The world
famous RMS Empress
of Britain
was the finest ship ever built for Canadian Pacific. She was built in
1930 by the
renowned shipbuilders - John Brown & Co. (Clydebank)
Ltd and was the largest ship ever built for Canadian Pacific. She
was
uniquely designed as a dual role ship for the service from Southampton
to Quebec City via Cherbourg
and for world cruising. Her world cruises in the 1930s during the
winter season
soon became legendary circumnavigations of the world.
Design
and Construction (1927 – 1931):
In 1927
when the directors
of Canadian Pacific decided to build a new liner in a further attempt
to
capture some of the tourist traffic from the west and middle-west of
the United States
and Canada,
they also decided to equip
the ship to make her suitable to undertake the annual World Cruise.
It was
envisaged that this
liner would lure these passengers to Quebec
to
board the liner rather than face the longer rail journey to New York to board another liner bound for Europe.
Canadian Pacific were already promoting their Atlantic service with the
slogan,
“39% less ocean by the St
Lawrence Route”. Thus the new liner was
conceived as a very
serious contender to those Manhattan
based liners and would therefore need to be their equal in every
possible way. A
liner of such luxury would undoubtedly also become the ship of choice
for those
people taking a World Cruise. The size of the proposed liner was
limited by the
harbour facilities at Quebec, and the
need for
her to pass through both the Suez and Panama Canals.
Having
made the decision,
things moved fast and the order for the new liner was placed with the
John
Brown shipyard on the Clyde. Given
the yard
number 530, the first keel plates were laid on the 28th
November
1928.
Several
months later a
delegation of travel and ticket agents from both Canada
and the United
States
were invited by Canadian Pacific to visit the John Brown’s yard to see
the
initial stages of construction of the liner. They also were asked to
make
suggestions about the layout and facilities of the ship, and ultimately
several
of the proposed ideas were incorporated.
June 1930
was an important
month for Canadian Pacific, the Empress of Japan was delivered on the 8th
June from the Fairfield yard and, as she made her way down the River
Clyde to
the open sea, she passed the sparkling white hull of the Empress of
Britain on
the stocks, being made ready for her launch on the 11th
June.
Construction
of the hull
number 530, which would ultimately become Empress of Britain, had
progressed well
so that by the time the ship was ready to be launched a considerable
amount of
joiner work and internal fitting had already been completed.
"I name this ship
Empress of Britain. I wish success to her and all who sail in her."
Words of His Royal Highness The Prince of
Wales at the Launch Ceremony, 11th June 1930.
While it
was usual for women
to carry out ship launches, in this instance there was a break with
tradition,
and the hugely popular HRH The Prince of Wales, had agreed to carry out
the
naming ceremony. With several major liners under construction in Europe and elsewhere in the world at that time,
the
launching of such a prestigious liner, and by such a popular and
glamorous
member of the Royal Family, ensured an aura that exceeded mere national
importance. As a result, as well as being covered by the world’s press,
the
launch proceedings were broadcast throughout the British
Empire and several other countries. It was the first time
that
such an event had been covered in this way, and it set the whole tone
of
modernity and glamour that would surround the ship during her career. A
crowd
of over 20,000 had gathered to watch the already magnificent hull take
to her
natural element. At the front of the launch platform the Prince of
Wales was
flanked by E.W. Beatty, chairman and president of Canadian Pacific, and
Lord
Aberconway, chairman of John Brown’s. There was a brief delay in the
ceremony,
then once the ‘all clear’ had been given the Prince named the ship and
wished
success to her and all who sailed in her. Then, having cut the red,
white and
blue ribbon, a bottle of Canadian wine swung out and smashed against
the hull.
He pulled a lever that set in progress the release gearing mechanism.
Slowly at
first, the newly named Empress of Britain began to move down the
slipway to the
cheers of the crowds. Within moments she was afloat, and then was taken
in tow
by tugs to the fitting out berth where she would be completed.
