Media Coverage up to 1945
This page provides the media coverage from 8 September 1939 until the start of preparations for the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 and also has reports of interviews with senior officers of Athenia. By 8 September, coverage of the loss of Athenia was starting to reduce.
8 September 1939
'The Times' reported a visit to Glasgow by the son of the American Ambassador to look after the interests of the American survivors of the Athenia disaster. The Ambassador in question was Joseph P. Kennedy and his son was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, future US president.
'The Times' reported the return of Captain Cook and 82 members of Athenia’s crew to Glasgow after their landing at Galway.
'The Times' also reported demands being made to Mr. J.F. Kennedy by US survivors for a convoy to escort them back to the US. He was non-committal but promised to brief his father.
Kennedy got a pretty rough ride when he met US survivors according to 'The Daily Record' and they demanded a convoy to take them home.
'The Aberdeen Press and Journal' had a photo of Jack Kennedy with US survivors at a Glasgow hotel.
'The Times' reported a revision to the expected number of deaths to 128.
'The Times' also described the proposed counter-measures including the use of convoys. There are some reassuring noises about the Navy bringing the situation under control.
9 September 1939
This day 'The Times' announced the imminent publication of the official US reports and its view of some of the expected content.
'The Times' stated its view that Germany was going to repeat the submarine operations of WW1 with a 'sink merchant ships on sight' policy. It also rather optimistically predicts that the effects of the German campaign would reduce once the convoy system was fully implemented.
On 9 September the first reports with definite information about survivors were published. 'The Times' carried a list of the names of survivors that had been rescued by City of Flint.
'The Times' also reported on the arrangements being made for Canadian survivors.
11 September 1939
'The Times' confirmed the arrival in Glasgow of the survivors landed at Galway.
'The Times' also reported the death of a Canadian child who had survived the sinking. It also mentions that liners will no longer be scheduled or information posted about arrivals and departures.
'The Northern Whig' included a photo of survivors being entertained at a Glasgow hotel.
13 September 1939
'The Daily Record' reported that Sir Harry Lauder had entertained survivors at the Banqueting Hall at Glasgow
'The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette' reported the expected arrival of US liner Orizaba which had been chartered to take US survivors back to the States.
'Punch' included an illustration by E.H. Shepherd showing Hitler on board a submarine and pointing at the sinking Athenia while a skeleton emerges from below and another mans a gun.
14 September 1939
'The Times' reported the arrival of a chartered liner to repatriate the 250 US survivors of the Athenia sinking.
'The Ormskirk Advertiser' reported the rescue of a Mr. T Quine of Halsall and hoped that his wife might be alive. Sadly this was not the case and she appeared on a subsequent casualty list. You can see a photo of her grave on the Remembering Athenia page of this website HERE.
'The Daily Herald' reported the arrival at Halifax Nova Scotia of survivors taken on board City of Flint and how they had ridiculed German claims that none of their submarines were responsible.
'Movietone News' produced a newsreel item showing survivors arriving on City of Flint. Click the play button to view it:
15 September 1939
'The Times' reported the arrival of survivors taken on board City of Flint at Halifax Nova Scotia.
Amidst the death and destruction, 'The Catholic Standard' appears to have been more concerned with a complaint by a priest on board Athenia that he had struggled to get a room in which to say Mass!
16 September 1939
'The Falkirk Herald' reported that flags would be flown at half mast across the country on the day of the funeral of Margaret Hayworth - the child who had died after being rescued from Athenia and taken to Halifax aboard City of Flint.
'The Sphere' included a full page article about Athenia with artist impressions of what had happened when the torpedo struck, the rescue, and a photo of the Knute Nelson arriving at Galway Bay with survivors. It also included some clearer survivor photos.
'The Illustrated London News' carried a photo of an injured boy being helped ashore at Galway from Knute Nelson on its front cover. It also had several artist impressions of lifeboats being launched and survivors crowded into lifeboats that are not included here.
The Imperial War Museum has the following photo:
19 September 1939
'The Times' reported that 28 US Nationals were unaccounted for.
'The Lincolnshire Echo', like many other newspapers, reported that the Orizaba had left the Clyde with 150 US citizen survivors from Athenia.
