Andania and Antonia were the first two of the six 14,000
ton "A" liners built for Cunard in the early 1920's.
Built by Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Andania was launched in
1921 and made her maiden voyage from London to Montreal
on 1 June 1922. She was transferred to Cunard's
Hamburg-New York route from 1924 to 1926, and from 1927
to 1939 was on a Liverpool-Greenock-Belfast-Montreal
service operated jointly by the Cunard, Anchor and
Donaldson Lines. Requisitioned for service as an armed
merchant cruiser in 1939, Andania was torpedoed and sunk
off Iceland by German submarine UA on 16 June 1940; she
remained afloat long enough for all aboard to be rescued.
Sources: Haws' Merchant Fleets; Bonsor's North Atlantic
Seaway; Williams' Wartime Disasters at Sea.
