Athenic
Ship Number
1326
Vessel Type
Refrig Cargo / Passenger Ship
Built
Belfast
Slip Number
1
Launch Date
November 26, 1946
Launched By
Mrs J A Beasley
Delivered
July 16, 1947
Owner
Shaw Savill & Albion Co.
Weight
15187 grt
BP Length
530 feet
Breadth
71 feet
No. of Screws
Twin
Speed (approx)
17 knots
Propulsion
Steam, single reduction-geared turbines by builder, 14,000 SHP, 17 Kts.
Official No.
167927
Registered
Southampton
Fate
Scrapped
Athenic

Her sisters were the Ceramic (Cammell Laird, Birkenhead), Corinthic (Cammell Laird, Birkenhead)  and Gothic (Swan Hunter, Wallsend-on-Tyne). All of them were virtually identical and any differences in appearance were so minor it is of little consequence.
 
Made her maiden voyage to New Zealand on the 1st of August from London and sailed via the Panama Canal.
 
Her career would appear to have been uneventful, I can find no references to any mishaps and so for nearly two decades she plied the oceans faithfully.
 
However, times were changing in the sixties and the jumbo was decimating passenger shipping.
 
Athenic was not to escape. 28th of January 1965 saw her make her last passenger sailing and in July she went to Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson where her passenger accommodation was removed and she remained solely as a cargo vessel until 1969 when finally she went to the breakers at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, arriving there on the 25th October 1969, two days after her sister Corinthic.