Athinai was a great Greek prewar passenger ship that, for some reason, has not been presented in these pages here! Here is her story!
She was an American yacht called Eleanor and built in Bath Iron Works in 1894. She had 968 tons with a length of 67.1 m and a width of 9.8 m. Her service speed was 12 knots.
Here is her entry in Miramar
Name Tons Change Registered Owner
ELEANOR 968 1894 W.A.Slater
WACOUTA 968 1903 J.J.Hill
HARVARD 968 1917 U.S.Navy
ATHINAI 968 1923 A.K.RiggasEleanor was a rather well-known yacht on the East coast of the USA. In fact, she did trips around the world several times. Please read this incredible description of her trips around the world in the New York Times of August 9, 1895. Please read where our little Athinai had gone in her previous life... From New London (east coast USA) to Azores, Marseilles, CAnnes, Livorno, NApoli, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Bombay, Colombo, Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong, Amoy (China), Shanghai, Nagasaki, Yokohama, Honolulu, San Francisco, Sitka (Alaska), San Francisco, South America!!!!IDNo: 5600593 Year: 1894
Name: ELEANOR Launch Date: 7.5.94
Type: Yacht Date of completion: 10.94
Flag: USA Keel:
Tons: 968 Link: 1381
DWT: Yard No: 9
Length overall: Ship Design:
LPP: 67.1 Country of build: USA
Beam: 9.8 Builder: Bath IW
Speed(kn): 1T-12
Subsequent History: 03 WACOUTA - 17 HARVARD - 23 ATHINAI
Disposal Data: ac/b Itea harbour 22.4.41
18950809 NYT.jpg
These trips are also discussed, later in the New York Times of June 16, 1900
And then, from the New York Times of June 26, 1900 we learn how the ship became WacoutaMrs. James W. Martinez-Cardeza's steam yacht Eleanor has been prepared at Tebo's basin, South Brooklyn, for another of the many long voyages she has made during the six years of her existence, and will probably sail within a wek [sic] or ten days for Europe. Mrs. Cardeza, whose exploits as a sportswoman are well known, will have a party of guests aboard, including her son, C. [sic] D. M. Cardeza, John J. Slater, and Robert Crezett, her secretary. Paris will be visited after a brief Mediterranean cruise, and later it is intended to sail along the African coast, disembarking at several points for hunting expeditions into the interior. It is possible that the itinerary may be extended to include a visit to India, China, and Japan before the return to America.
The Eleanor, which was built for W. A. Slater of the New York Yacht Club in 1896, has probably a more continuous service to her credit than any other of the large seagoing pleasure craft. Mr. Slater took her twice around the world, and under Mrs. Cardeza's ownership her adventures did not cease. It is only three or four months ago that the Eleanor was berthed at Tebo's after an unbroken commission of two years, which ended with a hunting expedition to the cariboo [sic] district of British North America.
And here is a priceless diary of a voyage on Eleanor found in http://www.walterbright.com/trip/chas.htmlJ. J. Hill Is the Purchaser of Mrs. Cardeza's Famous Pleasure Craft
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The rumored purchase of Mrs. James W. Martinez-Cardeza'a steam yacht Eleanor by President J. J. Hill of the Great Northern Railroad has been confirmed by the departure of the yacht from Tebo's Basin, South Brooklyn, for the great lakes, where she will be used by her new owner. According to the desire of Mrs. Cardeza, it is understood, the Eleanor's name has been changed to Wacouta.
The transfer of the Eleanor is, in point of price paid, undoubtedly the most important yacht sale of the season. The yacht is one of the largest of the seagoing pleasure craft, and one of the very few that have voyaged around the world. She was designed by Charles Ridgely Hanscom and built in 1896 at the Bath Iron Works for W. A. Slater of the New York Yacht Club, who formerly owned the steam yacht Sagamore.
Mrs. Cardeza bought the Eleanor from Mr. Slater two years ago, cruised in European waters and the Orient, and only returned from a hunting expedition to the caribou district of Canada this Spring. The yacht was then berthed at Tebo's Basin, South Brooklyn, where she was completely overhauled and repainted.
The Wacouta is built of steel throughout, and is fitted with powerful engines and two boilers of the Scotch type. She measures 232 feet over all, 208 feet on the water line, 32 feet beam, 17 feet 5 inches depth of hold, and 14 feet draught. She is bark rigged, carrying 10,935 square feet of canvas. Her deckhouse and interior plan give an abundance of living rooms, and throughout the furnishings are most luxurious. Among the conveniences aboard are refrigerating and distilling machines and a complete electric plant.
And here is Eleanor
Eleanor.jpg
And one more drawing of Eleanor from the San Francisco Call of July 24, 1895
Eleanor1.jpg