A CLYDE-built passenger liner that was the first British ship to be downed by a German submarine after the outbreak of World War Two has been found lying 650ft beneath the Atlantic Ocean.

The Athenia, which was built by the Fairfield yard in Govan, was hit by a torpedo hours after Neville Chamberlain announced “this country is at war with Germany” on September 3 1939.

The Germans initially denied they had brought the vessel down, with the loss of more than 100 lives, as they feared it could lead to America joining the war as its citizens were among the victims.

Shipwreck hunter David Mearns said sonar data shows lying on Rockall Bank, off the Irish coast.