SS Athenia (1922): Difference between revisions

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{{short description|British passenger liner sunk in WWII}}
#REDIRECT [[w:SS Athenia (1922)]]
{{about|the ship built in 1923 and sunk in 1939|the ship built in 1903 and sunk in 1917|SS Athenia (1903){{!}}SS ''Athenia'' (1903)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{coord|56|44|N|14|5|W|display=title}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = Ss athenia.jpg
| Ship caption = ''Athenia''  in Montreal Harbour in 1933
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header =
| Ship country = United Kingdom
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}}
| Ship name = ''Athenia''
| Ship namesake = [[Athena]]
| Ship owner = *[[Anchor-Donaldson Line]] (1923–1935)
* Donaldson Atlantic Line (1935–1939)
| Ship operator =
| Ship registry = {{flagicon|UK|civil}} [[Glasgow]]
| Ship route =
| Ship ordered =
| Ship awarded =
| Ship builder = [[Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company|Fairfield SB & Eng Co]], [[Govan]]
| Ship original cost =
| Ship yard number = 596
| Ship way number =
| Ship laid down =
| Ship launched = 28 January 1922
| Ship sponsor =
| Ship christened =
| Ship completed = 19 April 1923
| Ship acquired =
| Ship maiden voyage =
| Ship in service =
| Ship out of service =
| Ship renamed =
| Ship refit =
| Ship identification = *UK [[official number]] 146330
* [[code letters]] KNRT (until 1933)
* {{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Romeo}}{{ICS|Tango}}
* [[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] GFDM (from 1934)
* {{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Mike}}
| Ship motto =
| Ship nickname =
| Ship fate = Sunk by {{GS|U-30|1936|2}}, 3 September 1939
| Ship notes = First [[United Kingdom|UK]] ship sunk by [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] in [[World War II]]
| Ship badge =
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header =
| Header caption =
| Ship type =
| Ship tonnage = * {{GRT|13465}}
* tonnage under deck 10,200
* {{NRT|8118}}
| Ship length = {{Convert|526.3|ft|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|p/p]]
| Ship beam = {{Convert|66.4|ft|abbr=on}}
| Ship height =
| Ship draught =
| Ship depth = {{Convert|38.1|ft|abbr=on}}
| Ship decks = 3
| Ship deck clearance =
| Ship ramps =
| Ship power =
| Ship propulsion = 6 × [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbines]]; twin [[Propeller|screws]]
| Ship speed = {{Convert|15|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship capacity = As built 516 cabin class, 1,000 3rd class
| Ship crew =
| Ship sensors = *wireless [[direction finding]] (by 1930)
* [[echo sounding]] device (by 1934)
* [[gyrocompass]] (by 1934)
| Ship notes = [[sister ship]]: {{SS|Letitia||2}}
}}
|}
 
'''SS ''Athenia''''' was a steam turbine [[Transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] passenger liner built in [[Glasgow]], 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]] from the German [[submarine]] {{GS|U-30|1936|2}} sank her in the [[Western Approaches]].
 
''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. 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]] by a German submarine. The earlier {{SS|Athenia|1903|3}} was similarly attacked and sunk in 1917.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|title=SS Athenia [+1917]|url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?63297|website=Wreck Site|date=2021-03-13|access-date=2021-09-04}}</ref>
 
==Construction==
The [[Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company]] of [[Govan]] in Glasgow built ''Athenia'', launching her on 28 January 1922 and completing her in 1923. She measured {{GRT|13465|disp=long}} and {{NRT|8118|disp=long}}, was  {{convert|526.3|ft|abbr=on}} long [[Length between perpendiculars|between perpendiculars]] by {{convert|66.4|ft|abbr=on}} [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] and had a [[Hull (watercraft)#Metrics|depth]] of {{convert|38.1|ft|abbr=on}}. She had six [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbines]] driving twin [[Propeller|screws]] via double reduction gearing, giving her a speed of {{convert|15|kn|lk=in}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1930}} She had capacity for 516 cabin class passengers and 1,000 in 3rd class.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} By 1930 her navigation equipment included wireless [[direction finding]],{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1930}} and by 1934 this had been augmented with an [[echo sounding]] device and a [[gyrocompass]].<ref>{{cite book
|url        = https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0078.pdf
|year      = 1934
|title      = Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships
|location  = London
|publisher  = [[Lloyd's Register]]
|access-date = 4 October 2014
}}</ref>
 