As the
months passed, work
continued on the fitting out of the new Empress and the world was
plunged ever
deeper into the Depression. As the Empress of Britain neared
completion,
elsewhere in the John Brown yard work was progressing on the initial
construction
stages of another prestigious Atlantic liner, vessel 534, which would
ultimately become the Queen Mary. Eight months after the Empress of
Britain
steamed majestically away from her builders yard, work would cease on
the hull
of the new Cunarder.
In
December 1930 Canadian
Pacific announced that Captain R.G. Latta would be the master of the
new liner.
The appointment was a popular choice, as Captain Latta was respected by
his
crews and well liked by the passengers. He had joined Canadian Pacific
in 1904,
and had taken command of the earlier Empress of Britain in 1923.
By late
March 1931 the
fitting out of the magnificent new Empress of Britain was nearing
completion.
Her departure from the shipyard for her trials voyage was timed for
early on
the afternoon of Sunday the 5th April 1931, and a crowd of
several
hundred thousand people lined both banks of the River Clyde to take
advantage
of the opportunity to see the new liner depart on her first voyage out
to sea.
Special trains were provided by the railway companies to take some of
the
people to stations near good vantage points while other people arrived
by buses
and other vehicles, and of course, on foot. All were anxious to see the
liner
that had gradually dominated the skyline of the John Brown shipyard.
Now at
last she was completed, and she presented a magnificent sight,
combining both
tradition and modernity. She had an almost straight stem, which seemed
an echo
of an earlier age, and yet she boasted a stylishly modern cruiser
stern. She
had an attractively stepped forward superstructure and she was topped
by three
magnificent buff coloured funnels, each one of which was 68ft high. She
looked
every inch an Empress: regal, elegant and impressive. She was a beacon
of
splendour, confirmation that the skill and ingenuity of the
shipbuilders,
craftsmen and artists had not been stifled by the dark days of the
Great
Depression.
It took
four tugs of the
Clyde Shipping Co., Flying Spray, Flying Foam, Flying Kite and Flying
Eagle,
2.5 hours to tow the liner as far as the Tail of the Bank, the deep
water area
where the river meets the Firth of Clyde. The Anchor Line tender,
Paladin,
escorted this procession while low flying aeroplanes buzzed overhead.
The tugs
were cast off at Princes Pier and the Empress of Britain steamed for
Holy Loch
for the preliminary compass adjustments. Later, she was anchored off Greenock, making a magnificent sight,
brilliantly
illuminated throughout the evening. The following day anchor trials and
steering gear tests were made and the ship returned to her anchorage.
It was
the 7th April that the Empress of Britain sailed for Liverpool. Once there she was berthed at the
Gladstone
Graving Dock to have her hull inspected, cleaned and painted. She was,
at that
time, the largest while hulled liner in the world. With the cleaning
and
painting of the ship completed she left the Mersey
on Saturday the 11th April for her full power, fuel
consumption and
manouvering trials. To the disappointment of many observers who had
gathered at
Sklemorlie, the well known vantage point along the Firth of Clyde, from
where
speed trials were often held, the Empress of Britain headed further
along the
coast, carrying her speed trials off the Isle of Arran. During the two
days of
exhaustive tests the sea was rough and there was a strong breeze, but,
despite
the weather conditions, the liner performed well, exceeding her
contract speed
of 24 knots and reaching an average speed of 25.271 knots. A feature
that
struck many on board during the trials was that whether under full
power or
cruising conditions, the smoothness and lack of vibration and noise
made it
difficult for them to realise that such great power and speed was being
developed. The tests continued and in all, over the seven days the
Empress of
Britain sailed 1,700 miles in all manner of sea conditions. The
representatives
of both John Brown’s and of Canadian Pacific that had been aboard to
take note
and evaluate every nuance of her performance were impressed by the
results.
On
completion of the trials
the new Empress was handed over to Canadian Pacific at Greenock.
Proudly flying the Canadian Pacific house flag she was turned
southwards
towards Southampton. Her arrival
there on the
16th April was greeted by further crowds all anxious to see Britain’s
newest
and most splendid ocean liner. She was due to depart on her maiden
voyage on
the 27th May and was a true Art Deco masterpiece.
