SS Athenia
Athenia in Montreal Harbour in 1933
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| History | |
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| Name: | Athenia |
| Owner: |
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| Port of registry: |
 Glasgow
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| Builder: | Fairfield SB & Eng Co, Govan |
| Launched: | 28 January 1922 |
| Completed: | 1923 |
| Identification: |
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| Fate: | Sunk by U-30, 3 September 1939 |
| Notes: | First UK ship sunk by Germany in World War II |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 526.3 ft (160.4 m) p/p |
| Beam: | 66.4 ft (20.2 m) |
| Depth: | 38.1 ft (11.6 m) |
| Decks: | 3 |
| Propulsion: | 6 × steam turbines; twin screws |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Notes: | sister ship: Letitia |
SS Athenia was a steam turbine transatlantic passenger liner built in Glasgow 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 September 1939, when a torpedo from a German submarine sank her in the Western Approaches. There were 117 fatalities.
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. 128 civilian passengers and crew were killed with the sinking condemned as a war crime. The dead included 28 US citizens, leading Germany to fear that the US might react by joining the war on the side of the UK and France. German authorities denied that one of their vessels had sunk the ship, and the Kriegsmarine did not admit responsibility until January 1946.
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 13,465 GRT and 8,118 NRT, was 526.3 ft (160.4 m) long between perpendiculars by 66.4 ft (20.2 m) beam and had a depth of 38.1 ft (11.6 m). She had six steam turbines driving twin screws via double reduction gearing, giving her a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h). She had capacity for 516 cabin class passengers and 1,000 in 3rd class. By 1930 her navigation equipment included wireless direction finding, and by 1934 this had been augmented with an echo sounding device and a gyrocompass.
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