==Career==
''Athenia'' was built for Anchor-Donaldson Line, which was a joint venture between [[Anchor Line (steamship company)|Anchor Line]] and Donaldson Line. Fairfield built a [[sister ship]], {{SS|Letitia||2}}, which was [[Ceremonial ship launching|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 [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]] and [[Glasgow]] with [[Port of Quebec|Quebec]] and [[Port of Montreal|Montreal]] in summer and to [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]] in winter. 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.<ref>{{cite web
|url      = http://www.pier21.ca/research/immigration-records/ship-arrival-search
|title      = Ship Arrival Database
|publisher      = Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
|access-date      = 12 November 2014
|archive-date      = 15 February 2013
|archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20130215101149/http://www.pier21.ca/research/immigration-records/ship-arrival-search
|url-status      = dead
}}</ref> In 1935 Anchor Line went into liquidation and Donaldson Line bought most of its assets.<ref>{{cite web
|url        = http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/donaldson.shtml
|last1      = Swiggum
|first1    = Susan
|last2      = Kohli
|first2    = Marjorie
|title      = Donaldson Line
|date      = 3 May 2006
|access-date = 3 October 2014
}}</ref> In 1936 Donaldson was reconstituted as Donaldson Atlantic Line.<ref>{{cite web
|url        = http://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?ref=6548
|title      = SS Athenia
|work      = Clydebuilt database
|publisher  = Clydeships
|access-date = 6 November 2019
}}</ref>
 
==Loss==
[[File:SS Athenia fsa 8d37075.jpg|thumb|left|Workers painting ''Athenia''{{'}}s stern, summer 1937]]
On 1 September 1939 ''Athenia'', commanded by [[Sea captain|Captain]] James Cook, left Glasgow for Montreal via Liverpool and [[Belfast]]. She carried 1,103 passengers, including about 500 Jewish refugees, 469 Canadians, 311 US citizens and 72 UK subjects, and 315 crew.<ref name=Johnmeyer>{{cite web
|url        = http://www.jcs-group.com/military/war1941allies/athenia.html
|last      = Johnmeyer
|first      = Hillard
|title      = The Sinking of the Athenia
|work      = Something About Everything Military
|access-date = 13 August 2014
}}</ref> 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 {{convert|60|nmi|km}} south of [[Rockall]] and {{convert|200|nmi|km}} northwest of [[Inishtrahull]], Ireland, when she was sighted by the {{GS|U-30|1936|6}} commanded by ''[[Oberleutnant zur See|Oberleutnant]]'' [[Fritz-Julius Lemp]] 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]] or an [[Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruisers|armed merchant cruiser]]. ''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. One exploded on ''Athenia''{{'}}s port side in her engine room, and she began to settle by the stern.
 
Several ships, including the {{sclass2|E|destroyer}} {{HMS|Electra|H27|6}}, responded to ''Athenia''{{'}}s [[distress signal]]. ''Electra''{{'}}s commander, Lt. Cdr. Sammy A. Buss, was senior officer present and took charge. He sent the [[E and F-class destroyer|F-class]] destroyer {{HMS|Fame|H78|6}} on an anti-submarine sweep of the area, while ''Electra'', another E-class destroyer, {{HMS|Escort|H66|6}}, the Swedish [[yacht]] ''[[Rover (yacht)|Southern Cross]]'', the {{GRT|5749}} Norwegian dry cargo ship MS ''Knute Nelson'',<ref>{{cite web
|url      = http://warsailors.com/homefleetsingles/knutenelson.html
|last      = Holm Lawson
|first    = Siri
|title    = M/S Knute Nelson
|publisher = Warsailors.com
}}</ref> and the US [[cargo ship]] {{SS|City of Flint|1919|2}}, rescued survivors. Between them they rescued about 981 passengers and crew. The German liner {{SS|Bremen|1928|6}}, en route from New York to [[Murmansk]], also received ''Athenia''{{'}}s distress signal, but ignored it as it was trying to evade capture by the British as a prize of war.{{sfn|Brennecke|2003|pp=15–16}} ''City of Flint'' took 223 survivors to Pier 21 at Halifax, and ''Knute Nelson'' landed 450 at [[Galway]].
 