Even
though the Empress of
Britain would not be sailing on the most prestigious of ocean liner
routes,
Europe to New York,
she was, without doubt, the equal of any of the grand ships of state
that plied
that route. Indeed, as the Prince of Wales had implied in his speech at
her
launching, she surpassed many of them. With her three imposing funnels
and
white hull and superstructure she imparted an air of both majesty and
power
while her interiors – a combination of genteel adaptations of period
styles
spiked with the hard edged glamour of the then highly fashionable ‘art
deco’ –
came together to make the Empress of Britain the most stylish and
highly
individual liner ever built for a British company. Also, at 42,348 grt,
she was
the largest liner to ply between any two ports of the British Empire.
The
Canadian Pacific Heyday (1931 – 1939): Crossings &
World Cruises
On the 31st
May
1931, just two weeks before the Empress of Britain was due to depart Southampton on her maiden voyage, an inaugural
lunch was
held in the Salle Jacques Cartier. The European Manager of Canadian
Pacific,
Sir George McLaren Brown, drew the guest’s attention to the fact that
the
exceptional cruising speed of the new liner, which would be around 24
knots,
would reduce the open sea passage to no more than 3.5 days and, as a
consequence, bring the Orient closer. Working in conjunction with the
new and
fast Empress of Japan, the Empress of Britain would help save at least
two days
between London and Yokohama. Sir George’s audience were
amused
when he assured them that it would be cheaper for them to live aboard
the new
Empress each winter as she cruised the world, rather than to remain at
home.
On the day
of her maiden
voyage, and shortly before the ship was due to sail, a surprise
visitor, the
Prince of Wales, hurried onboard. Having performed the naming ceremony
he was
anxious to see the ship depart on her first voyage – a decision he had
made
only the night before! The Prince had flown down to Southampton
from Hendon aerodrome in his own Puss Moth bi-plane, and having
announced that
he didn’t want his visit to disrupt the scheduled departure of the
ship, he rushed
around in just 30 minutes, seeing as much as he could. Despite his good
intentions, the Prince did delay the departure, albeit briefly, but at
1.12 pm
the majestic new liner eased away from her berth. The Prince of Wales,
meanwhile, had crossed to Hythe in his speedboat, and there he had
boarded the
Imperial Airways flying boat Satyrus. Taking over the controls himself,
the
Prince piloted the aircraft out towards the sea, then he turned and
flew low
over the Empress of Britain, dipping the plane’s wings in salute. The
maiden
voyage had begun and in high style!
As the
maiden voyage had
been brought forward from late June, this had had an effect on the
number of
passengers booking. She sailed with only a handful of passengers: 201
in first
class, 86 in tourist, and 63 in third. Adding an additional aura of
glamour to
the crossing was the presence of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford,
at the
time two of Hollywood’s
greatest filmstars. Viscount Rothermere, the owner of the Daily Mail
newspaper,
was also aboard. Mr C.H.J. Snider, the news editor of the Toronto
Evening
Telegram was also onboard.
For this
first voyage the
Empress of Britain had a smooth crossing, encountering only moderate
breezes
and a slight to moderate sea. As she neared Quebec on the 1st June,
the crowd
that had gathered to greet the new liner had swelled to over 100,000.
Shortly
before 10.00 pm the Empress of Britain was securely alongside, having
completed
a record crossing in 5 days, 13 hours and 25 minutes.
However
the ship had taken
the slightly longer route and, when the seasonal danger of icebergs had
passed,
she would be taken through the strait between Labrador and Newfoundland.
Mr E.W. Beatty, president and
chairman of Canadian Pacific, who had been aboard for the voyage,
confidently
announced that the ship would be able to make the passage from
Cherbourg to
Quebec in just four and a half days.
