WW11 torpedoed and sunk off coast of Ireland

[Captain Kong]

Built as "Imperator" for the Hamburg-Amerika Line, she made her maiden voyage from Cuxhaven to New York on the 20th June 1913. From August 1914, she was in Hamburg harbour for the duration of the war. On the 5th May 1919 she was seized by US navy as a troop transport and in February 1920, she was handed over to the Shipping Controller, London as reparation for the sinking of the "Lusitania" and sold to the Cunard Line, where she bacame the company's flagship, later renamed "Berengaria". In 1934, Cunard and White Star Line merged and on the 3rd March 1938 Berengaria caught fire in New York harbour. On the 7th of November 1938, she was sold for scrap, following Cunard's introduction of the giants "Queen Mary" and "Queen Elizabeth" two years previously.

Between 1920 and the entry into service of the "Queen Mary" in 1936, the Berengaria was the pride of the Cunard fleet. The ship, however, was originally built for the Hamburg-Amerika Line at the Vulcan Werft shipyard at Hamburg on the river Elbe. She was originally named "Imperator" and was launched on 23 May 1912. As she was launched only 5 weeks after the "Titanic" disaster, changes had been made both in hull design and the equipment on board in order to increase safety. At the time, the "Imperator" was the world's largest ship.

During WWI the "Imperator" lay protected on the river Elbe. At the end of the war the Allied forces of occupation found the "Imperator" rusted, decaying and stuck in the mud. After serving as a troop transport until August 1919, she was transferred to Britain and it was made clear that the vessel would be managed by the Cunard Line. Retaining the name Imperator, she made her first voyage for Cunard on 11 December 1919 from New York to Southampton. On 21 February 1920 she made her first voyage from Liverpool to New York. She continued in this service but it was decided to change the name to "Berengaria".

She was converted from coal to oil burning engines and a complete overhaul was carried out by Armstrong Whitworth & Co. on the Tyne. The ship, however, was not without her fair share of problems. In August 1922 the liner struck a submerged object which damaged one of her propellers. Later the same year she lost 36 feet of guard rail in the Atlantic during heavy weather. For the next 6 years, however, she operated successfully on Cunard's express service in conjunction with the "Mauretania" and "Aquitania". During the early 1930's the ship went aground twice on the approaches to Southampton, although she suffered no real damage. 1933 saw another major overhaul for her in Southampton, during which the interior was upgraded. The withdrawal of the "Mauretania" in 1934 placed further pressure on "Berengaria" to operate more efficiently and in 1935 she set a record passage on the New York to Southampton route.

During an overhaul in Southampton in 1936, a fire broke out in the first class cabins on the starboard side of the ship. The fire was soon controlled and extinguished but there was considerable smoke and water damage. It was ascertained that the cause was again defective wiring, which was eventually to lead to her demise. She made Her final passage on the Southampton-Cherbourg-New York route on 23 February 1938. After she arrived in New York, on 3 March, a fire was discovered in the first class lounge. It took the ship's crew and firemen over 3 hours to bring the blaze under control. After officials had examined the ship it was decided that they could not give her clearance to embark passengers. The following day she sailed back to Southampton where it was discovered that faulty wiring had again been the cause of the fire. Throughout her life she had been pagued by fires caused by faulty wiring and as the cost of renovation would be so high it was decided to withdraw the "Berengaria" from service altogether on 23 March 1938. For the next few months she lay idle in Southampton dock until 19 October, when it was decided to dispose of her.

Sir John Jarvis, MP bought the ship for demolition on the Tyne at Jarrow for £108,000. She sailed from Southampton on December. The furniture and fittings were auctioned in January 1939 and over 200 Jarrow men were employed in breaking up the old ship. The outbreak of war, however, meant that the men were required elsewhere so it was not until 1946 that the remains of the hull were towed to Rosyth for the final process of dismantling. By this time few people were interested in the remains of an old liner that had been built in the Imperial Germany of 1913.

Launched 23rd May 1912, A G Vulcan, Hamburg
Commissioned 24th May 1913
Gross Tonnage - 52,226
Length Overall: 909 feet
Beam: 98 feet
Depth: 63 feet
Machinery: 4 turbines AEG-Vulcan
Speed: 23 knots service, 24 knots maximum
Passengers: 714 + 194 first class, 401 + 205 second class, 962 + 1772 third class, 1180 crew.

[Donal Fenlon]

There was an item on Irish Tele last week that the Athena was located off the Northern Irish coast .I believe it was one of the White Star fleet. It was torpedoed. I sailed myself with Shaw Savill from 1964-71. Donal Fenlon. I sailed on the Arabic,Megantic,Carnatic,Delphic,Illyric,Persic.

[Keith at Tregenna]

The 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.

