The Athenia was the first British ship to be sunk during the Second World War.

The Athenia was the first British ship to be sunk during the Second World War. The fact that she was an unarmed passenger ship that had left port before war broke out caused an international outcry. The Germans denied sinking her, refusing to admit the truth until after the war when the official files of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) were seized by the Allies.

On 1 September, before Britain and Germany went to war, the British passenger liner SS Athenia left Glasgow, calling at Liverpool and Belfast before heading across the Atlantic toward Montreal. On board were 1,103 passengers and 315 crew. On 3 September as the ship powered west past Rockall a radio message arrived giving the news that war had broken out. That message was followed by official orders from the British Admiralty to all British ships at sea.

Those orders said that all ships should proceed to their destinations at full speed, but that the ships should put out their lights so as not to be visible at night and should zig-zag in order to spoil the aim of any German warships, submarines or aircraft that might attack. Captain Cook of the Athenia knew the drill, having served in the First World War. He warned his passengers of the precautions to be taken, and in addition made sure that the lifeboats were ready for use, stocked with food and water and had emergency flares on board.

The Athenia as shown in her official portrait commissioned by the shipping line that owned her.

Meanwhile, the Athenia had at 4.30pm been sighted by Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp in command of U-30. He followed the ship as darkness fell. He later claimed that he thought the ship was a troopship, or perhaps an armed merchant ship. The fact that when night came Athenia did not show any lights convinced Lemp that she was a naval ship. At 7.40pm he fired two torpedoes, one of which hit the Athenia and exploded in the engine room.

The ship at once began to go down by the stern. Cook sent out a distress signal stating that his ship had been torpedoed. Three British destroyers arrived within a couple of hours. While one set about rescuing the survivors, the other two began a U-boat sweep to find the attacker. Lemp, however, had long since left the area.

Once all survivors were on board the rescue ships it was found that 98 passengers and 19 crew had died. The fact that 28 of the dead were American citizens caused the Germans to fear that the sinking might cause the USA to declare war. It was for this reason that the Germans denied the sinking and claimed that the ship must have hit a mine. Lemp changed the log of his U-boat to cover up the sinking.