Maritime record MWX1607 - Athen

Built in 1893 by Richardson, Stockton-on-Tees, the Athen was screw driven by three cylinder triple expansion engines and two boilers. She was owned by O Gatzens, Hamburg and her Master was H Rochling. She had a crew of 25.

Additional Construction Details: p deck 27ft; q deck 82ft.

She sank following collision with the SS THOR of Cardiff in wind conditions WSW force 2. (5)
From Cardiff to Rio Grande do Sol via Antwerp with patent fuel, collided with the SS THOR of Cardiff in a WSW 2 about eleven miles SW of Portland.(7)

A coal block has been recovered from this wreck. (Droit A/874).(6)
A porthole, a gauge, and a clock have been recovered from this wreck, 11 miles SW of Portland Bill. (Droit A/1347).(6)
A plate recovered from this wreck, 20 miles S of Weymouth. (Droit A/2841).(6)
Additional sources: LCR.1905 p7(d); LR 1904-5 No.1354(A).

Xxx
Wreck site and archaeological remains:

Horizontal Datum: OGB
Vertical Datum: LAT
Quality of Depth: ES
General Depth: 53 metres
Method of Fix: D

Sonar contact 50 20 36N 002 28 00W.

10-FEB-1960: Wreck in position 50 20 40N 002 27 18W.
18-MAY-1965: Least echo sounder 141 feet in general depth 174 feet. No scour. Seabed coarse sand.
22-JUL-1987: Wreck in 50 20 28N 002 27 33W is reported to be the Athens. (1)

08-SEP-1995: This is the wreck of the 'ATHEN'. The wreck was identified by the 'H.A.P.A.G' crest on crockery. The wreck is upright.
04-SEP-1996: The hull is intact but the decks have collapsed. The hull contains numerous 'PATENT CARDIFF' fuel blocks. Vessel identified by HAPAG pottery.
22-JUL-2003: Examined in 5020.788N, 0227.396W [WGD] using DGPS. The least echosounder depth was 45.0m in a general depth of 53m. No scour. Length 85m. Width 13m. Side scan sonar height 7.5m. The wreck is orientated 072/252 degrees with the bows towards 072 degrees. Moderate magnetic anomaly. The wreck is intact and upright. (2)(3)

Charted by the UKHO as 'ATHEN' in 50 20.788N, 002 27.396W (WGS84). (2)(3)

A coal block has been recovered from this wreck. (Droit A/874) (6)

A porthole, a gauge, and a clock have been recovered from this wreck, 11 miles SW of Portland Bill. (Droit A/1347) (6)

A plate recovered from this wreck, 20 miles S of Weymouth. (Droit A/2841) (6)

A brass ship's name plate, 35cm x 20cm, with text: "Richardson Duck & Co., Shipbuilder, No.406, 1895, Stockton-on-Tees"; an oval china serving plate with crest: "DD 4 ZH Sunda Linie"; a ceramic water purifier 42cm x 26cm diameter with text: "est 1830/slade brownlow/cont." recovered from the ATHEN 12 miles SW of the Bill of Portland. (Droit 253/04) (8)

Wreck event and documentary evidence:

Sank following collision with the SS THOR of Cardiff in wind conditions WSW force 2. (5)

Destination Rio Grande do Sul. (5)

From Cardiff to Rio Grande do Sul via Antwerp with patent fuel, collided with the SS THOR of Cardiff in conditions WSW force 2,about eleven miles SW of Portland. (7)

Built: 1893 (5); 1895 (8)
Builder: Richardson, Duck & Son (5); Richardson, Duck & Co. (8)
Where Built: Stockton-on-Tees (5)(8)
Propulsion: Screw driven, 3 cylinder triple expansion engine (5)
HP: 201 (5)
Boilers: 2 (5)
Construction: poop-deck 27ft; quarter-deck 82ft (5)
Master: H Rochling (5)
Crew: 25 (5)
Owner: O Gatzens, Hamburg (5); DD 4 ZH Sunda Linie (8)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
LCR.1905 p7(d); LR 1904-5 No.1354(A)

<0> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck 221/99 (Unpublished document). SWX73.

<0> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck 623/00 (Unpublished document). SWX206.

<0> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck A/0874 (Unpublished document). SWX364.

<0> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck A/1347 (Unpublished document). SWX418.

<0> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck A/2841 (Unpublished document). SWX563.

<0> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 11 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<0> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 889 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<1> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<2> United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, Wreck report, 18507 (Monograph). SDO20514.

<3> SeaZone Hydrospatial, Digital marine geographic information derived from SeaZone Hydrospatial, 21-Nov-17 (Digital archive). SDO20540.

<5> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<6> 2001, Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Receiver of Wreck Amnesty, 23-Jan to 24-Apr-2001 (Index). SWX4542.

<7> Board of Trade, 1907, Parliamentary papers 1907, Board of Trade Casualty Returns 1906, p135(1275) (Monograph). SWX4855.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 832466 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 11 2024 2:36PM