This page is an index to a set of first hand accounts by survivors of the sinking and those involved in the rescue.
Many of these accounts were originally published amongst the Athenia pages of the website Ahoy - Mac's Web Log created by Mackenzie J. Gregory who sadly died in 2014. I was unable to contact the inheritors of the website, but I am sure Mac would have given his blessing to the republication of this historically interesting material.
| Author | Overview |
|---|---|
| Vivian (Hunt) Collver | Vivian Hunt was a three-year-old child visiting her grandmother in England with sister Cynthia and mother Margaret and, like many of the other passengers, their holiday was cut short and they were returning to Canada. Margaret was in the dining room when the torpedo struck and rushed back to her children in the cabin. The water level was rapidly rising in the ship as they made their escape. Initially taken aboard the Southern Cross, the family were transferred to City of Flint to complete their journey home. |
| James Cook | Athenia's Captain James Cook gave a statement to the Casualty and Statistical Section of the Trade Division on 26 September and it is reproduced here. |
| Barnett Copeland | Athenia's Chief Engineer Barnet Mackenzie Copeland gave his account to the Casualty and Statistical Section of the Trade Division on 23 November 1939 and it is reproduced here. |
| Margaret (Ferguson) Desanti | Passenger Margaret Ferguson was nearly three and visiting her grandmother in England with her mother and sister. They were all taken aboard HMS Electra and came ashore at Greenock. Due to lack of information her father back in Canada didn't know whether his wife has survived for some time as the survivors list was incomplete. They eventually returned to Canada on Duchess of York. See also the page about Margaret's sister Kay (Ferguson) Kuzniar. |
| Ruth Etherington | Passenger Ruth Etherington's experiences were recorded in a letter sent to members of her family in the UK who she had been visiting like many of the other passengers who left accounts. She grew up in the West Midlands but had lived in the USA since 1930. She thought she had lost her son at one point but he was another survivor. They were picked up by Southern Cross and returned to North America on City of Flint. |
| Judith Evelyn | Passenger Judith Evelyn was an actress who survived in the lifeboat that was sliced in two by the propellers of Knute Nelson and was brought ashore at Greenock in the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Escort |
| Philip and Andreana Gunyon | Passenger Andreana Gunyon was emigrating to Canada with her children Philip, Barbara and Andrew while her husband was working in Brazil. They were rescued by HMS Electra and taken to Greenock. |
| The Hayworth Family | Georgina Hayworth and her daughters Margaret and Jacqueline were returning to Hamilton Ontario after a holiday in Scotland. Margaret was seriously injured by the explosion when Athenia was torpedoed but they all made it into the City of Flint. Margaret died a few days later. Much capital was made of her death by politicians who seem to have had little regard to the suffering of the family. |
| Margaret and Jocelyn Hodge | Passengers Margaret and Jocelyn Hodge were returning to Canada with their mother. The mother was lost and the sisters separated but reunited later. |
| Gerald Middleton Hutchinson | American passenger Gerald Hutchison had been attending a conference of World Christian Youth in Rotterdam and was on his way home after visiting relatives in Scotland. He was taken aboard Knut Nelson and landed at Galway. |
| Philip T. Ives | Philip Ives was an American passenger aboard City of Flint and was returning from a Genetics conference in Edinburgh when the ship was diverted to pick up survivors of Athenia. He describes the rescue and arrangements made aboard the ship and kept an album of photos taken aboard during the trip to Halifax to land US and Canadian survivors. |
| Axel Johansson | Axel Johansson was a 24-year-old 3rd Engineer aboard Southern Cross and gives his account of what happened aboard the vessel as it came to the rescue of the stricken Athenia |
| Kay (Ferguson) Kuzniar | Passenger Kay Ferguson was the sister of Margaret Ferguson whose account is also published here. Her account was recorded by her daughter and includes a touching story of her wanting a newly-born zebra at Toronto Zoo to be named in honour of HMS Electra. The Fergusons were later taken home to Canada aboard Duchess of York. |
| The Kucharczuk Family | There were seven members of the Kucharczuk family travelling on Athenia - a Polish family moving to Canada to try and start a new life. Four of the family were killed when one of the lifeboats was struck by the propellor of Knute Nelson. The others were taken to Greenock and later made it to Canada aboard Cameronia in October. |
| Noreen (Bigelow) Mckenzie | Passenger Noreen Bigelow was visiting the UK with her parents and brother and, like many of the others whose accounts are included here, the family decided to return to Canada as war threatened. They were picked up by HMS Electra and landed at Greenock. They returned to Canada some time later on Duchess of York. |
| Elizabeth and Margaret Orr | Passenger Elizabeth Orr was travelling home to Calgary with her 18 month old daughter Margaret after visiting relatives in Scotland and was injured when Athenia was torpedoed and nearly thrown out of the lifeboat they were in when the davits failed. They were rescued by HMS Escort. |
| Charles Prince Snr. and Charles Prince Jnr. | American passenger Charles Prince and his son had been on a visit to friends in England and made their way from London to Liverpool to join the Athenia for the passage home. They were in the dining room when the torpedo struck and eventually boarded a lifeboat and made it to Southern Cross but transferred to City of Flint to get home rather than being returned to the UK. |
| Florence (Kelly) Roseman | Fourteen years old American passenger Florence Kelly travelled to the UK to visit relatives with her mother; her parents had both been born in the Isle of Man. As in the case of many of the other surivors, the family wanted to come home early but they could not get a booking earlier than that already booked on Athenia. Florence was on deck when the torpedo struck and witnessed people being blown into the air by the explosion. They spent 12 hours in a lifeboat before being picked up by HMS Escort and taken to Greenock. They finally returned home on United States ship Orizaba. |
| Jack Taylor | Jack Taylor was an Able Seaman serving on HMS Electra which was called to rescue survivors of Athenia. His account includes description of the preparations for war being made by the Royal Navy. |
| Rhoda Thomas | Passenger Rhoda Thomas had returned to England to visit relatives after an absence of 17 years and had to cut her visit short to return to the USA on the advice of the US Consultate. She survived in a lifeboat and was rescued by Southern Cross and transferred to City of Flint to complete her journey to New York |
| Heather (Donald) Watts | Heather Donald was a toddler who came to Scotland with her mother Jessie to visit her grandparents in Inverness-shire. As with others, the holiday was cut short due to the deteriorating political situation. Heather and Jessie were in their cabin when the torpedo struck and were rescued by HMS Escort and landed at Greenock. They later completed their journey to Montreal on Duchess of Bedford. |
| Survivor Snippets | This page has been created for snippets of information about survivors that have come to my attention but are not long enough to warrant separate pages and will be added to from time to time. |