The Sinking of the Athenia

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The German U Boat U-30 had been at sea for several days, under strict orders to avoid contact or discovery. On September 3^rd 1939 she received notification that Germany was now at war with Great Britain.

The U boat’s commander was Lieutenant Fritz-Julius Lemp. He had been in command for almost a year, therefore was not unaware of the “rules”. According to Admiral Doenitz at his trial at Nurenberg, Lemp had been under orders, when notified of the outbreak of hostilities, to keep a lookout for Armed Merchant Cruisers. Doenitz is not specific as to why this should be a priority at the outbreak of war. Germany had invaded Poland on 1^st September 1939 and on 3^rd September 1939, at 1115 hrs, Britain declared war on Germany.

The Athenia had already left Glasgow on the 1st September and was heading for Montreal with 1100 passengers, more than 300 of which were American. Many were women and children. On the evening of September 3^rd, she was sighted by the U-30 about 250 miles northwest of Inishtrahull, Northern Ireland. She was running without lights. Before sailing all German U boats had been issued with strict orders to operate within the Prize Rules, international laws governing the conduct of war at sea. This was known as the Hague convention. Merchant ships were to be stopped and searched, if they were found to be carrying enemy cargo, they could be sunk. This was only after the crew had been seen safely into lifeboats. U-30 had received this signal. Upon sighting the ship, Lemp decided there and then that she was an Armed Merchant Cruiser and shadowed her, watching her zig-zig pattern and course and speed.

Lemp attacked the Athenia without warning. He fired two torpedoes, one of which exploded amidships, ripping open the bulkhead between the engine room and the boiler room. As soon as he had fired the two torpedoes he dived if a torpedo should come back on him. One did misfire. As he came back up to the surface he saw the Athenia starting to list and fired a third torpedo. This too missed.

Perhaps this torpedo being fired caused some of the survivors, in their panic, to imagine that they had been “fired upon”, as this was stated at the enquiry. Lemp was by now close enough to see her silhouette. Something troubled him, as the radio operator, Hogel, later recalled that he had heard the distress call.

“I realized it could not be a troop transport but had passengers on board. I knew her name from the call sign – Athenia. Then the commander came to the radio room and asked for the Lloyds Register which listed all sea vessels and the various types. His fingers came to rest on the Athenia. He was, of course, shocked”.

A clear insight into what had gone through Lemps mind and his reaction. Soon afterwards the U-30 intercepted a plain language transmission from the ship identifying itself as the Athenia. Now that the Athenia had been transmitting, there was little need for Lemp to conceal his location, but he failed to radio back to base with his report, instead choosing to remain silent. Lemp knew full well the enormity of his blunder and of the consequences to Germany.

The ship sank with the loss of 112 passengers and crew. However, despite the fact that Lemp had murdered 28 US citizens, within hours Roosevelt had announced that his Government was preparing “a declaration of American neutrality”.

Lemp remained silent for 11 more days, finally calling in on September 14^th. But still he failed to mention the Athenia, instead he reported damage received in a confrontation with 2 destroyers after he had sunk the freighter Fanad Head, and to request permission to offload a wounded man in Iceland for urgent medical attention.

Lemp did not give any assistance to the survivors either, also contrary to the rules of engagement. Also, a few days layer, when he sank the Blairlogie, he did nothing there for survivors. (1) It is possible that he knew of the existence of the Norwegian freighter Knut Nelson in the vicinity and assumed they would come to the stricken ships aid. Going on his track record to date, I somehow do not think so. It is more likely that he just wanted to flee the scene as quickly as possible.

It was a horrendous mistake. Lemp had not taken time to correctly identify the target. He had only a couple of hours before been informed by U Boat Command that he was not on a war footing instead of a peacetime patrol, it is entirely possible that he panicked.

Lemp had disobeyed all his orders. His failure to offer assistance only made matters worse. He had simply run away. Most of the dead (figures vary by half dozen on different sources) had been trapped below deck in the 3^rd and tourist dining rooms when the U-30 struck. A familiar story when reading about loss of life at sea in passenger ships, the lower “classes” all suffered the worst. One eye witness described the decks as strewn with bodies and another told of trapped children in cabins below. Amongst the dead were 28 Americans, all civilian. Within 24 hours news of the Nazi outrage echoed around the world. The first day of the war and Germany had broken all the rules. It was described as an act of total war against civilians. This was a propaganda gift to the British who used it to its full extent. Foreign newspapers gave it front page reports.