The
Empress of Britain
remained at Quebec
for three days and during this time was opened to the public. Over
15,000
visitors, each paying 25 cents, made their way through the impressive
array of
public rooms. The money that was raised was given to charity. On the 2nd
June a gala banquet was held aboard, with the Prime Minister of Canada,
the
Premier of Quebec and the Lieutenant-Governors of Quebec,
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
as principal guests.
Other guests from the world of business and politics as well as society
helped
fill the beautiful Salle Jacques Cartier. During the banquet it was
announced
that Captain Latta had been appointed as Commodore of the Canadian
Pacific
fleet.
At 4.30 pm
on Saturday the 6th
June the Empress of Britain set sail from Quebec
on her return voyage to Southampton.
Aboard
were 238 first class passengers, and 295 divided between tourist and
third
class. Once again a crowd of several thousand gathered to watch her
departure.
After 4 days, 9 hours and 20 minutes the liner arrived at Cherbourg,
having set a new record for the
Quebec-Cherbourg crossing. During the remainder of that summer the
Empress of
Britain made 16 further Atlantic crossings and proved to be very
reliable and
efficient. Her outward and return voyages being almost identical in
crossing
times. Several times she broke her own records and comparisons were
made with
the Blue Riband holder Europa. However the Blue Riband was only awarded
to
those liners on the New York
route so the Empress of Britain was denied this ultimate accolade. With
such
reliability she proved that she could operate a fortnightly service. On
the 25th
August she got her first test against bad weather on the North Atlantic. On this voyage she steamed off
the French coast for 8
hours as the gale force winds and heavy seas prohibited the liner from
entering Cherbourg
harbour to disembark 133 passengers. In the end she abandoned the
attempt and
sailed straight to Southampton. Her
passengers, asleep in their cabins, were blissfully unaware of the
storm
outside, so well did the ship ride the heavy seas.
While not
employed on the
prestigious Atlantic route to New
York, nonetheless the Empress often made
headline
news either with her record breaking crossing times or with the
glamorous
personalities that chose to sail aboard her. In that first season, as
well as
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, who were aboard for the maiden
voyage, the
filmstar Jeanette MacDonald also sailed on the ship, as did the writers
P.G.
Wodehouse and Edgar Wallace. The publicists Rafael Sabatini, Lord
Rothermere,
Lord Beaverbrook and Lord Castlerosse were also aboard the ship during
that
first season, and on her 27th June departure from Quebec, the
Maharajah and Maharani of Sind
and their daughters, the Princesses Beryl, Ruby and Diamond were
onboard and
added a particularly exotic glamour to the first class passenger list.
The
Empress of Britain made her mark as one of the most prestigious liners,
even
earning herself the reputation as ‘Mayfair
afloat’. However her passenger loadings were disappointing with many of
her
crossings sailing half full, even though they were largely the cream of
society!
In
November, the Empress of
Britain entered Southampton’s
floating dry
dock in preparation for her first World Cruise. The major part of this
work
being the removal of her two outer propellers and her after engine room
being
closed down because there was no need for her high speed during the 128
day
cruise.
While
Canadian Pacific were
already experienced in the operation of World Cruises, the nearly 4
month
cruise to be operated by their largest and most luxurious ship, and the
most
prestigious liner in the world to operate such a cruise, was a
difficult task
to organise even under the best of circumstances. But at the height of
the
Great Depression it became much harder. A lavish 64 page brochure
advertising
the cruise was published. Not only did Canadian Pacific have to contend
with
the effects of the Depression but there was also competition from other
steamship lines that were sending their liners on World Cruises: Cunard
Line
with their very popular Franconia,
Red Star
Line with the Belgenland and Hamburg Amerika Line with the Resolute.
