Miscellaneous Ship Histories

Athenia (II) - History from Launch to Outbreak of WW2

 

The name Athenia was used by the Donaldson brothers for two ships:

· Athenia (I) - a part-refrigerated cargo ship launched in 1903, later converted into a passenger/cargo vessel, and sunk by a German submarine in WW1

· Athenia (II) - the topic of this website

 

Athenia  (II) was in service from 1923 until she was sunk by enemy action in 1939 so had a working life of 16 years.

The Donaldson Line and WW1

 

John and William Donaldson came from farming stock and moved to the Clyde in the mid 19th Century. Realising the opportunities available they moved into the shipping business and started by chartering ships to move cargoes to and from South America. They later moved on to ship owning and gradually built up their business interests moving into the North Atlantic route by the 1860s. The family continued the business which by the time of the outbreak of WW1 consisted of 16 ships. The earlier ships were funded on a “64 shares” basis but this changed to single ship Limited Liability companies and later still to companies owning multiple ships.

 

Donaldson Line suffered heavy losses in WW1 as shown in the following table:

Image 1

Basic Data: Athenia

Type: Passenger/cargo ship

Registered owners, managers and operators:

                 Anchor-Donaldson Ltd

                 Donaldson Bros. Ltd. Managers

Builders: Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering                  Co. Ltd                    

Yard: Govan

Country: UK

Yard number: 596

Registry: K/N

Official number: 146330

Signal letters: N/K

Call sign: KNRT

Classification society: N/K

Gross tonnage: 13,465 tons

Net tonnage: 8,118 tons

Deadweight: N/K

Length: 526.3 Ft

Breadth: 66.4 Ft

Depth: N/K

Draught: 38.1 Ft

Engines: 6 steam turbines DR geared to 2 SC shafts

Engine builders: Fairfield Co. Ltd.

Works: Glasgow

Country: UK

Boilers: N/K

Power: N/K

Propulsion: Twin screw

Speed: 15.5 knots

Passenger capacity: (1927) 314 cabin class, 310 tourist class, 928 3rd class

Crew: 315 at time of sinking

Image 1 is a photograph of Athenia - the date is not known but she looks pristine here so it could be shortly after her completion.

Images

 

1. Image #1 is from The Allen Collection

2. Image #3 courtesy of Andrey Nelogov

3. Images #5 and #6 courtesy of Paul Strathdee

4. Other images are from The Times Archive - Ext Ref. #12

Image 2

Image 2 is a copy of an advertisement from The Times dated 4 July 1922 - some 9 months before her maiden voyage. Ship photos used in adverts and on postcards tended to be “generic” and the image is not clear enough to be sure exactly what ship is shown here - it could not have been Athenia as she had not been launched.

The 1924 Dock Strike

 

In February 1924 Athenia narrowly escaped being caught up in a general strike which particularly affected Liverpool docks.

Image 4

Image 4 is a an article from The Times dated 18 February 1924 about the strike.

Voyages for Cunard Line

 

By April 1924 Cunard Line was advertising passages to Canada on Athenia (II) and continued to do so through to 1939.

Image 7

Image 7 is a Cunard advertisement from The Times dated 25 April 1924 that includes passages to Canada on Athenia (II) from Liverpool with destinations of Quebec and Montreal via Queenstown.

 

The “Queenstown” destination on the Southampton to Halifax route was a puzzle at first, but it turns out that this refers to the place now called Cobh in Co. Cork Ireland. It apparently had a number of different Irish names but was renamed Queenstown in 1849 to commemorate a visit by Queen Victoria - no doubt to the disgust of the Irish. It was changed to Cobh in 1922 with the formation of the Irish Free State. Either Cunard was a bit behind the times, or maybe most people were still referred to the place as  Queenstown and had not got used to the new name yet.

 

Ships like Athenia (II) carried mail and newspapers regularly carried notices saying when mail should be posted to catch specific ship sailing times.

 

As a variation from the regular runs Cunard provided vessels for special occasions. On 1 January 1927 The Times reported that Cunard was reserving 13 liners to provide “excursions” from the USA and Canada to Europe. Planned trips included one for a party of 3,000 Rotarians from Canada attending a convention in Ostend involving 7 liners, another a visit to Glasgow by 600 “Masonic Brethren” on Athenia (II), and another for 1,000 people attending an Eistedfodd at Holyhead.

 

Regular advertisements for passages to Canada and mail deadlines appear continuously in The Times, and no doubt other newspapers, through to 1939.

Image 8

Image 8 is a an advertisement from The Times dated 4 July 1927 and advertises cabin and 3rd class passages to Canada from Liverpool, Southampton, Glasgow, Queenstown and Belfast. It seems likely that a lot of the passengers, especially in 3rd class, would be emigrating.