(1) Brian Crowe, Orkneys, in an email in Nov 05 tells me that there is evidence that Lemp did in fact give assistance to the Blairlogie. See separate page BLAIRLOGIE. This is a newspaper cutting from The Staten Island Advance Sept 19th 1939 remarking on the survivors story and subsequent rescue by an American ship. Survivors report that Lemp did in fact give aid to those in the lifeboats.

When the first British reports were received the German government did not believe them. The Propaganda Ministry asked if the Kriegsmarine was responsible and was told by naval authorities that no U-Boats were in the area. On September 7^th, Grand Admiral Raeder stated that all U-Boats had been contacted and none was responsible for the disaster. This was also conveyed to the American ambassador. This statement was not entirely true, for several boats had not reported in. In fact, the Germans would not learn the facts until September 27 when the U-30 returned to Kiel Harbour.

The significance was not lost on Hitler. The first thing was to deny everything. According to Josef Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, it was in fact a torpedo from a British submarine that had hit the Athenia. Later he added that it was all a dirty trick by Winston Churchill to discredit Germany and to pull the United States into the war. Hitler was furious and imposed severe restrictions on all U-Boat operations. Admiral Doenitz, commander of the U-Boat arm, was to be frustrated by these restrictions for many months.

The next step which Hitler undertook was to send out an immediate order to the Kriegsmarine:

“The Fuhrer has forbidden attacks on passenger ships sailing independently or in convoy”.

No amount of official denials could convince the outside world that the loss of the SS Athenia was anything but a return to "German Barbarism", as the unrestricted submarine warfare of the First World War had been termed. Such moral limitations on submarine operations were not entirely logical. For a submarine, stealth is its most effective weapon. The Hague Convention agreements requiring submarines to surface and warn surface vessels, allowing crews to launch boats before attacking, were unrealistic. The British reaction was to immediately implement the convoy system and ordered all shipping to comply.

When the U-30 returned to Kiel, Lemp and his crew were given strict orders and sworn to absolute secrecy. They were not to mention anything at all to do with the incident at any time. But the U-30 had arrived in post with victory pennants displayed on her conning tower, one of which showed 14000 tons, the tonnage of the Athenia. The official U Boat Command War Diary makes no mention of the incident and Lemp was ordered to falsify his War Diary by rewriting two complete pages. An entry for any vessel of 14000 tons does not appear.

“Battle of the Atlantic – The six year long battle starts on the 3^rd September with the sinking of the liner Athenia by U-30 (Lt Lemp) northwest of Ireland. She was mistaken for an armed merchant cruiser, and her destruction leads the Admiralty to believe unrestricted submarine warfare has been launched. Full convoy plans are put into operation, but in fact Hitler has ordered the U Boats to adhere to international law and after the Athenia incident, tightens controls for a while”

Athenia’s sister ship Letitia did in fact later serve as an Armed Merchant Cruiser but was later converted back and eventually ended the war as a Hospital Ship.

This is the names of the 19 crewmembers lost from the Athenia sinking. The first 18 are on the Tower Hill Memorial. The last one is Canadian and is commemorated in Halifax Nova, Scotia.

CARLIN , Assistant Steward, JAMES, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 56. Panel 12.

DONNELLY , Assistant Steward, IAN, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 26. Panel 12.

DONNELLY , Assistant Steward, JOHN, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 23. Panel 12.

ELDER , Donkeyman, JAMES, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 45. Husband of Mary Elder, of Cambuslang, Lanarkshire. Panel 12.

FORDYCE , Watchman, CHARLES, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 65. Son of George and Jessie Fordyce; husband of Mary Penelope Fordyce. Panel 12.

GALLAGHER , Greaser, HUGH, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 23. Son of Thomas Gallagher, and of Isabel Gallagher, of Glasgow. Panel 12.

HARROWER , Stewardess, ALISON, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 41. Daughter of William and Hannah Foster Denny Harrower. Panel 12.

HOGG , Assistant Steward, JOHN, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 51. Husband of Sarah A. Hogg, of Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Panel 12.

JOHNSTON , Stewardess, MARGARET, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 41. Daughter of James and Christina Johnston, of Glasgow. Panel 12.

KENT , Assistant Steward, JOHN, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 50. Husband of Jessie Darroch Kent, of Bridgeton, Glasgow. Panel 12.

