HMS Athene

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Athene
Builder	Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company, Greenock, Scotland
Yard number	444
Launched	1 October 1940
Out of service	Returned to Clan Line, 1946
Fate	Scrapped from 19 July 1963
General characteristics
Displacement	10,700 tons
Length	487 ft 8 in (148.6 m) (o.a.)
Beam	63 ft (19.2 m)
Draught	28 ft 6 in (8.7 m)
Propulsion	2 × steam triple expansion engines; 2 × low pressure exhaust turbines; twin screw, 8,300 bhp
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h)
Armament	1 × 4 in (0.102 m) LA, 1 × 4 in Dual-purpose gun 2 × Bofors 40 mm gun 12 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
Aircraft carried	up to 40 carried, single catapult

HMS Athene was a Royal Navy aircraft transport. She was a merchant conversion, requisitioned by the Navy during the Second World War and returned after its end. She is the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the Greek goddess Athene. She was broken up in 1963.

Career

She was originally built as the Cameron-class steamship Clan Brodie, for the Clan Line at the yards of the Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company Greenock, Scotland. The Navy requisitioned her and she was launched on 1 October 1940 as the aircraft transport HMS Athene.

Athene received a single catapult, and operated as a seaplane carrier in the South Atlantic over 1942/43.

In June 1943 Athene departed from San Diego bound for Pearl Harbor under escort by the Barnegat Class seaplane tender USS Chincoteague (AVP-24)

In 1946 the Navy returned her to Clan Line. She was reconverted for merchant service and served until 1963, when she was sold for scrap. She arrived in Hong Kong for breaking up on 19 July 1963.

See also

• HMS Engadine

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• HMS Athene at Clydebuilt.net
• The wartime services of the Cameron class