Assistance for Dalryan 1930

 

On 18 July 1930 United Steam Navigation Company’s nearly new cargo ship Dalryan ran aground on an iceberg in the Strait of Belle Isle near Newfoundland Canada on a voyage from Swansea to Montreal. Her bow was stuck on a ledge with the result that holds #1 and #2 were leaking. She was carrying a cargo of 6,700 tons of coal and had a crew of 35.

 

Athenia (II) was standing by but Dalryan was floated off and taken to later. Dalryan was less fortunate later in the year when she struck a mine and sunk on 1 December 1939 2½ miles SW of the Tongue Light Vessel. The crew was rescued and taken to Margate.

Image 10 is a casualty report from The Times dated 19 July 1930.

Image 10

Collision with Corteen 1929

 

On 19 March 1929 Athenia (II) collided with Corteen in dense fog whilst approaching Liverpool coming from New York. Corteen was a Kelly Line ship and there is a photograph of her Here in The Allen Collection. It appears from the newspaper report that there was no major damage.

Image 9

Image 9 is a report of the collision from The Times dated 20 March 4 July 1929.

WW1 Reunion Cruise 1935

 

Athenia (II) seems to have continued to ply the UK to Canada route with Cunard Line with almost monotonous regularity. There was a notable departure in 1935 when she was chartered for a “reunion cruise” to the WW1 battlefields of Palestine and Gallipoli.

Image 11 is a report from The Times dated 25 July 1935..

Image 11

Loss of Vadulia 1936

 

In October 1936, Athenia (II) was once more called to the assistance of an ailing ship. The Cunard cargo ship Vardulia was travelling from West Hartlepool to St. John, New Brunswick with a cargo of coal. During severe weather conditions she sent two radio messages - the first saying  "Dangerous List" and the second saying "Am Abandoning Ship". Athenia (II) was one of several ships diverted to look for survivors but in the end the entire crew of the Vardulia perished - 37 men in all.

Image 12 is a report from The Times dated 22 October 1935.

Image 12

Increased Demand for Passages to North America

 

As the 1930s proceeded, Athenia (II) continued to take passengers to and from North America with the occasional special  trip. In 1936 The Times reported that there was an increasing number of outward bound passengers. The reason for the increase is not stated but it was clearly related to the increasingly unsettled conditions in Europe as Hitler came to power.

Image 13 is a report from The Times dated 31 August 1936.

Image 13

Image 14 is a report from The Times dated 30 December 1936.

Image 14

Conveyance of Troops from Palestine1936

 

Part of the peace settlement after WW1 was that Great Britain was given a League of Nations mandate over Palestine and Transjordan. Initially few troops were involved, but increasing conflict between the Palestinians and Jewish immigrants  in 1929 resulted in deployment of two Army battalions. By 1936  this had risen to three battalions, later a whole infantry division and by 1939 two infantry divisions.

 

At the end of 1936, Athenia (II) was one of three ships engaged to bring troops home from Palestine for a period of home leave.

Image 15 is one of Cunards more expensive advertisements from The Times dated 15 May 1939.

Image 15

Image 3

Image 3 is a photo of Athenia attended by the tug-tender Paladin built by in 1913 by Murdoch & Murray Port Glasgow and owned by Anchor Line (1935) Ltd. Her role was harbour towage, berthing assistance and passenger tendering.

Image 5

Images 5 and 6 show Athenia leaving passing Yorkhill Glasgow with Transylvania and Cameronia in the background. The date is not currently known.

Image 6

So Athenia (II) continued her regular UK to Canada trips right through to the outbreak of WW2 when she was suddenly catapulted into the news when she was hit by a torpedo from a German submarine on 3 September 1939 - the day that France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. She sank the following day.

Govan to Nuremberg - the History of Athenia (II)

Note that Athenia (1), like Athenian (II) the topic of this entry, was sunk by a torpedo fired by a German submarine. In this case seven miles North of Inishtrahull Island, Ireland on 16 August 1917 with the loss of nine crew members and six  passengers whilst en route from Montreal to Glasgow.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Rebuilding the Donaldson Fleet

 

According to Telford - Ext. Ref. #11, at the end of the war, the Donaldson Line started a programme of replacing the lost vessels and in the early 1920s a loan was used to purchase a ship that had been ordered by Cunard from Fairfield Shipbuilders but had been only partly built when work had stopped on her. She was completed for Donaldson Line and became Letitia (II). Her sister ship Athenia (II) was built at the same yard; both ships were to be used on the UK to Canada route.

 

Service History

 

Voyages for the Anchor Donaldson Line

 

Immediately after her completion, Athenia was deployed by Anchor-Donaldson on the company’s service to Canada but by 1924 Athenia was being chartered by Cunard.

 

Both Letitia (II) and Athenia (II) are said to have been very popular both with emigrants and regular travellers.

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