The SS Athenic was a British passenger liner built by Harland & Wolff shipyards for the White Star Line

White Star Line

The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...

 in 1901. In 1928, she came to a Norwegian company and was renamed the SS Pelagos. Torpedoed in 1944, she was refloated the following year and continued to serve until her demolition in 1962.

History

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

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 and launched on 17 August 1901. The Athenic was the first of three identical sister ships which were built for the profitable freight and passenger service from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. The other two were the SS Corinthic

SS Corinthic (1902)

The SS Corinthic was a British passenger ship which was built in 1902 by Harland & Wolff and launched for the British shipping companies White Star Line and the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. She was the second in a series of three sister ships that were built for passenger and cargo service to New...

 (1902) and the SS Ionic (1903). They were the first orders of the White Star Line after its takeover by J. P. Morgan

J. P. Morgan

John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...

's International Mercantile Marine Company (IMMC).
Like her sister ships, the Athenic had two eight-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines powered by Harland & Wolff, working the ship's two propellers that delivered 604 nominal horsepower and giving a service speed of 14 knots. The passenger capacity of 121 passengers were in first class, 117 second class and 450 third class. The ship was equipped with electric lighting and cooling chambers for transport of frozen meat, specifically lamb meat.

On 13 February 1902, she sailed into London on her maiden voyage to Wellington via the Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

, Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 and Hobart

Hobart

Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

. She remained on the New Zealand route until the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

See also

• SS Corinthic
  SS Corinthic (1902)
  The SS Corinthic was a British passenger ship which was built in 1902 by Harland & Wolff and launched for the British shipping companies White Star Line and the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. She was the second in a series of three sister ships that were built for passenger and cargo service to New...
  
   — sister ship to the SS Athenic
• SS Ionic — sister ship to the SS Athenic