They were
all handsome and well appointed ships but none came close to the
grand-luxe of
the Empress. Her third class accommodation was closed off, with the
exception
of 34 cabins forward on D Deck. The remaining cabins were rearranged to
accommodate just one or two persons. In general, these cabins were made
available to the servants who would be travelling with their masters or
mistresses on the cruise. Likewise, the tourist class cabins had their
upper
berths removed, turning them into either single or double cabins. The
tourist
Smoking Room was retained but the tourist Lounge became the cruise
office for
the arranging of the often extensive overland excursions that were
planned, and
the tourist Dining Room was turned into the staff Dining Room. Once in
warmer
latitudes, forward on the Lounge Deck, in the space normally taken by
No 2
cargo hatch, a swimming pool would be installed. The cruise was to
cover 29,495
miles and would include calls at 81 ports in 23 different countries.
On the 21st
November 1931 the Empress of Britain sailed from Southampton on the
first leg
of the World Cruise, an Atlantic crossing for her first call at New York –
where the
majority of the passengers for the cruise would board. That final week
of
November 1931 was quite a special one in New York; on the 23rd
November the city had
welcomed the new Furness Bermuda Line ship Monarch of Bermuda. Then, on
the 27th
November, the Empress of Britain arrived and, although now a few months
old,
the glamorous Empress rather outshone the brand new and very smart
Monarch.
During her stay in New York
the Empress of Britain naturally generated a great deal of interest,
and much
of this was focussed on her striking interior.
On the
morning of Saturday the
3rd December 1931, 332 passengers, plus a large crowd of
friends,
relatives and interested spectators, made their way to Pier 62. One
passenger,
who caught the attention of the press, was the heiress Barbara Hutton,
who was
taking the cruise with her mother. By noon all visitors were ashore and
lining
the pier; multi coloured streamers cascaded down the side of the
Empress of
Britain as she slowly backed out into the Hudson River, turned, and
headed
towards her first port of call, Funchal (Madeira).
From there she would continue to Gibraltar and Algiers,
then Monaco.
It was there that European passengers, mostly British, who had not
wished to
endure two mid winter Atlantic crossings – regardless of the superior
sea
keeping qualities of the Empress – would board the ship. Then at 1.00
am on the
17th December, with just over 400 passengers on board, the
Empress
of Britain set sail for Naples and then
Athens.
A highlight of
the cruise for many passengers was the opportunity to spend Christmas
in the
Holy Land, with the ship arriving in the early morning of Christmas Eve
in Haifa.
All inclusive in
the cruise fare were opportunities to visit Jerusalem,
Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives. The passengers taking advantage
of this extended side trip
rejoined the ship on the 1st January 1932 at Suez. Having
left the Red Sea the Empress of
Britain steamed across the Indian Ocean to Bombay, anchoring in the harbour
there on the
7th January 1932 and remaining until the evening of the 15th
January. The lengthy stay was to allow passengers to travel on extended
trips,
and upon disembarkation from the Empress’s tenders, there were four
trains
waiting to take passengers on their tours. Having left India, the Empress of Britain continued
on to Colombo for a 4 day stay, then on
to Padang
in Sumartra and Batavia on Java before
arriving
in Singapore
on the 1st February. Then she steamed on up towards Bangkok
and then on to Manila.
The scheduled call at Shanghai had to
be
cancelled due to fighting around the city so instead the passengers
were given
an extended stay in Hong Kong. After
the 5 day
stay in the British colony, the Empress steamed on to Chinwangtao,
where her
passengers were able to take a 5 day trip to Beijing. Ten days were spent cruising
around Japan, with
calls at Beppu, Koba and Yokohama
before the ship sailed into the Pacific, towards
the Hawaiian Islands. Five idyllic
days were
spent at sea before arriving at Honolulu
on the
12th March, and on the 15th March the Empress
arrived in Hilo.
On the 20th
March the Empress of Britain became the largest liner of that time to
sail
through the Golden Gate and into San Francisco harbour. She berthed at
the Embarcadero’s
Pier 32, and for the next two days was visited by several thousand
people. This
was followed by a call at Los Angeles,
and then
down the coast of Central America to the Panama
Canal.
Here again the Empress broke records and became the largest liner of
that time
to transit the canal, and thus incurring a fee of $18,941.25. Following
the
transit, 5 hours were spent at Cristobal before the ship sailed for Havana, the last
exciting
and exotic port of the cruise. On the morning of the 8th
April the
Empress of Britain arrived back in New York where the cruise ended for
American passengers.
