War is cruel and bloody, and all war maniacs are vicious and untrustworthy. The lives and blood of more than a hundred victims more than half a century ago have enlightened people: Crazy imperialists have always been accustomed to treachery, tearing up their promises and breaking their promises, exposing their fierce faces, and carrying out surprise attacks. Therefore, in a stormy world, we must not sit back and relax. Vucic, the great anti-fascist fighter of Czechoslovakia, left a precious proverb before he was brutally killed: "People, I love you!" Be wary! ”
On September 2, 1939, the day after the outbreak of the Second World War, the docks of Liverpool, a famous city on the west coast of britain, were bustling with people. A 13,581-ton regular passenger ship, the Athenia, berthed quietly at the dockside, preparing for a voyage to Canada.
Captain Cook stood on the helm and majestically grasped the handle of the whistle. "Uh-huh-", the loud whistle echoed through the harbor and echoed in the clear sky. Suddenly, thousands of send-offs were excited. Some waved hats and handkerchiefs, some shouted wildly in their voices, some used auspicious words such as "smooth sailing" to bless relatives and friends who were about to leave, and some bowed their heads and wiped the tears of sad parting. The deck of the ship was also crowded with people, many of them innocent children. Perhaps because of the first voyage, about to enjoy the joy of the sea journey, the joy of the joy is really comforting.
Amid the high and low sound of the band's blowing, the "Athenia" slowly left the dock and sailed to sea. It bypasses the Isle of Man and heads straight north into the North Sea Strait, sailing along the coast of Northern Ireland.
On the morning of 3 September, the BBC suddenly broadcast the news of Britain's declaration of war with Germany, and the sudden news caused uneasiness among the passengers of the "Asinya". They gathered in groups of three or five and argued fiercely: "Should the Athenia return, or continue to its destination?" Most passengers agreed with the latter on the grounds that the "Athenia" was an unarmed passenger ship that would not be attacked, and that the limited number of Nazi German submarines would never reach here across thousands of miles.
As the sun set, mist rose on the sea, and the sky seemed to pull up a gray curtain. Captain Cook sat alone in his cabin for dinner, his heart hanging heavily on the safety of the ship's 1,417 passengers, in view of Britain's declaration of war on Germany. He wasn't as naïve as some passengers were, he was an elder who had endured many vicissitudes. He will not forget the bitter lessons of the First World War, and he still remembers the viciousness of German submarines. Therefore, he has instructed the duty officers to redouble their vigilance against enemy submarines and to ensure that the ships are well controlled before sunset.
First Officer Copeland entered the captain's room and reported that he had just checked the light control, that all portholes on board had been tightly obscured, and that all doors leading to the main deck had been covered with double canvas or simply closed. After the report, he left the captain's quarters to dine with the passengers. Three pairs of Portius served as a value changer during dinner. In order to strengthen the vigilance, the ship sent an additional lookout post. The Asinha broke the waves at a speed of 15 knots, and Portius stood on the bridge and watched closely ahead. He looked around, and there was no trace of any ships on the surface of the sea. Between heaven and earth, except for the "roaring" sound emitted by the wave hitting the hull, there was no sound.
The commander of the German submarine force, Dönitz, drew up a submarine battle plan before the outbreak of war and sent his submarines to sea. As soon as he received the notice of the start of the war, he immediately sent the news to all his submarines that had been deployed at sea in a radio code.
When the U-30 received a radio signal from Dönitz, it was cruising the sea near Northern Ireland. Captain Lump, a stocky man with a big head and a face full of flesh, a fierce look. He was deeply surprised that Britain had declared war on Germany so early. However, he and his crew were ready for battle. At dusk, he reclined comfortably in a chair in the officer's dining room, reminiscing about a relatively sumptuous dinner just now. Just as he was calmly closing his eyes and recuperating, suddenly, from the bridge came an urgent report: "The ship has been found on the water!" ”
Awakened by this sudden report, Lump began to feel a little displeased, then stood up and walked toward the bridge. He lifted his telescope and, through the dim glimmer of dusk, faintly saw the silhouette of a large single chimney ship. It resembled a merchant ship, but it resembled a transport ship of the British Navy, and there were lights on it. Dönitz had warned all German submarine captains that Britain might have armed all its ships.
