27th January 1918 – Cunard’s Andania torpedoed and sunk

andaniaOn 27th January 1918, Cunard’s Andania was hit by a torpedo from the German submarine U-46. She was some two miles off Rathlin lighthouse; attempts were made to tow her to safety but she sank some hours later. She had around 40 passengers and 200 crew; all bar seven crew were saved.

Andania was built at Greenock by Scott’s, and had been completed on 13th July 1913. She was 520 feet long, 13,405grt. Requisitioned in August 1914, she made several runs to Canada, bringing troops to the war in Europe. In 1915 she was used briefly to accommodate German POWs while moored in the Thames, then assisted at the Gallipoli landings later that year. After more trips to Canada, she was returned to commercial service in 1917, running from Liverpool to New York. One of a class of three sisters, all were lost in the Great War. The next Andania, built in 1922, was torpedoed and sunk in World War II.