Britain and France Declare War; SS Athenia Torpedoed & Sunk

On September 3, 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany. Australia, New Zealand and India did the same. It is worth noting what a wonderful thing the British Empire was for Britain even at this date. These countries had a rapidly evolving “dominion status” within the empire. Their foreign policies were independent as of 1931 or perhaps a few years earlier although there were still some who argued about this. Still, these countries for the most part wanted the benefits of being allied with what they still thought of as a great power and the head of the greatest empire in the world. Canada and South Africa also declared war within a week. Ireland remained neutral.

12 hours after the declaration of war, the German U-boat U-30 torpedoed the British passenger liner SS Athenia. Athenia became the first British ship to be sunk in World War II with a loss of 118 lives including 28 Americans. What looked like a German leap into unrestricted submarine warfare was actually a mistake. Hitler was still hoping for ultimate reconciliation with the British provided he was recognized as master of continental Europe. Accordingly, he had placed substantial restrictions on German submarine attacks in accordance with international law which remained very burdensome to a country wishing to wage an effective submarine campaign against merchant shipping. The attack on the Athenia was a clear violation of Hitler’s orders.

An account of the whole affair can be found here . An account more oriented to the perspective and challenges of the German U-boat commanders can be found here .