As Remp watched the large ship slowly approach, the contents of Article II of the London Naval Treaty flashed through his mind: in the course of a battle to attack a merchant ship, submarines must comply with the rules of international law regarding surface ships. In particular, it should be pointed out that no warship, whether surface or submarine, is allowed to sink or incapacitate the passengers or crew of the merchant ship unless it repeatedly refuses to stop sailing in defiance of warnings or refuses to board the vessel for inspection.
Of course, this treaty also contains provisions on the prohibition of arming merchant ships. Remp was well aware that the London Naval Treaty had been recognized by Germany in 1936. But the treaty was nothing more than a dead letter for the fascist aggressors. In Lemp's view, the ship in front of him, whether armed or not, sailed without showing lights, which in itself was suspicious. So he made up his mind: "Sink it and make it the first ship to be sunk in this war." He ordered the deputy commander: "Dive to the depth of the periscope, and all the crew enter the battle position." ”
At about 7 p.m. on September 3, night began to unfold as the Athena sailed 200 nautical miles northwest of Northern Ireland. Dinner had passed, and many passengers came to the deck with pleasure. Some take a leisurely walk in the cool sea breeze; some stand and look at the sea at night with great interest; and there are several couples in love who snuggle up to the railing and talk warmly. Because of the long period of peace and purity, coupled with the fact that they have not left a shadow of war in their memories, they have not tasted the true meaning of war fear and cruelty. Out of a sense of responsibility, the crew had to be vigilant. Three pairs of Portius were still standing on the bridge, searching the surface of the sea closely, but found no suspicious signs.
In fact, at this moment, a nautical mile and a half away from the "Athena", a slender periscope protruded from the water, and the shining lens was like the eyes of a wolf peering at the prey, constantly turning, slowly approaching the "Athena". It is the "U-30" submarine. Facing the behemoth of the Athenia, the captain thought: This is undoubtedly a large ship, its black sideboard showing a monotonous pale gray in the twilight, and the white superstructure and high chimney are soft into a dead gray silhouette. There was not a single light on board.
Through the periscope, Remp followed the Athena closely. He calculated its course and speed. The instrument is turning, and the dial makes a "whirring" sound. "Ready to fire all the torpedoes!" Lemp gave the order. I looked up at the astronomical clock, and the time was 19:35. At this time, the submarine "U-30" was 1456 meters away from the "Athena". After a few minutes, with the "Ready- Put!" With the sound of the password, 3 torpedoes jumped out of the submarine's torpedo tube and ran straight to the "Athena".
As Remp directed the submarine to dive and sail away from the Athenia, he heard the noise direction finder operator report: "The torpedo is running normally and is heading for the target; aha! A torpedo hit! Captain. Almost at the same time, there was a "bang" sound of a torpedo hitting the hull of the Athenia. The noise direction finder operator quickly removed his headphones, and without having to report to the captain, he could now hear the deafening torpedo explosion. A tall column of water rose up next to the side of the "Athenia", and the shock wave of the explosion shook the submarine violently.
Once again, Remp raised the submarine to periscope depth. He saw that the stern of the ship had sunk into the water. However, the view is blocked by the smoke. He still hadn't figured out what kind of boat it was. "Surface!" Lemp ordered. The submarine "U-30" slowly sailed towards the "Athena".
At this moment, a violent explosion occurred at the bottom of the stern stunned Portius. "What the hell is going on?" He wondered incomprehensibly. He looked back at the stern of the ship and saw a column of water mixed with smoke and debris rising from Cargo Hold Five. The huge "Athenia" suddenly jumped out of the water, and then "pounced" - fell into the water, constantly bumping, shaking, and turning to the right. Portius suddenly woke up and hurried to the command indicator to inform the cabin to stop. Then he closed the watertight door below deck and grabbed the handle of the whistle. The whistle signals that the entire crew is in place. At this moment, the strong explosion was like a sharp sword that almost cut the "Athenia" at the waist. The ship was in a mess. Passengers screamed and swarmed onto deck. The most pitiful were the women and children, who were the weakest in the crowd, some of whom died tragically at the feet of the chaos.
