TSY Atmah saw long and distinguished service. Launched on the 5th May 1898,
Atmah was a steel screw steamer 2 masted yacht built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Govan, at the Fairfield Yard, No. 403. The vessel initially sailed under the flag of France.
A substantial vessel,
Atmah's tonnage was 1428 grt /1746 tm, with a length of 289.5 ft, breadth of 34.2 ft and depth of 19.1 ft. In 1901 the vessel was lengthened by Beardmore at Govan to 314.1 ft, increasing the tonnage to 1573 grt. The engine builder was Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, and the engine was a 2-screw, twin triple expansion engine, capable of 508nhp 3000ihp, 16 knots.
Atmah’s first owner was Baron Edmond, and the first port of register was Havre. The vessel was registered to Edmond's son, James Armand de Rothschild (1878-1957) in 1940. During the First World War,
Atmah reported on Admiralty service, and in July 1940 was purchased by the Admiralty as a target yacht and attached to the Fleet Air Arm for flying training, serving from 1944 as an accommodation ship,
‘HMS Atmah’. In 1947,
Atmah was sold to the Chagris Steamship Co Ltd (Goulandris Bros.), London, and converted to a passenger ship. Renamed
‘Aegean Star’, she sailed for a further for three years, until withdrawn from service. In December 1950 she arrived at La Spezia for breaking by Cantieri di Portovenere S.p.A.
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