[[File:Sinking of Ss Athenia, September 1939 HU51008.jpg|thumb|Survivors in one of ''Athenia''{{'}}s lifeboats alongside {{SS|City of Flint|1919|2}}]]
''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<ref>{{cite web
|url      = http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/4004363
|title    = S.S. Athenia
|publisher = [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]
}} The CWGC puts the number of civilians killed at 64</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url  = http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/Letters/MarthaGoddarddiedontheAth.html
|last  = Gregory
|first = Mackenzie J
|title = Martha Goddard died on the Athenia in Sept 1939
|work  = Ahoy – Mac's Web Log
}}</ref> and 19 crew members were killed.<ref>{{cite web
|url  = http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/SSAtheniaFirstCasualtyoft.html
|last  = Gregory
|first = Mackenzie J
|title = SS Athenia, First Casualty of the U-Boat War on the 3 September 1939
|work  = Ahoy – Mac's Web Log
}}</ref> Many died in the engine room and aft stairwell, where the torpedo hit.{{sfn|Padfield|1996|p=7}} About 50 people died when one of the lifeboats was crushed in the propeller of ''Knute Nelson''.{{sfn|Blair|1996|p=67}}
No. 5A lifeboat came alongside the empty tanker and tied up, against advice, astern of No 12 lifeboat.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} Only {{convert|15|ft|0}} 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]] 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.<ref name=Johnmeyer/>
 
===Aftermath===
{{location map|British Isles Oceans
|coordinates = {{coord|56|44|N|14|5|W}}
|caption = Approximate position of ''Athenia''{{'}}s wreck
|relief  = yes
}}
 
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.{{sfn|Williams|2003|p=17}} 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]]'' 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,<ref>{{cite web
|url      = http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/3167585
|title    = Hayworth, Margaret Janet
|publisher = Commonwealth War Graves Commission
}}</ref> 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]], 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.{{sfn|Houghton|2003|pp=75–76}}
 
When [[Erich Raeder|Grand Admiral Raeder]] first heard of the sinking of ''Athenia'', he made inquiries and was told that no U-boat was nearer than {{convert|75|mi|abbr=on}} 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 [[Karl Dönitz|Admiral Dönitz]] that he had sunk ''Athenia'' in error. Dönitz at once sent Lemp to [[Berlin]], 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]]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. Lemp was killed in action in 1941.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}
 
A month later the ''[[Völkischer Beobachter]]'', the [[Nazi party|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. 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.{{sfn|Davidson|1997|p=381}}
 
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]] described it as a criminal act.
 
Some were not completely convinced that Germany was in fact responsible. [[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''. 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".{{sfn|Doenecke|2003|p=68}}
 
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. 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 theory|conspiracy theories]] were circulated by pro-[[Axis powers|Axis]] and anti-British circles. 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.<ref>{{cite news
|last      = Santosuosso
|first    = PA
|title    = Dear Joe
|newspaper = Italian News
|page      = 5
|date      = 15 September 1939
}} (weekly column)</ref> 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#Curling stone|curling rocks]] from Scotland, textbooks for the [[Education in Toronto|Toronto school system]], a number of sealed steel boxes containing new clothes purchased in Europe by tourists, and [[watercolour painting]]s by passenger and English illustrator Winifred Walker, intended for her planned book, ''Shakespeare's Flowers''.<ref name="Carroll2012">{{cite book|author=Francis M. Carroll|title=Athenia Torpedoed: The U-Boat Attack that Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jo00zi_dTcC|year=2012|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-61251-155-9|chapter=Chapter 2, In All Respects Ready For Sea}}</ref><ref name="Caulfield 1958">{{cite book |first=Max |last=Caulfield |url=https://archive.org/details/tomorrownevercam010937mbp/page/n43 |title=Tomorrow Never Came - The Story of the S.S. Athenia |access-date=12 March 2019 }}</ref><ref name="Stevenson 1979">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/12/02/gifts-for-the-gardener/06073f83-c607-4871-87f5-7e7248df3c01/ |title=Gifts For the Gardener |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref>
 
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.
 
