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Miscellaneous Ship Histories |
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Athenia
Prize Rules
To understand the significance of the sinking of Athenia (II) it is necessary to understand the history of the various treaties that had been signed regarding attacks on merchant ships. At the heart of the matter lies “Prize rules” or “Cruiser rules” which govern the treatment of merchant ships during wartime. There were several relevant treaties but these will only be covered briefly as this is a complex topic.
The first Prize Rules came about during the age of sailing ships. The general principal was that passenger ships may not be sunk, and crews of merchant ships must be placed in safety before their ships may be sunk.
An extract of the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armaments, (Part IV, Art. 22, relating to submarine warfare). London, 22 April 1930 may be taken as the basis for the agreements regarding submarine warfare that were in place in 1939:
Art. 22. The following are accepted as established rules of international law:
(1) In their action with regard to merchant ships, submarines must conform to the rules of international law to which surface vessels are subject. (2) In particular, except in the case of persistent refusal to stop on being duly summoned, or of active resistance to visit or search, a warship, whether surface vessel or submarine, may not sink or render incapable of navigation a merchant vessel without having first placed passengers, crew and ship's papers in a place of safety. For this purpose the ship's boats are not regarded as a place of safety unless the safety of the passengers and crew is assured, in the existing sea and weather conditions, by the proximity of land, or the presence of another vessel which is in a position to take them on board.
The High Contracting Parties invite all other Powers to express their assent to the above rules.
During WW1, Germany had adhered to similar agreements between 1914 and 1917 but then declared “unrestricted submarine warfare”.
At the outbreak of WW2, it was thought that Germany would adhere to Prize Rules, and it appears that it was indeed Hitler’s policy to avoid antagonizing Great Britain and others through submarine warfare. However German policy was brought into question when Athenia (II) was sunk.
The first accounts of the sinking appeared in The Times newspaper on 5 September and are shown on the next page.
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Govan to Nuremberg - the History of Athenia (2) |