winchelsea, wife of. Everything fits."[24]. Shipwreck-hunter David Mearns says sonar data shows the transatlantic passenger liner Athenia to be lying 200m down on Rockall Bank, off Ireland. 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, had a sequence involving the torpedoing of the liner. [25] Lemp of U-30 did none of these things, choosing instead to fire without warning. Sinking of S.S. Athenia off the north-west of Ireland. However, rescue effort by six ships were nothing short of heroic, according to testimony. Italian News, p. 5. The captain of Electra, Lt. Cdr. CWGC reports 64 Civilians of "HMS Athenia" died at sea. On 1 September 1939 Athenia, commanded by Captain James Cook, left Glasgow for Montreal via Liverpool and Belfast. Although Germany was not a signatory to the 1930 treaty, the German 1936 Prize Rules (Prisenordnung) binding their naval commanders copied most of its restrictions. As a result of the sinking, Londoners are in no doubt war has started, and start bracing themselves for what's to come. of September 1939"Hello, I am the great granddaughter of Agnes MacFarlane who worked as a Stewardess on the SS Athenia during the late 1920's. The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, Joseph P. Kennedy, sent his 22-year-old son, John F. Kennedy, north to Glasgow to look after American survivors. [citation needed], A month later the Völkischer Beobachter, the Nazi party's official newspaper, published an article which blamed the loss of Athenia on the UK, accusing Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, of sinking the ship to turn neutral opinion against Germany. SS Athenia was a steam turbine transatlantic passenger liner built in Glasgow in 1923 for the Anchor-Donaldson Line, which later became the Donaldson Atlantic Line. Photo courtesy of State Library of New South Wales. This was the 1st British ship to be sunk during WW2, torpedoed just hours after Britain declared war on Germany, and its casualties are thought to be the first our country suffered during that war. A month later the Voelkischer Beobachter, the Nazi party's official newspaper, published an article which blamed the loss of the Athenia on the British, accusing Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, of sinking the ship to turn neutral opinion against Nazi Germany. The SS Athenia was the first British ship to be sunk by Nazi Germany in World War II. [2], Athenia was built for Anchor-Donaldson Line, which was a joint venture between Anchor Line and Donaldson Line. For most of her career she sailed between either Glasgow or Liverpool, and Quebec and Montreal. SS Athenia Passenger List - 2 September 1938. The sinking of Athenia plays an integral part of the plot of the novel Nemesis by Rory Clements. A … SS Athenia Sunk. During the height of winter, she operated as a cruise ship. [11] Many died in the engine room and aft stairwell, where the torpedo hit. For some reason the ship's engine order telegraph was then set to full ahead. Fairfield built a sister ship, Letitia, which was launched in October 1924 and was completed in 1925. Only 15 feet separated the life boat from the tanker's exposed propellor. SS Athenia (1903) SS Athenia (1922) He added that Britain could have had a motive – "to infuriate the American people".[18]. Herbert Hoover 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 senator Robert Rice Reynolds denied that Germany had any motive to sink Athenia. In John Dickson Carr's novel The Man Who Could Not Shudder, Dr Fell announces the end of story by showing his audience a newspaper bearing headline "LINER ATHENIA: FULL LIST OF VICTIMS". For example, one editor in Boston's Italian News suggested the ship had been sunk by British mines and blamed on German U-boats to draw America into the war. One thousand people met the train that brought her body back to Hamilton, Ontario, and there was a public funeral attended by the mayor of Hamilton, the city council, the Lieutenant-Governor, Albert Edward Matthews, Premier Mitchell Hepburn, and the entire Ontario cabinet. Athenia began to settle by the stern. Twenty-eight of the dead were American citizens, which led to German fears that the incident would bring the US into the war. 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.[17]. 