LAWLER , Stewardess, JESSIE, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 60. Wife of Patrick Lawler, of Sholing, Southampton. Panel 12.

MARSHALL , Bellboy, JAMES, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 15. Panel 12.

MORRISON , Steward, DAVID, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 32. Panel 12.

McDERMOTT , Assistant Steward, MICHAEL J., S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 33. Panel 12.

McJARROW , Printer, JOHN, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 39. Panel 12.

McKEOWN , Steward, JOHN, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 47. Husband of M. E. McKeown, of Dunoon, Argyllshire. Panel 12.

PROVAN, Barber, DAVID, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 65. Son of Alec and Margaret Provan; husband of Martha Provan, of Glasgow. Panel 12.

THOMSON , Assistant Steward, SAMUEL, S.S. Athenia (Glasgow). Merchant Navy. 3rd - 4th September 1939. Age 45. Husband of Julia McCafferty Thomson. of Glasgow. Panel 12.

Registers and Indexes of Birth, Marriages & Deaths of Passengers & Seamen at Sea.

The records are held in what is known as BT files and are very important you remember the file No. The file you need to access is "BT334" This will give you the following information:

Name of ship, official No. port of registry, date of death, place of death, name of deceased, sex, age, rating/rank, nationality and birthplace, last place of abode, cause of death and remarks.

Outward Bound Passenger Lists 1890-1960 are held in BT27 an gives information on passenger lists of people leaving the United Kingdom by sea kept by the Board of Trade's Commercial and Statistical Department and its successors. There is also BT32 covering 1906-1951 Registers of passenger lists kept by the Board of Trade's Commercial, Labour and Statistical Department and its successors.

Please note the PRO will not search their files for you, if you are unable to attend in person, they will give the names of independent researchers who will do it for an hourly fee (very expensive).

Athenia

Liner (1f/2m). L/B: 526.3 bp × 66.4 (160.4m × 20.2m). Tons: 13,465 grt. Hull: steel. Comp.: cabin 516; 3rd 1,000. Mach.: steam turbines, 2 screws; 15 kts. Built: Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd., Govan, Scotland; 1923.

Athenia was built for the Anchor-Donaldson Limited's service between Britain and Canada, and for most of her career sailed between either Glasgow or Liverpool and Quebec and Montreal, with occasional stops at Halifax and St. John. At the height of the winter season she frequently operated as a cruise ship. In 1935, the Anchor Line went out of business, and her owners became the Donaldson Atlantic Line Ltd.

Athenia was the first British ship sunk by a German U-boat in World War II. Germany had invaded Poland on September 1 and Britain declared war on Germany at 1115 on September 3, shortly after Athenia sailed from Glasgow en route to Montreal with 1,100 passengers embarked, more than 300 of whom were American citizens.

My thanks to MacKenzie Gregory for the above Athenia Lists.
His site is here: http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/

April 07 - An Email: Just read your article with pleasure – my mother Kathleen Ferguson and sisters Kathleen Ferguson (aged 9) and Margaret (almost 3) where on the ill fated ship returning to Canada after visiting family in South Shields. Margaret is still living. I believe there was a photo of her being rescued by a seaman in the Toronto Star (he has her tucked into his life vest). I believe that they were rescued by a destroyer and taken to Glasgow. My mother had a back injury. Her greatest fear in the weeks following were of having to set out again across the Atlantic with two children. My mother said that they never went below deck on the second voyage. It must have been very cold to travel the North Atlantic at the end of October in blackout. My father waited for news of their survival for days and at first only one Kathleen Ferguson was listed because it was thought that there was a duplication. I will be ordering your book. Thanks so much – Gwen Chmilar.

Finally, in researching a question put to me by a reader of this page I discovered that, in WW1, a ship known as the SS Athenia, was sunk in the same place,
with the loss of 15 lives, off Inishtrahull, Eire, by a U Boat in 1917!!! The ship bearing the same name was built in 1904. Strange coincidence!

I got the above information from many sources, some more accurate than others. Some can be wildly inaccurate such as a Liverpool Museum site that states that the U-110 sank the Athenia. NOT, I might add, the one listed below. However, the main sites that I can recommend are:

The photograph of the Halifax Herald is on display in HQ Western Approaches, Rumford Street, Liverpool that has its own web site at:

January 2006: The Orcadian, an Orkneys Newspaper, has published an article on the Athenia, in particular, a lifeboat of hers. Click on the link above to view the article.