Launched at precisely 12:27 on February 17th we mark the centenary down to the minute when tragedy struck the SS Athos. The Athos was a French vessel, and was carrying 100 passengers, 850 Senegalese Tirailleurs who boarded at Djibouti and 950 Chinese labourers who had been recruited by the French (Travailleurs Chinois) who boarded the Athos at Hong Kong.

Although this group of Chinese workers were not members of the Chinese Labour Corps, the events surrounding the Athos have huge implications for the men of the CLC who were to follow. Passage from China to France would be rerouted from travelling west to Europe, and would take the safer but longer route east, via Canada, was adopted.