20 September 1939
'The Times' reported the departure of Orizaba with the US survivors and other passengers.
22 September 1939
The newspaper coverage of the sinking of Athenia was beginning to decrease at last - not least because of the number of other ships that had been sunk and other war news. 'The Lancaster Guardian' though carried an interesting article about a Toronto citizen with relatives in Lancaster that had been on the ill-fated ship.
23 September 1939
'The Times' was a bit slow off the mark but also reported that Orizaba had departed Galway after picking up more US survivors and other passengers.
'British Pathé' produced a newsreel item showing survivors leaving for the US on Orizaba. Click the play button to view it.
28 September 1939
'The Times' provided a breakdown of the nationalities of those aboard Athenia when she was sunk. The presence of 28 Germans exposes the nonsense of some of the propaganda proceeding from Berlin at a later date.
6 October 1939
'The Manchester Evening News', and other newspapers, carried a very strange report that Grand Admiral Raeder had warned the US Government that the US vessel Iroquois would 'sink through a repetition of the circumstances which marked the loss of the steamship Athenia'. This is the first time I have come across this report and it implies that Raeder had either willingly, or through manipulation by the Nazi rulers, taken part in the lie about the cause of Athenia's loss. The vessel in fact arrived safely - escorted by destroyers and flying boats.
10 October 1939
Over a month after the sinking, this is the first media report I have found providing a list of those reported missing. You can access a searchable transcription of this list on the Remembering Athenia page of this website HERE.
14 October 1939
'The Times' noted the gratitude of survivors for the hospitality afforded to them.
17 October 1939
'The Times' reported that Donaldson Atlantic Line had made a payment towards the cost of returning survivors to the US
19 October 1939
Passenger Cathleen Schurr of Brooklyn wrote a letter to the Editor of The Times (I am not sure whether this was to the London Newspaper or the New York Times - that isn't clear). In it she contradicts virtually everything in the affidavit that had been sworn by Gustav Anderson which is reproduced further down the page.
21 October 1939>
The German propaganda machine continued to push the story about 'Churchill sinking Athenia' and an article covering their latest statements on the subject were published in the Exeter newspaper 'Express and Echo'.
'The Illustrated London News' had a reproduction of a moving painting of the evacuation of Athenia by the Cornish painter Arthur James Wetherall Burgess.
23 October 1939
'The Times' reported a rabid outburst by Joseph Goebbels, the German Minister of Propaganda and National Enlightenment, who was trying to convince the world (and the German population) that Churchill was to blame for the sinking which he says was done by three British Destroyers.
On the same day, the German newspaper 'Völkischer Beobachter', a mouthpiece of the Nazi regime, carried the headline "Churchill Sank the Athenia" on its front page. Page 3 of the same edition carried a picture of Athenia and the following item
The above picture shows the proud 'Athenia', the ocean giant, which was sunk by Churchill's crime. One can clearly see the big radio equipment on board the ship. But nowhere was an SOS heard from the ship. Why was the 'Athenia' silent? Because her captain was not allowed to tell the world anything. He very prudently refrained from telling the world that Winston Churchill attempted to sink the ship, through the explosion of an infernal machine. He knew it well, but he had to keep silent.
Nearly fifteen hundred people would have lost their lives if Churchill's original plan had resulted as the criminal wanted. Yes, he longingly hoped that the one hundred Americans on board the ship would find death in the waves so that the anger of the American people, who were deceived by him, should be directed against Germany as the presumed author of the deed. It was fortunate that the majority escaped the fate intended for them by Churchill.
Our picture on the right shows two wounded passengers. They were rescued by the freighter, 'City of Flint', and as can be seen here, turned over to the American coast guard boat 'Gibb' for further medical treatment. They are an unspoken accusation against the criminal Churchill. Both they and the shades of those who lost their lives call him before the Tribunal of the world and ask the British people, 'How long will the office, one of the richest in tradition known to Britain's history, be held by a murderer?'
Also on 23 October 1939, 'The New York Times' published an affidavit sworn in Washington D.C. by Gustav A. Anderson - a resident of Evanston, Illinois of German descent. In it, Anderson claimed that he had had a conversation with Chief Officer Copeland who had told him there were guns on board.
