SS Antenor (1924)

SS Antenor was a British passenger and cargo carrying ocean liner. She was the third of five ships to bear the name. She served as an armed merchant cruiser, HMS Antenor during the Second World War.

Life as a passenger ship
SS Antenor was built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Ltd at Jarrow-on-Tyne in England with a gross registered tonnage (GRT) of 11,174, a length of 487ft 8in, a beam of 62ft 2in and a service speed of 15.5 knots. She was built for Alfred Holt and Company of Liverpool, who owned various shipping lines including the Ocean Steam Ship Company (OSSC), Nederlandsche Stoomvaart Maatschappij Oceaan (NSMO), The China Mutual Steam Navigation Company (CMSNC) and Blue Funnel. She was launched on 30 September 1924 for deployment with the China Mutual Steam Navigation Company. She commenced her maiden voyage on 15 January 1925 from Liverpool to the Far East.

By the thirties she was running on the Blue Funnel Eastern Service. A timetable for the Eastern Service, issued in September 1937 for the period September 1937 - October 1938, lists the ports of call as: Liverpool, Marseilles, Port Said, Colombo, Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yokohama. Kobe and Aden were additional ports of call on the return voyage. Her sister ships on the service were SS Aeneas, SS Hector (1924), SS Patroclus (1923) and SS Sarpedon (1923).

In November 1938 the Antenor carried five Giant Pandas, caught in Sichuan Province in China, from Hong Kong to Europe. During the voyage some of the pandas broke out of their cage on the poop deck. The Pandas were the first to be brought to Europe in captivity.

Service during World War II
On 13 September 1939 the SS Antenor was requisitioned from the Blue Funnel Line (Alfred Holt and Company) by the Admiralty and converted into an armed merchant cruiser, HMS Antenor, pennant F21. She carried six 6 inch (152mm) guns and two 3 inch (76mm) guns. She served in the Mediterranean Fleet from January 1940 to April 1940, and the East Indies Station from May 1940 until October 1941.

On 31 October 1941 she was returned and used as troopship by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was involved in the invasion of Normandy in 1944.

She returned to commercial service with the Ocean Steam Ship Company in February 1946 and continued to serve until 1953 when she was sold to Hughes Bolckow (shipbreakers) for demolition. She arrived at the breaker's yard at Blyth, England on 19 July 1953.

A model of SS Antenor, together with the ship’s wheel, an oak bench and a decorative glass window from the ship are displayed at Maryport Maritime Museum, Maryport, Cumbria.