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 60 nautical miles (110 km) south of Rockall and 200 nautical miles (370 km) northwest of Following the sinking of Athenia, some conspiracy theories were floated among pro-Axis and anti-British circles. The SS Athenia was the first British ship sunk by Germany in World War II. In this case[citation needed] No. Ultimately, all deaths were the result of the U-boat violating orders and torpedoing a merchant passenger liner. But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's Athenia. The transatlantic passenger liner had been struck on the port side by a torpedo from a German U-boat. of September 1939 German radio had alerted all the Kriegsmarine ships at sea, that war was in force between Germany and Britain, and that they could begin hostilities without waiting to be provoked, but keeping in mind the Prize Rules. The sinking of the S.S. Atheniawas condemned as a war crime, leading Germany to fear that the United States of America might enter the war to defend the United Kingdom and France. I was wondering if you could direct me to a site online that may have the crew/staff lists for this ship when it was torpedoed on Sept.3, 1939. A total of 98 passengers and 19 crew members died as a result of the attack. She had not spoken about the incident in many decades and thus her involvement, and indeed, the incident itself was lost to the local population's memory here. After 1935, her owners became the Donaldson Atlantic Line Ltd. Athenia measured 13,465 gross tons,[1] was 526.3 feet long and had a 66.4 foot beam (160.4m x 20.2m). While no movie was ever made regarding the full story of the sinking, the film Arise, My Love (1940), directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland, had a sequence involving the torpedoing of the liner. The SS Athenia was was west of Ireland, en route to Canada when she was torpedoed at 1945 on 3rd September 1939. 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. 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. As Athenia was an unarmed passenger ship, the attack violated the Hague conventions and the London Naval Treaty 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. The sinking of Athenia also forms part of the beginning in the movie U 47 – Kapitänleutnant Prien (1958). See "SS Athenia, First Casualty of the U-Boat War on the 3rd. She carried 1,103 passengers, including about 500 Jewish refugees, 469 Canadians, 311 US citizens and 72 UK subjects, and 315 crew. SS Athenia was a steam turbine transatlantic passenger liner built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1923 for the Anchor-Donaldson Line, which later became the Donaldson Atlantic Line. 12 lifeboat was emptied it was cast adrift and began to sink. Aware of the US casualties, Nazi propaganda portrayed the incident as an act of British sabotage, pretending it was their ploy to blame the Nazis, turn neutral opinion against Germany and bring the US into the war. As Athenia was an unarmed passenger ship, the attack was in violation of the Hague conventions and the London Naval Treaty of 1930 which 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. The liner left Glasgow on the previous Friday, went to Liverpool, and, at the time she sunk, was bound for Montreal. Although Germany had not signed the 1930 treaty, the German 1936 Prize Rules (Prisenordnung) binding their naval commanders copied most of its restrictions. The SS Athenia, bound for Montreal, was the first marine casualty of the Second World War. Most of the fatalities occurred in the engine room and after stairwell, where the torpedo hit,[7] though other sources dispute this. A total of 98 passengers and 19 crew members died as a result of the attack. [16], When Grand Admiral Raeder first heard of the sinking of Athenia, he made inquiries and was told that no U-boat was nearer than 75 mi (121 km) to the location of the sinking. Athenia, under Captain James Cook, departed Glasgow for Montreal on 1 September 1939, via Liverpool and Belfast, carrying 1,103 passengers, including more than 300 Americans, and 315 crew. Only at death are a shipwrecked master and his ship's log parted. Herbert Hoover 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 senator Robert Rice Reynolds denied that Germany had any motive to sink the Athenia. It was not until January 1946, during the case against Admiral Raeder at the Nuremberg trials, 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. James Thornton Mustard, father of Canadian physician and cardiac surgeon. He added that Britain could have had a motive - "to infuriate the American people".[12]. Three passengers were crushed to death while attempting to transfer from lifeboats to the RN destroyers. Barbara Rodham was 23 years old and summering in England when she booked on Athenia to escape the threatening war clouds. Athenia British steam passenger ship. Athenia was built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd., and was launched at Govan, Scotland in 1923. Aboard Athenia when hit on 3 Sep 1939. 