The British lost no time in approaching Barnett Copland about this and he swore an affidavit denying that the alleged conversation with Anderson had taken place or that he was aware of any guns aboard the ship. The National Archive file I was examining had the original affidavit in it and it was very moving to hold it in my hands.
27 October 1939
Survivor stories were still emerging and 'The Arbroath Herald and Advertiser' carried a harrowing description of the fate of those who had been in the lifeboat that had been smashed by the propeller of Knute Nelson.
30 October 1939
The British Government issued a press release through the British Ambassador to America Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian. It denied the allegations made by Anderson.
18 November 1939
'The Times' had a letter to the editor about the assistance given to survivors by the owner of Southern Cross.
Remainder of 1939
There continued to be passing references to Athenia through to the end of December 1939, but nothing of any significance appeared. Newspaper writers seemed obliged to put in a passing reference to her; I guess it is rather like the press reaction to various terrorist acts in our own time, and indeed the dreadful disaster at Grenfell Tower in London. But there was a genuine feeling amongst the population that Germany had 'played foul' from the first day of the war.
3 January 1940
'The Times' recorded awards made to members of Athenia's crew:
- An OBE to the Chief Officer Barnett Mackenzie Copeland for his efforts in organising the loading of passengers into lifeboats and going back to the stricken ship to rescue an injured passenger who had been left behind
- A BEM to Boatswain William Harvey who also played a vital role in the same tasks
The Imperial War Museum has a portrait of Chief Officer M.B. Copeland by Thomas Cantrell Dugdale completed in 1940.
2 February 1940
'The Aberdeen Press and Journal' was one of several newspapers reporting that one of the lifeboats from Athenia had washed up on the Shetland Islands.
10 February 1940
Presumably the same ocean current that brought the lost lifeboat to the Shetland Islands bore the two mailbags that turned up there as reported in 'The Aberdeen Press and Journal'.
8 June 1940
Although there had continued to be references to Athenia since February, other events were in the forefront of people's minds as the war progressed. However 'The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette' reported that the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Society had expended £30,396 on relief efforts since the beginning of the war - though obviously not all related to Athenia.
3 September 1940
'The Washington Post' reported the conclusions of a State Department enquiry. It reached the 'strong presumption' that Athenia had been sunk by a torpedo - though didn't reach any conclusions as to who fired it.
29 October 1940
'The Liverpool Evening Express' reported that Captain James Cook of Athenia had been commended in the Merchant Navy Honours announcements.
18 March 1941
In 1939, with the coming of WW2, Lloyd's set up a committee to find means of honouring seafarers who performed acts of exceptional courage at sea, and this resulted in the announcement on 27 December 1940 of 'The Lloyd’s War Medal for Bravery at Sea''. The bravery of Mr. Copeland was recognised by the award of one of the first of these medals as announced in 'The Evening Telegraph and Post'.
1941 to 1945
There was really nothing new to say about the loss of Athenia during this period, but there are passing references to her at regular intervals. It was clearly a story that was not going to go away.
After the reports from James Cook and Barnet Mackenzie Copeland that follow, and which were not made public at the time, the story will move on to the preparations for the Nuremberg Trials where the true story of what had happened to Athenia finally emerged.
Interviews with Senior Officers
Report of Interview with James Cook 26 September 1939
Athenia's Master, gave a statement to the Casualty and Statistical Section of the Trade Division and I took a copy of it during a visit to the National Archives at Kew. In it he describes the launching of the boats and says they were all got away although with difficulty in some cases. The report doesn't include much detail.
Report of Interview with Barnet Mackenzie Copeland 23 November 1939
Athenia's Chief Engineer gave a statement to the Casualty and Statistical Section of the Trade Division on 23 November 1939. The images below are from photographs I took of the original document which is held at the National Archives at Kew. In it he suggests that there was a second explosion which he thought was caused by a shell. He notes that the ship listed to port and the lights all went out - presumably due to damage caused in the engine room.
Copeland reports that he saw a submarine which rapidly disappeared. There were 26 lifeboats that had to be launched from 7 davits - a dangerous restriction but presumably considered acceptable up until that time. The disembarkment seems to have gone smoothly with no panic. Copeland went back to the ship to rescue an unconscious passenger. He was later awarded an OBE for his handling of the situation.
