Part of the
Acorn Archive
Hearts of Oak
Athel Line
Ships
Athelchief
3 vessels of this name
1 ATHELCHIEF
ON
147325
Built
1925 Caledon S.B.& E. Co. Ltd., Dundee, Scotland
7595
grt, 4499 net, 11,730 tdwt
460ft
9ins x 59ft 3ins x 33ft 5ins
Motor
Tanker
Motor
by J.C. Kincaid. Co.Ltd.: 2 Diesel 4 T.
Cyl x 2 630
Call
Sign: LJYC
1938
Sold renamed M/T ASTRELL Norwegian
Owner:
Skibs A/S Preba
Manager:
Prebensen & Blakstad, Risør
1942
Under Captain Nils C.Taraldsen, ASTRELL
had departed Curaçao 4th Nov 1942 for UK via New York with a cargo
of 10,500 tons fuel oil whilst in convoy TAG 18. She was torpedoed by U-129 at
0811hrs, November 5th 1942, position 12 21N / 69 21W. ASTRELL broke
in two and was immediately set on fire, the captain gave orders to abandon
ship. Most of the crew took to the boats, some of the survivors jumped
overboard and were later picked up by the boats. The crew of 42 had survived
and were picked up 3 hours later and taken to Aruba and Curaçao the same day. A
British gunner died in the explosion.
Full
story on http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/astrell.html
Athelchief(1)
Photograph Courtesy of Lillesand Sjømannsforening
http://www.lillesand-sjomannsforening.no/sjohistorie/skipsregister/skipvisen
Athelchief
1925
2 ATHELCHIEF
GSN
20024126; ON 166281
Built
1939 as the KONGSTEN by Barclay Curle & Co, Glasgow
(Yard No.671) for Rafen & Loennechen, Tønsberg
Tanker;
Engines by shipbuilder
Tonnage:
10051 grt ; 6014 nrt
519
feet 4ins x 66 feet 8ins x 26 feet 10 ins
Propulsion:
oil 2SA, 4cyl, 4750bhp, machinery aft
1939
Sold to United Molasses Co and renamed ATHELCHIEF.
1939 2nd December. Collided in convoy with the British ship
CHANCELLOR
( Crown Line fleet ). CHANCELLOR was taken in
tow but sank with no casualties.
1953
Sold to Panama renamed WEST RIVER.
1955
Sold to Westriver Ore Transports Ltd, London renamed WESTRIVER.
1956
Converted to ore carrier.
1959
Purvis Shipping Co, London.
1962 Sold to Lebanon renamed YANXILAS. Registered: Beirut
1969
scrapped at Kure.
Athelchief (2)
3 ATHELCHIEF
12,041
grt
Built
1958 S. A. Cockerill, Hoboken
Launched
as ASTROPALITIS
Completed
as ATHELCHIEF.
1974
Sold to Kyriakou Shipping Co, Cyprus renamed ATHENIAN STAR
1975 20th January Suffered a hull fracture on voyage Rotterdam
to New York
in
heavy weather, off Portsmouth Harbour, resulting in an oil spill. Position 43 00 N / 59 30 W; 17,000 barrels of Arab medium crude
spilled. Ship DECISIVE attended the crippled
ship. David Turner and Bruce Chapman write : One
event stands out in my mind was in a blizzard that winter we kept Greek tanker
Athenian Star from sinking, what a night. She had popped a plate just above the
water line. The P60 pumps an eductors worked overtime that night. The salt ice
and oily decks made it interesting.
I remember the Search and Rescue for the ATHENIAN STAR well, Tied to
a lifeline and beating ice off the AM antenna with a baseball bat.
1975 31st January Anchored off
Portsmouth New Hampshire
Later laid up at Boston.
Sold to U.S. Shipbreakers
Towed to New York for scrapping.
Arrived 29th August 1975.
Athelchief(3)
Picture by Joe
McMillan
Raymond
Forward