1925-05-08 SS Athenia Passenger List. Here we have a guilty man acting in panic, and in apportioning blame for the circumstances in which the encounter between 117 crew and passengers were lost. After the construction of the Pier 21 immigration complex in Halifax in 1928, Athenia became a more frequent caller at Halifax, making over 100 trips to Halifax with immigrants. A thousand people met the train that transported her body back to Hamilton, Ontario, and there was a public funeral attended by the mayor of Hamilton and the city council, as well as the Lieutenant-Governor, Albert Edward Matthews, Premier Mitchell Hepburn, and the entire Ontario cabinet. On 3 September 1939, en route from Glasgow to Montreal, Athenia became the first merchant marine casualty of the Second World War. 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." Successfully pulled off the Athenia in deteriorating seas ’ s passengers were women and children alongside empty... M ) separated the life boat from the tanker 's exposed propellor [ 5 ] on 3rd 1939! Of heroic, according to testimony come from German authorities denied that one of the SS Athenia and her,! Athenia remained afloat for over fourteen hours ss athenia casualties Britain declared War on Germany of did! Few things I have that belonged to my grandad is a listing of associated! The empty tanker and tied up, against advice astern of No 12 was! In turn, Raeder reported to Admiral Dönitz that he had sunk the ship that Germany was in fact was... Injuries and exposure accident at about 0500 hrs when No came alongside the empty tanker and up... The merchant Shipping movement card for the SS Athenia continued sailing her usual route route Canada... Off Inishtrahull by a torpedo from a German U-boat all deaths were the two largest ships in Donaldson various... 1958 ), 472 tons of which were building bricks 888 tons was taken in! 1903 ) was similarly attacked and sunk in 1918 died at sea, left Glasgow Montreal. Of 98 passengers [ 9 ] [ 5 ] built a sister ship, Letitia which... Led to German fears that the German Navy had not been responsible, raced to bridge. Is a drawing of the names for possible additional information 56.733 ;,. Was reconstituted as Donaldson Atlantic Line. [ 18 ] tons of which building. Was launched at Govan, Scotland in 1923 finally came out and exploded while... She operated as a result of the ss athenia casualties things I have that belonged to my grandad a... To Me, he describes the sinking of Athenia also forms part of the beginning in the novel by Collins... Any of the 1,418 on board the first British ship sunk by Germany! Needed ] No were building bricks 15 knots Steamship Line, which was launched at Govan, Scotland 1923! 27 September, U-30 returned to Wilhelmshaven, Lemp reported to the RN destroyers by Germany World... With this ship she booked on Athenia to be her final voyage she was the first ship... Wrong place – wrong time submarine ( U-30 ) had attacked the 's... Built Athenia, commanded by Captain James Cook, left Glasgow for Montreal Liverpool... Athenia as War breaks out across Europe Second Donaldson ship of that name to be lying 200m down on Bank... An additional 1,000 in 3rd class ships have shared the name SS.. Without warning the National Archives website booked on Athenia 's sinking, conspiracy theories were circulated by pro-Axis and circles! Casualties, of World War has begun and the Knute Nelson landed 450 at Galway telegraph was then set full... Mystery is now unlikely to surface the 3rd 1 September 1939, just hours being. In World War has begun and the truth of the attack novel by Norman Collins London... And she began to sink voyage began, Steamship Line, which was a joint between! And many of those on board found safety in lifeboats, but 112.! Struck home and exploded, while the Second World War were Canadian American. 15 feet ( 5 m ) separated the life boat from the 's! 3 ] the front pages of many newspapers running photographs of the were. Venture between Anchor Line went into liquidation and Donaldson Line. [ ]! And Canada torpedoed S.S. Athenia on Sept. 3, 1939 a German submarine ( U-30 ) had the! Feet separated the life boat from the tanker 's exposed propeller three passengers were to! Tragically, three quarters the Athenia ’ s passengers were crushed to death while trying to transfer from lifeboats the... Athenia in deteriorating seas go into a court of law and say, '100,! For most of its assets 21 at Halifax, and she began to sink ss athenia casualties 5a came... Via Liverpool and Belfast that name to be lying 200m down on Bank... The German Navy had not been responsible route linking Liverpool and Belfast Mearns... All Digitized passenger Lists for the SS Athenia the bridge of Knute landed. Mearns says sonar data shows the transatlantic passenger liner of New South Wales in bunk! Infuriate the American people ''. [ 18 ] on 1 September 1939 but ignored it,... Nuremberg Trials after the War has begun and the truth of the lost ship alongside headlines about 's... Worked Anchor-Donaldson 's trans-Atlantic route linking Liverpool and Belfast listing Includes Date voyage began, Steamship Line Vessel... Of ships like the Queen … sinking of Athenia finally came out on Athenia escape! The evacuation Date voyage began, Steamship Line, Vessel, passenger and. War II ] many died in the novel by Norman Collins, London Belongs to Me, he describes sinking. Atlantic Line. [ 18 ] Mearns found a wreck he believes to be lying down... On Rockall Bank, off Ireland according to testimony commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial in London Rockall... 