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]] (as the company is now known) in 2018, three bills of lading for this shipment included 48 pairs of [[Ailsa Craig#Curling stones|Blue Hone Ailsa curling stones]] for the London, Ontario Curling Club, 41 pairs of Blue Hone Ailsa curling stones for the [[High Park Club|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 {{Currency|amount=585.12|code=GBP}} (equivalent to £{{Inflation|UK|585.12|1939|r=0|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|GBP}}).<ref name="MacTavish 2018">{{cite web |url=http://detroitcurling.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-finest-consignment-of-curling.html |title=The Finest Consignment of Curling Stones Ever... |last=MacTavish |first=Angus |date=11 April 2018 |access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref>
 
===Wreck discovery===
In 2017, the [[oceanographer]] and marine archaeologist [[David Mearns]] found a wreck he believes to be ''Athenia''. Mearns located the wreck on [[Rockall Bank]] using [[sonar]] 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."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Amos|first1=Jonathan|title=Wreck could be sunken Athenia from WW2|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41503664|website=BBC News|date=5 October 2017}}</ref>
 
===Legality of sinking===
As ''Athenia'' was an unarmed passenger ship, the attack violated the [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|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 (law)|prize]] or sinking unless the ship was carrying contraband or engaged in military activity.{{sfn|Harwood|2015|p=20}} 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.{{sfn|Harwood|2015|p=20}} Lemp of ''U-30'' did none of these things, choosing instead to fire without warning.{{clarify|date=August 2023}}
 
==Memorials==
The lost British members of ''Athenia''{{'}}s crew are commemorated at the [[Tower Hill Memorial]] in London. Canadian crew who died are listed at the Halifax Memorial (Sailor's Memorial) at [[Point Pleasant Park]] in Halifax, Nova Scotia<ref>{{cite web
|url      = http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1
|title    = SS ''Athenia'' (Glasgow)
|publisher = Commonwealth War Graves Commission Find War Dead Database
}}</ref> as well as by special plaque for Hannah Russell Crawford Baird, 66, a civilian stewardess from Montreal, she was the first Canadian killed in the war and is commemorated in a memorial to female merchant mariners in [[Langford, British Columbia]].<ref>{{cite web
|url      = http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2557406
|title    = Hannah Baird
|date = 20 February 2019
|quote    = Virtual War Memorial
|publisher = Veterans Affairs Canada
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url        = http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/hansard//comm/va/va_2006nov09.htm
|title      = Nova Scotia House of Assembly Committee on Veterans' Affairs
|access-date  = 30 October 2007
|work        = Hansard
|url-status    = dead
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071113072957/http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/hansard/comm/va/va_2006nov09.htm
|archive-date = 13 November 2007
}}</ref>
==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]], had a sequence involving the torpedoing of the liner.
 
The song ''Rollerskate Skinny'', written by [[Rhett Miller]] and performed by his band [[The Old 97's]], mentions ''Athenia''{{'}}s sinking.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}
 
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". He means to say that the [[Second World War]] has begun and the truth of the mystery is now unlikely to surface.
 
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.
 
Recent extensive research concerning the incident appears in Cay Rademacher's 2009 book ''Drei Tage im September – die letzte Fahrt der Athenia, 1939'' ("Three Days in September - the Last Voyage of the 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 (writer)|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]]'' (1958).
 
A graphic firsthand account of the sinking and rescue appears as the first chapter of [[James A. Goodson]]'s autobiographical account of his wartime experiences as a fighter ace.<ref name="Goodson2016">{{cite book|author=James Goodson|title=Tumult in the Clouds: Original Edition|date=28 January 2016|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|language=en|isbn=978-1-4059-2552-5|chapter=Chapter One, The Kings Enemies}}</ref>
 
The sinking of ''Athenia'' plays an integral part of the plot of the novel ''Nemesis'' by Rory Clements.
 
