SS Athy (CTA)

SS Athy was a British ocean liner operated by the Azure Transatlantic Company. She was put into service in 1894. Built by the O'Neill shipyards in Dublin, she was the second of the two twin Dundalk-class ships, completely identical externally, with different interior furnishings. Dundalk was the cheaper option amongst the two, whilst Athy was more lavish.

History
Powered by turbines, Athy, unlike her predecessors, wasn't meant to be a test-run. It and Dundalk were to be identical, with a bigger focus on internal changes. Both ships were designed to be cheaper then their main rivals as a less expensive option, with Athy prioritizing comfort and Dundalk prioritizing speed. Slightly longer then the Cork-Class ships, their internal design was re-enforced to try and make the ships more immune to weather and to collisions. Largely based on Fingal, they had a greater height, and due to the more efficient engines, did away with some of the vents. In addition, the funnels were strengthened to make them more resilient to damage, and given a segmented black paint job to mimic Cunard.

Joining Dundalk on the Transatlantic route, Athy also served the Mediterranean in Autumn, ferrying rich passengers around from Gibraltar to Athens. The poster-child of the CTA, Athy starred in a short, silent film about a couple, though only full-view exterior shots were used in the 1910 production. All the internal sets were built so as to not disrupt cruises. Starting to feel old in comparison with her larger competitors, and with Sinann, the ship was retrofitted with more lavish furniture in 1911, prizing itself as an exclusive voyage for the wealthy. As such, most of the former third class areas were converted into storage.

After the sinking of Fingal, the crew of Athy and Dundalk were trained on how best to evade submarines and outfitted with extra collapsable lifeboats, though the end of unrestricted submarine warfare in April of 1916 after Dundalk having escaped a U-Boat led the crew to become overconfident.

Sinking
An extended crossing meant to mark 20 years since the concept of the two ships came into being, Athy was in the process of a voyage from New York to Rome to Southampton, carrying mostly American passengers, with some British and Italians being the next largest groups. On 17th March, 1917, one of the ships coal bunkers caught fire, and the ship slowed slightly whilst the ships firefighters dealt with it. Going against company regulation, Captain Edmund Biggrun decided to continue sailing at ahead full.

At 7 PM as the sun began setting, Athy sailed around the coast of Sicily when a massive explosion rocked the third boiler room, underneath the aft funnel. positioned next to this was the rear coal bunker, where the fire had been put out. A massive amount of coal dust was kicked up, reaching explosive concentrations when it settled, causing an violent boom in the ship, sending stream and fire shooting out of the aft funnel, much to the shock and horror of the passengers, who'd been up on deck. Burning debris from the boiler room rained down on the boat deck, setting fire to it, whilst knocking two lifeboats completely off their davits into the water. Captain Biggrun ordered a full stop, followed quickly by the order to abandon ship when reports from the engine room claimed that water was spilling in over the bulkhead. At 7:12, the evacuation was well under-way, with lifeboats nearer to the bow being launched whilst firefighters grappled with the deck fire, trying to put it out. The heat began to bend and buckle the funnel, which looked dangerously close to falling, so the focus shifted to cutting the lifeboats free. At 7:14, a great groan echoed, and the aft funnel fell backwards, rolling off the side of the slightly listing ship, sending lifeboat 17, thankfully empty of passengers, down under the water.

As water began pouring over the stern at 7:15, the Captain ordered the crew to leave their posts, the Marconi wireless operators refusing and remaining to contact the Italian coast, before the power went out, forcing them to leave. As the fire spread to the decks below, the firefighters gave up on controlling it, focusing on evacuating the rich passengers, many of whom refused to leave their valuables. One notable exception allowed was pets - many of the rich had brought their dogs with them, and they were allowed in the lifeboats, owing to the reduced passenger count.

With the stern now underwater, the ship began to quickly go under, the water sucking the ship down with frightening speed. The remaining few bow boats were cut loose to slide down the deck, as launching at the angle would've been impossible. Sea water splashing up over the boat deck put out the fire, but the ship was too far gone. Water quickly shattered through the staircase's glass roof, whilst the ships forward funnel toppled over due to the angle, smashing up the deck as it fell. The bow went fully vertical as the stern pulled it down, before, 23 minutes after the explosion, the bow slipped below the waves. Minutes later, a fishing trawler fleet, owned by the Fineli family, picked up the lifeboats. Of the 22 lifeboats onboard, 3 sank, 10 were launched, and the remaining 9 were swamped with water, but remained afloat. Of the crew, most of the fatalities came from the engineers and stokers, with everyone in Boiler Room 3 dying, including the Chief Stoker. Some passengers and stewards perished when the water began to drag the ship down far faster, overwhelming them whilst they collected belongings or convinced passengers to leave the ship.

The sinking of Athy, coupled with the Lusitania years prior and the Zimmerman telegram, contributed to the US declaration of war, as it was widely reported at the time that a submarine had sunk the ship, though Austria and Germany denied this. Upon returning to Britain, Captain Biggrun was discharged from service. Whilst noting his organisation, in going against company policy he'd put the ship at risk - it should've stopped to deal with the fire due to its age instead of continuing onwards. Biggrun briefly worked as a fisherman, but died in the Great Influenza epidemic a year later at the age of 52.

Explosion Theories
Despite people being on deck, there were conflicting reports of what caused the explosion.
 * Torpedo - Due to fear mongering, this was the popular claim at the time, that a U-Boat had stalked the lone passenger ship to sink it in a cowardly manor. Some passengers claimed to see bubbles coming towards the ship, but the reports contradicted eachother.
 * Boiler Explosion - Due to the location and aftermath, some claimed that the ship's boilers had given out and exploded. This was disputed by the CTA, as it made out that the ship wasn't well maintained.
 * Mine - Similar to Britannic, some passengers, and later historians, believed a Mine was the most likely cause, owing to the lack of any known submarine activity in the area, along with the way the second explosion seemed delayed. Logs from SM U-70 after the war stated the area where Athy sank had been mined recently.

Historians generally agreed that the fire had weakened the hull already, and that the ships coal dust had been set alight, exploding and sending debris onto the deck through the funnel. The nature of the explosion would not be known for definite until the wreck was found in 1976.

Wreck
Fingal lays at 36.6 N, 14 E. around 500 meters deep. It was discovered on February 6th, 1976 by Jacques Cousteau, who'd recently found the Britannic. Evidence of mine anchors by the wreck proved that a mine had doomed the ship. The stern had been almost completely destroyed, the back end mangled where the stern had struck the seabed. Where the mine struck, the ship was almost in two, being held by parts of the hull only. In the bow, damage to the deck and the hull can be attributed to air pockets exploding under pressure. The bridge has been completely destroyed, likely torn off by the pressure. The internal sections are, however, mostly well preserved, and have been explored by submarines, especially through the open glass staircase. Both funnels lay aft of the wreck.