SS Athenia

The SS Athenia was a British ocean liner during the late 1930s. In the winter of 1939 a German u-boat sank the Athenia, killing several Americans among others.

The Nazi Party claimed that the British were behind the sinking in order to draw the neutral USA into the Second World War. Most observers, including American tourists trapped in German-occupied Europe wanting to sail on the Athenia, doubted the Germans' side of the story.