In the mid Atlantic on Sept. 19, 1915 a fire broke out on the Greek passenger ship Athinai. Built in 1908 in Middlesborough, England by Sir Raylton Dixon & Co. Ltd., she was the fifth ship bought by the National Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. of Greece (National Greek Line). The ship was original owned by the Hellenic Transatlantic Steam Navigation Co., but in 1914 that company went bankrupt and she was sold. At 420' long with a beam of 52' she could carry 300 first and second class and 2,000 steerage passengers.

Used on the Greece to New York route she was involved in a health scare in 1914 when she arrived at New York with three people who had cerebro-spinal meningitis. The ship was impounded after a lien was filed by the
Health Officer of the Port of New York for putting the public at risk. She sat idle from her arrival date of
Feb. 28 until Aug. 23, 1914 when she was finally released.

Her final voyage began at New York on Sept. 16, 1915 but three days out her captain sent a distress signal
which was picked up by the Anchor Line's SS Tuscania. According to reports fire had broken out in four
holds simultaneously and the crew fought the blaze for up to 36 hours. However the fire would not die and
the decision was made to abandon the ship. Tuscania took 341 and the Roumanina Prince took the remaining
61 and returned them to New York while the Athinai was left, burning from stem to stern, to the whims of
the sea. Several different reports claim that all were saved however, some reports say one died when he
jumped overboard, while another report states that one Tomasco Sotaniou died from a heart attack.

© 2007 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

Survivors from the Athinai seen onboard the Tuscania.