Athenia Was Torpedoed, Survivors Say

Northern Advocate, 6 September 1939, Page 8

Athenia Was Torpedoed, Survivors Say

Saw Submarine After Ship Hit Without Warning LONDON, September 5. RESCUE SHIPS ARRIVED AT GREENOCK, SCOTLAND, . CARRYING SURVIVORS PROM THE TORPEDOED LINER, AI'HENIA, Many of the survivors were injured, and were taken to hospital, . A seaman survivor stated that the Atlienia wus torpedoed without warning. ’ “After the explosion, the submarine came to the surface 100 yards off,” he added. “We put on lifebelts and went to boat stations,” said another survivor. “The submarine then dived from sight. “'Several times during the night we heard it. passing below the lifeboats. ’ ’ A survivor cf the torpedoed liner Athenia declared the German submarine fired two shells as the passengers were taking to the lifeboats.

Eye-Witnesses’ Stories

The first eye-witness’s account of the 1 sinking of the Athenia was given by a passenger on the yacht,. Southern Cross, one of the rescue ships. An SOS message was received and the' Southern Cross reached the Athenia at 2.30 a.m. in bright moonlight.

The excuse made in the case of the Lusitania, that she was carrying rifle ammunition in her hold, could not be made on this occasion.

Pour hundred survivors were takfen on board the Southern Cross, a heavy swell making rescue work difficult.

One of the lifeboats capsized near the stern of the Southern Cross. Bold sailors jumped into the water and rescued most of the occupants.

Another boat swamped near the bow.

The lifeboats were crammed to danger pdint, and some of the occupants were waist deep in water.

Women Pull Oars,

One .woman, after being rescued, suddenly screamed, “My baby,” and leaped back into the sea. Some of the people on the Athenia were killed by the first torpedo explosion,and others by falling decks.

Passengers were at dinner when the lights went out and ceilings crashed down. In the lifeboats, women pulled oars alongside men. Some were in the boats for ten hours.

It is now believed there were 1700 people on board, including a crew of 320.

There were 30 emigrants from Poland and Czechoslovakia.

300 Missing

The master, of the Athenia, Captain James Cook, in a wmeless message, reported that his ship had been torpedoed 250 miles west of Inishtrahull, an island off the northern coast of Ireland.

He added that the passengers and crew, with the exception of those killed by the explosion of the torpedo, had taken to the boats, and were being picked up by various ships. A wireless message received by the United Press in New York from the yacht Southern Cross states that 300 of the Athenia’s passengers are missing.

A message from Berlin states that the Foreign Office has informed the United States Charge D’Affaires that the report of the torpedoing of the Athenia is untrue, because the navy have been ordered to abide by international regulations for the conduct of warfare, and also there were no German warcraft in the area. Mostly Women and Children The Athenia had 34 German nationals aboard. It is understood that 75 per cent, of all the passengers were women and children, while company officials insist that there were 300 Americans from' Glasgow aboard. A message from Washington states that the Secretary of State (Mr Cordell Hull) and the acting Secretary for the Navy (Mr Robert Edison), conferred with President Roosevelt regarding the possibility of providing naval vessels to convoy American liners bringing Americans from Europe.

Later it was announced that no decision was reached.

Mr A. V. Alexander, who was First Lord of the Admiralty in the last Labour Government, speaking in the Hotise of Commons said horror, disgust and indignation would bo expressed by all sections of the population at the unpardonable outrage against the mercantile marine. Could Net Defend Herself

Earl Stanhope, until this week First Lord of the Admiralty, speaking in the House of Lords, said that in abrogating the German-Eritish Naval Treaty, Germany quite definitely lel'i untouched that part of the treaty relating to submarines, and its obligations were not rescinded.

The War Cabinet should deal with the matter with the utmost promptitude, Earl Stanhope added.

The Athenia was unarmed r.nd ha no possible means of defending ho: Self.