SS ''Athenic'' was a British passenger liner built by

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

shipyards for the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...

in 1901.

History

The 12,234-ton steamship ''Athenic'' was built at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and launched on 17 August 1901. ''Athenic'' was the first of three identical

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s which were built for the profitable freight and passenger service from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The other two were and . They were the first orders of the White Star Line after its takeover by

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. As the head of the banking firm that ...

's IMM Co. On 12 February 1902, she sailed from London on her maiden voyage to Wellington. After calling at Plymouth on 15 February before heading south, she had onboard 164 passengers; 29 First Class, 25 Second Class and 140 Third Class, a majority of them English immigrants. Following a route similar to that of White Star's Jubilee Class service to Australia, ''Athenic'' and her sisters provided service to South Africa and Tasmania as well via the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, calling at

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

before crossing the Indian Ocean, after which she called at the Tasmanian capital of

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

before making port at Wellington on 27 March. Like her sister ships, ''Athenic'' had two eight-cylinder quadruple expansion steam-powered engines by Harland & Wolff, working the ship's two

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s that delivered 604

nominal horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...

and giving a service speed of . Her passenger capacity was 121 first class, 117 second class and 450 third class. She was equipped with electric lighting and cooling chambers for transport of frozen meat, specifically lamb. When war was declared between the United Kingdom and Germany in August 1914, ''Athenic'' was in Wellington, New Zealand, and was requisitioned as a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

under the British Liner Requisition Scheme. On 23 September 1914 she was in Lyttelton (Christchurch) in the South Island of New Zealand, where as one of the transports carrying what was known collectively as th
"Main Body"
she took on board the following units of the

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

: Headquarters, Mounted Rifles Brigade, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regt. (2 squadrons) and the Canterbury Infantry Battalion (less 1 Company). The Officer Commanding Troops was Colonel A.H. Russell. In total ''Athenic'' carried 54 officers, 1,259 men and 339 horses. She proceeded to Wellington and berthed there till 16 October 1914, when it was judged safe to depart. She sailed across the globe, sailing per convoy by way of Hobart, Albany, Colombo, Aden and finally arriving in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

to disembark the soldiers on 3 December 1914. SS ''Athenic'' was designated at that time as being (His Majesty's New Zealand Transport) HMNZT 11. She was the largest troopship ever sent from New Zealand transporting New Zealand forces to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. ''Athenic'' acted several other times as a transport throughout World War I, with a new number for each voyage she undertook. A-00642 Hvalkokeri PELAGOS

Throughout the course of her career, ''Athenic'' carried 26,274 passengers to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960. In 1928, she came to a Norwegian company and was renamed SS ''Pelagos''. Torpedoed in 1944, she was refloated the following year and continued to serve until her demolition in 1962.

References

Sources

Ship Description from ''The Ships List''''Athenic'' records
at

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...

Details of ''Athenic''s service as a New Zealand transport throughout WWI
From NZ Transport Ships at the Flotilla Australia website.

External links

Several interior images of ''Athenic''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athenic 1901 ships Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Belfast Ships of the White Star Line Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built by Harland and Wolff Captured ships