==Notable individuals aboard==
* [[Andrew Allan (radio executive)|Andrew Allan]], head of [[CBC Radio]] Drama, fiancé of Judith Evelyn (his father was lost)
* [[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]]'') (she survived, as did her fiancé, ''[[Andrew Allan (radio executive)|Andrew Allan]]'')
* [[Thomas Eldreth Finley, Jr.]], head of [[Loomis Chaffee]] in [[Windsor, Connecticut]], and his wife, Mildred Shacklett Finley
* [[James A. Goodson]], future fighter pilot of the [[Royal Canadian Air Force|RCAF]] and later [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] [[fighter ace]]
* [[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]], and employees of the [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]]
* Nicola Lubitsch, ten-month-old daughter of film director [[Ernst Lubitsch]], rescued from the water by her nurse, Carlina Strohmeyer
* Prof. [[John H. Lawrence]], American physicist and MD, later called father of nuclear medicine. He returned to [[Berkeley, California]], and worked with his brother, physicist [[Ernest O. Lawrence]]
* [[Gildas Molgat]], future Canadian politician (with his father and two brothers)
* [[Agnes Sharpe]], sitting [[Cooperative Commonwealth Federation|CCF]] alderman for Hamilton's Ward Eight, second female elected to [[Hamilton City Council]]{{sfn|Fairclough|1995|p=61}}
* Prof. [[Charles Wharton Stork]], American writer and essayist (''Day Dreams of Greece'')
* Dr. [[Edward T. Wilkes]], author of books on pediatrics, 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]], widow of [[Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea]]
* Helen Johnson Hannay, daughter of judge [[Allen Burroughs Hannay]]
* George Penrose Woollcombe, founder of [[Ashbury College]]
* Dr. Lulu Edith Sweigard, colleague of [[Mabel Elsworth Todd]], pioneer of [[Ideokinesis]], author (''Human Movement Potential: Its Ideokinetic Facilitation'')
* Margaret Doggett, future wife of [[Trammell Crow]] and mother of [[Harlan Crow]]
* Betty Jane Stewart (1921-2001), Dallas socialite and alumna of the [[Hockaday School]]. Future wife of Giles Edwin Miller, co-owner of the 1952 [[Dallas Texans (NFL)]], and later, paternal grandmother of singer-songwriter [[Rhett Miller]], frontman for the alternative country band, [[Old 97's]].
* [[Bill Gadsby]], later a Hall of Fame defenceman in the [[National Hockey League]] 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.<ref name="Carroll2012"/><ref name="Desert Sun 1943">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Noted Painter of Flowers Visitor in Palm Springs |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19430122.2.135&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |work=Desert Sun (1934–1989) |location=Palm Springs, California |date=22 January 1943 |access-date=12 March 2018 }}</ref>
 
==See also==
* [[Laconia incident]]
* {{RMS|Lusitania}}
* {{MV|Wilhelm Gustloff}}
* {{SS|General von Steuben}}
 