First Officer Copeland heard the explosion and instinctively ran to the stern. He had to estimate the extent of the damage and report to the captain. As he walked down the stairs down the deck, he saw a submarine near the starboard side breaking through the water. Copeland scolded viciously and walked breathlessly to the bottom of the ship, ready to verify the damage. He found that the Asinya was heavily tilted and was sinking, and the sea water was almost filling the ground cabin. The watertight bulkhead between the ground floor cabin and the engine room has been broken, and the sea is rapidly flooding, which is very serious. Obviously, it is impossible for the ship to regain control. Copeland hurried to the bridge with a heavy heart and explained the critical situation to the captain.
"Get ready to abandon the ship! Barnett. Captain Cook ordered, his rough voice full of pity. Copeland went to hoist the lifeboat. Captain Cook ordered the radio operator to send a "sos" distress signal, and the operator slapped the following message with Morse code: "The 'Asinya' was hit by a torpedo, 56° 42 ' N, 14 ° 05 ' west." At first, he had no contact with the British mainland, and later made contact with the Norwegian oil tanker CNUT Nelson. The tanker was only 45 nautical miles away from the Athenia, and immediately turned around to help when it received the signal.
At about 10 p.m., Copeland reported to the captain that all the surviving passengers had left the ship. Captain Cook recalled a lifeboat, and the last 22 crew members climbed over the shattered side of the Athenia and boarded it. Captain Cook was the last to leave the ship. When the lifeboat left the passenger ship, he had tears in his eyes.
On the night of the catastrophe, only a few stars in the sky shone a faint glimmer from the clouds. On the vast and dark sea, there are some drowning boats and lifeboats full of passengers floating near and far, "Help! Help! A series of heart-wrenching shouts echoed in the vast night sky.
Suddenly, a storm swept across the Atlantic Ocean, which lasted half an hour back and forth. When the rain had cleared and a bright moon had sprinkled its cool silver glow on the sea, Captain Cook saw that his beloved "Athena" was still half-sunken and half-floating on the surface, ready to slide to its final graveyard. Captain Cook ordered several senior crew members to gather the sporadic lifeboats together for help. Suddenly, an answering flare rose from a lifeboat. Near midnight, the tanker CNUT Nelson was in sight. Its appearance immediately brought life to people who were almost desperate.
At about 9 p.m., the yacht Southern Cross reported that it was coming towards the Athenia. The American merchant ship Flint City also sailed to the site of the accident after hearing the news. Radio stations ashore had reported the death of the Asinya to the British Navy. As a result, 3 destroyers sailed from Londonderry at full speed. At 2:30 a.m. on the 4th, the snow-white shining "Southern Cross" appeared on the horizontal line. Soon," Cnut Nelson said. The Ship and the Southern Cross were engaged in intense rescue work.
Captain Cook's lifeboat was the second one rescued by the CNUT Nelson. Until 4 a.m., rescue efforts had been going relatively smoothly. However, at about 4 o'clock, a lifeboat unfortunately crashed into the oil tanker's violently agitated propeller. 10 people in distress fell into the water, some were killed by huge paddles, and some were caught in the turbulent water whirlwind and never floated again.
At dawn. The CNUT Nelson, Southern Cross and Flint City rescued more than 1,000 people. Subsequently, three British destroyers "Fame", "Erteklera" and "Guard" also arrived at the site of the accident and engaged in rescue work.
At 11 a.m. on September 4, the British passenger ship "Athena", a British passenger ship of more than 13,500 tons, was finally buried on the bottom of the sea. It was the first ship to be sunk in World War II, a victim under the butcher's knife of fascism, and 112 people, including 28 American citizens, died, 8 of them women and children.
Captain Remp of the U-30 submarine did not report the sinking of the passenger ship "Athenia" to Dönitz in time, and only made a truthful report after he returned to the base. Dönitz assigned Remp to personally report the details of the incident to Commander-in-Chief Of the Navy, Raeder. Externally, however, the propaganda apparatus of fascist Germany not only denounced that the "Athenia" was sunk by a German submarine, but also falsely accused it of being deliberately sunk by the British themselves, saying that Britain was trying to plant stolen goods on Germany and thus dragging the United States into the vortex of war.
It was not until the end of the war that the German war criminals, in the face of conclusive evidence, had to admit that the perpetrators of the "Athenia" tragedy were none other than their group of dehumanizing devils.