The 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.

117 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. Wartime German authorities denied that one of their vessels had sunk the ship, and a German admission of responsibility did not come until 1946.

She was the second Donaldson ship of that name to be torpedoed and sunk off Inishtrahull by a German submarine; the earlier Athenia, was similarly attacked in 1918.

.

[Robert Kirkman]

That is quite a history. I was interested to read Sir John Jarvis bought the ship for demolition for £108,000 before 1939. According to the Bank of England inflation calculator £108,000 in 1939 is equivalent to £6.4 million in todays money. That was a huge price to pay for a ship for demolition even if it had been the pride of the Cunard fleet.
Sir John must have been a very wealthy man. What would it cost to build a ship like that today.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Thanks for returning, the update: Will look further, we do get tied up and reminders help a lot.

Keith.

[j.sabourn]

Re-reading through this post again, don’t know if I mentioned before but Ian.Malcolms book Shipping Company’s Losses of World War 2 is well worth keeping for reference. The company I served my time with and stayed for 11 years informed me of the true figures of the ships and crews that they alone lost. I sailed with a lot of survivors from these vessels without realising at the time and when you add up with many other companies shows the carnage of losses during the fighting.
This is Runcimans alone and the ship losses.
Alnmoor
Blythmoor
Castlemoor
Dalemoor
Eastmoor
Glenmoor
Jedmoor
Northmoor
Orangemoor
Pearlmoor
Vinemoor
Yorkmoor
Zurichmoor
Ships managed for the ministry of war transport
Empire Venture
Empire Beaumont
Empire Blessing
Empire Dawn
Empire Statesman
Ocean Vagabond
Samselbu
That’s 21 Ships say 40 Merchant seamen per ship that’s 840 men from one small tramp company with different stories to tell that is those who survived. The book itself gives a small account of the occurrence. May have put on before and if have apologies then it’s on twice. But all men of the many similar company’s should never be forgotten. JWS

[Robert Kirkman]

Hi Doc,
I finally made my pilgrimage to the West Coast of Ireland to the Island of Innishark where my dad's Merchant Navy ship the Barrister sank 4th January 1943, Well, I should say Innishbofin. Innishark is now an uninhabited island although very close to Innishbofin. I took the passenger ferry from Cleegan Bay to Innishbofin and had a lovely walk along the coastal path and from a high point looked down over Innishark. A local retired lobster fisherman knew the story of the Barrister and told me where the ship sank. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Ireland. I went Ryanair from Luton to Knock which took 1.05 hours £11.99p each way. I rented a comfortable three bedroom bungalow in a lovely rural location 10 minutes from Knock airport. Out of season it was only £60 per night for the whole bungalow. Anybody interested I can let you have contact details. I hired a Ford Fiesta at the airport and visited Galway, and Westport which is a lovely old world Irish town on my way to the ferry. Back from Cleegan Bay took the short drive to Renvyle House Hotel where the Barrister's brass bell hangs in the bar. Had a good chat with the barman and got to ring the Barrister's ships bell. The ferryman told me he knew a local who knew a lot about the Barrister and took my e-mail address. I hope to hear if he has anything new to add to what we already know. I never thought I would find out about my dad's ship and even less thought I would get to see where it sank off the West Coast of Ireland. Such a beautiful coastline but a cruel sea on the Atlantic which the locals call the Wild Atlantic Way. They say a cat has nine lives well my dad had three lives. One, he survived the Barrister, two, he survived a German V1 flying bomb in London and three when in fog he got out of his car to find the way a bus ran straight into the back of the car and it was a write off. I think he may have had a guardian angel and lived until he was 81. All the best and again thanks to all. If I hear from Ireland I will let you know.

[j.sabourn]

Those names you mention Robert am trying to visualise where they are in reference to Shannon. I did 3 tours over there working out of a small fishing port at the entrance to the River Shannon and not too far from Tralee. We were servicing an oil rig think it was the Sedco 107 , a 101 And a quarter nautical miles due west from there in the North Atlantic. Western Ireland what I saw of it was a beautiful country. Will have to try and find an atlas to see where those places you mention are, but think they are much further north. Cheers JWS

[Robert Kirkman]

Hi JWS
Cleegan Bay and the islands of Innishboffin and Innishark are a little north west of Galway on a map of Ireland. It is beautiful country. As a teenager I spent a holiday at the mouth of the Shannon and visited the Cliffs of Moher. I remember swimming in the sea but could not stay for long. The Atlantic was too cold for me. I prefer swimming in the the Mediterranean or the Aegean. Take care. Robert

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Robert
So glad that you managed to get there and I am sure it was not only a Buzz but also Emotional.
Hoping that you may also manage to get the CRS10 at some stage !
Al the best
Cheers