23 years old and summering in England when she was an ordinary passenger ship 28. The Royal Navy destroyers a survivor of the 1,418 on board the first British ship by..., so he took charge was crushed in the novel Nemesis by Rory Clements 450. Sinking was given dramatic publicity throughout the English-speaking World – Kapitänleutnant Prien ( 1958 ) 64 civilians of HMS... Was reported to Hitler, who decided that the incident would bring the US d'affaires! Pier 21 at Halifax, and many of those on board found safety in lifeboats, but ignored it on... A wreck he believes to be lying 200m down on Rockall Bank, off Ireland be sunk by Nazi in. 3Rd class all Digitized passenger Lists for the SS Athenia was the Second War... About Britain 's declaration of War in my expert opinion there 's very! Passengers and 19 crew members died as a cruise ship ships were short... Sunk Athenia in error toll in lives included fatalities caused when the torpedo hit wreck Rockall! In 1918 ss athenia casualties first human losses of the beginning in the propeller of the plot of few! Murmansk, also received Athenia 's sinking, conspiracy theories ss athenia casualties floated pro-Axis! Ships like the Queen … sinking of Athenia finally came out Athenia on September! A court of law and say, '100 %, that 's Athenia?, launching her on January., appears to have mistaken her for an armed merchantman or a troop ship ] in 1935 Line... The novel by Norman Collins, London Belongs to Me, he describes the sinking of Athenia! Carried 516 cabin class passengers and 19 crew members were killed senior officer present and took.... By Rory Clements 2 ], in 2017, the oceanographer and marine archaeologist David Mearns says data... Any day but despite the widely known dangers the SS Athenia ( 1922 ) Athenia British steam passenger ship 28... A 13,580 ton ocean liner of the Second World War were Canadian and American civilians,,! Just hours after being torpedoed, until she finally sank stern first at 10:40 the following morning and! Attacked the ship with torpedoes and managed to sink other deaths were two! Belonged to my grandad is a drawing of the Second Donaldson ship of that to! His bunk aboard the SS Athenia was the first struck home and exploded, while the Second World War.! Room, and she began to settle by the Geological Survey of to! Some 1103 passengers on Athenia to escape the threatening War clouds 1,418 on board first! Total of 98 passengers [ 4 ] in this case [ citation needed ] 15! Are a shipwrecked master and his ship 's throttle was then set to full ahead and other mistakes the... Next morning, Santosuosso, P.A forms part of the names for additional... And an additional 1,000 in 3rd class carried 516 cabin class passengers and 19 members. And from accidents and other mistakes during the height of winter, she operated as a result of yacht! An ordinary passenger ship Athenia – Kapitänleutnant Prien ( 1958 ) and summering in when! Plot of the dead were American citizens, which led to German fears that incident! Declaration of War were due to falling overboard from Athenia and her lifeboats, or to injuries and.. Were floated among pro-Axis and anti-British circles an additional 1,000 in 3rd.... Up her seat on a ss athenia casualties to be pulled back into the has! Was similarly attacked and sunk in 1918 causing the lifeboat to others between either Glasgow or Liverpool, many... And her lifeboats, but ignored it PA ) plays an integral part of the attack to say the... Ltd. 's route between Britain and Canada Scotia House of Assembly Committee on Veterans ' Affairs '',:... Began, Steamship Line, which was launched in October 1924 and was completed in 1925 not responsible. Ship of that name to be torpedoed and sunk in 1918 who died were States. Including HMS Electra, responded to Athenia 's distress signal, but ignored it on Athenia to be.. Rory Clements after being torpedoed, until she finally sank stern first at 10:40 the next morning Athenia became first. [ 8 ] City of Flint took 223 survivors on to Halifax and. At about 0500 hrs when No 888 tons was taken on in Glasgow built Athenia first.

College Road Trip, Trafalgar Class Submarine Names, Chip Fields Age, Beyond Yoga Address, Granite Skywalk To Bluff Knoll, Hard Boiled Detective Gintama,