== Citations ==
{{reflist|30em}}
 
== General sources ==
* {{cite book
|url        = https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b0102.pdf
|year      = 1930
|title      = Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships
|location  = London
|publisher  = [[Lloyd's Register]]
|access-date = 4 October 2014
|ref        = {{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1930}}
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Blair
|first    = Clay
|year      = 1996
|title    = Hitler's U-Boat War
|volume    = I: ''The Hunters, 1939–1942''
|place    = New York
|publisher = Random House
|isbn      = 0-304-35260-8
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Brennecke
|first    = Jochen
|year      = 2003
|title    = The Hunters and the Hunted
|place    = Annapolis, MD
|publisher = Naval Institute Press
|page      = 310
|isbn      = 1-59114-091-9
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Cain
|first    = Lt Cdr Timothy J
|year      = 1959
|title    = HMS Electra
|place    = London
|publisher = Frederick Miller
|isbn      = 0-86007-330-0
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Caulfield
|first    = Max
|year      = 1958
|title    = A Night of Terror
|place    = London
|publisher = Pan Books
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Crabb
|first    = Brian James
|year      = 2006
|title    = The Loss of British Commonwealth Mercantile and Service Women at sea During the Second World War
|place    = Donington, Lincolnshire
|publisher = Shaun Tyas
|page      = 310
|isbn      = 1 900289 66-0
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Davidson
|first    = Eugene
|year      = 1997
|title    = The Trial of the Germans: an account of the twenty-two defendants before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg
|place    = Columbia, MO
|publisher = [[University of Missouri Press]]
|page      = 381
|isbn      = 0-8262-1139-9
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Doenecke
|first    = Justus D
|year      = 2003
|title    = Storm on the Horizon: The Challenge to American Intervention, 1939–1941
|place    = Lanham, MD
|publisher = Rowman & Littlefield
|page      = 68
|isbn      = 0-7425-0785-8
}}
* {{cite book
|first    = Alan
|last      = Evans
|year      = 1990
|title    = Orphans of the Storm
|publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
|isbn      = 0-340-54414-7
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Fairclough
|first    = Ellen
|year      = 1995
|title    = Saturday's Child: Memoirs of Canada's First Female Cabinet Minister
|place    = Toronto
|publisher = University of Toronto Press
|isbn      = 0-802-007368
|page      = [https://archive.org/details/saturdayschildme0000fair/page/61 61]
|url      = https://archive.org/details/saturdayschildme0000fair/page/61
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Harwood
|first    = Jeremy
|year      = 2015
|title    = World War Two at Sea
|place    = Hove, England
|publisher = Quid Publishing
|page      = 20
|isbn      = 978-1-921966-76-7
}}
* {{cite book
|last    = Houghton
|first    = Margaret
|year    = 2003
|title    = The Hamiltonians: 100 Fascinating Lives
|place    = Toronto
|publisher    = James Lorimer & Company
|pages    = [https://archive.org/details/hamiltonians100f0000houg/page/75 75–76]
|isbn    = 1-55028-804-0
|url    = https://archive.org/details/hamiltonians100f0000houg/page/75
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Padfield
|first    = Paddy
|year      = 1996
|title    = The War Beneath The Sea: Submarine Conflict During World War II
|place    = New York
|publisher = John Wiley & Sons
|isbn      = 0-471-146242
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Paine
|first      = Lincoln P.
|year      = 1997
|title      = Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia
|place      = Boston
|publisher      = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
|isbn      = 0-395-715563
|url      = https://archive.org/details/shipsofworldhist00pain
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Rademacher
|first    = Cay
|year      = 2009
|title    = Drei Tage im September
|place    = Hamburg
|publisher = MareVerlag
|isbn      = 978-3-866-480995
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Williams
|first      = Andrew
|year      = 2003
|title      = The Battle of the Atlantic: Hitler's Gray Wolves of the Sea and the Allies' Desperate Struggle to Defeat Them
|place      = New York
|publisher      = Basic Books
|page      = [https://archive.org/details/battleofatlantic0000will/page/17 17]
|isbn      = 0-465-09153-9
|url      = https://archive.org/details/battleofatlantic0000will/page/17
}}
 
==External links==
{{commons category|Athenia (ship, 1923)}}
* {{cite web
|url      = http://uboat.net/history/athenia.htm
|last      = Allen
|first    = Tonya
|title    = The Sinking of the S.S. Athenia
|date      = 1995–2014
|work      = uboat.net
|publisher = Guðmundur Helgason
}}
* {{cite web
|url        = http://smmlonline.com/articles/athenia/athenia.html
|last        = Jones
|first      = Daniel H
|title      = SS Athenia
|year        = 2003
|publisher  = SMML
|url-status    = dead
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080905123627/http://www.smmlonline.com/articles/athenia/athenia.html
|archive-date = 5 September 2008}}
* {{cite news
|url      = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/6146963/Joan-Hecht.html
|title    = Joan Hecht
|newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]]
|date      = 6 September 2009
}}
* {{cite web
|url      = http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8661106
|title    = Ship Name: Athenia Gross Tonnage: 13581
|work      = Merchant shipping movement cards 1939–1945
|publisher = [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]]
}}
* {{cite web
|url      = http://www.uboataces.com/battle-athenia.shtml
|title    = Sinking of SS Athenia
|date      = 2005–2012
|work      = German U-Boats and Battle of the Atlantic
|publisher = Uboataces.com
}}
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80025177 IWM Interview with survivor Mary Bauchop]
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80024740 IWM Interview with survivor Pax Walker-Fryett]
* [https://www.gjenvick.com/OceanTravel/SteamshipLines/Anchor-DonaldsonLine.html Anchor-Donaldson Line History and Ephemera (Letitia and Athenia) at the GG Archives]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/02_pages/a/athenia_1923_roll_of_honour.htm Roll of Honour]
 
{{September 1939 shipwrecks}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athenia}}
[[Category:1922 ships]]
[[Category:2017 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in Ireland]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1939]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Ireland]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1939]]
[[Category:Nazi war crimes]]

Latest revision as of 21:40, 17 July 2024

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