However for 100 European passengers there was still a few more days
left as she
sailed on to Southampton and they were joined by a further 350 regular
passengers for this final part of the voyage.
Once back
in Southampton the Empress was given
a one month overhaul
and refurbishment in preparation for her forthcoming Atlantic season,
and this
of course included having her two propellers reattached. Perhaps the
most
significant event of the 1932 transatlantic season for the Empress of
Britain
was her fourth westbound crossing. On board were delegates from Britain, India,
South Africa
and Southern Rhodesia, who were to
attend the Ottawa Imperial
Economic Conference that would open on the 21st July. Among
them
were Neville Chamberlain and Stanley Baldwin. As a result of frequent
meetings
on board the voyage became world news. The voyage became even more
newsworthy
when on the evening of the 17th July, with the ship steaming
through
fog and icebergs, a fire broke out in the ceiling of the Empress Room
during a
concert. The concert was brought to an abrupt end and the fire was
extinguished. It was later discovered to be caused by an electrical
fault. The
damage was confined to some woodwork and curtains. Fog, which had been
a
continual problem during the voyage, descended again as the ship was
steaming
up the St Lawrence, and on the morning of the 18th July, as
the ship
was just off the Saguenay
River, she
collided with
the cargo ship, Briarwood. A head on collision was narrowly averted.
Nevertheless it left both ships with dents in their starboard bows but
both
were not in any danger and continued their voyages. The Empress of
Britain was
repaired by the 20th July, before she began her return
voyage.
On the 23rd
November the Empress of Britain departed Southampton for New York with
276
passengers on board, ready to undertake her second World Cruise. It
was, in
fact, the 10th World Cruise operated by Canadian Pacific and
it was
set to follow the same route has her previous world cruise, expect that
this
time it was 129 days long and called at 81 ports and places in 23
countries and
as before featured Christmas in the Holy Land, New Year’s Eve in Cairo
and
India in the cool season. The Empress departed New
York
at noon on Saturday the 3rd December with barely 300
passengers on
board, a hundred of whom were only travelling as far as either the
Mediterranean or India.
60 passengers, including the playwright George Bernard Shaw, joined the
ship at Monte Carlo.
It
was not until the 11th April 1933 that the Empress steamed
back into New York, and by the middle
of
the month she
was back in Southampton, being made
ready for
another transatlantic season.
However by
this time the
Depression was hitting steamship lines harder than ever. Her 1933
transatlantic
sailings were mostly half full. For the end of 1933 Canadian Pacific
had
planned a change to the cruise programme of the Empress of Britain.
Instead of
sending her off in early December on her World Cruise, it was decided
to begin
that cruise in early January and send the ship on an 11 day Christmas
and New
Year cruise, from New York to Kingston, Port au Prince and Nassau
instead. The
Empress had arrived in New York on the 21st December with
319
passengers aboard, which in actual fact, in mid December on a liner not
regularly scheduled to sail on the New York run, in the depths of the
Depression, was not a bad figure at all, especially when one considers
that she
had carried no more than that number on her regular employment on the
St
Lawrence service in the very height of the season. Planning to send the
Empress
on the Christmas cruise was a wise move as it was well patronised with
passengers from both the United States
and Canada.
Apart from the crossings from the Panama
to Cuba during her
two World
Cruises, this was the Empress of Britain’s first real visit to the Caribbean. As always, wherever this most
remarkable of
liners called, she was the object of considerable interest.
The
Empress returned to New York
on the 2nd
January 1934 and embarkation for her third 130 day World Cruise began
the
following morning with almost 300 passengers coming on board. The
passengers
left any hint of the Depression when they boarded the Empress as they
were
pampered by the ever attentive Canadian Pacific crew as they lived
aboard for
four months in a dreamlike world aboard this liner which by this time
had
gained an almost legendary status, and would be feted like royalty
wherever
they called. As was becoming a regular tradition, 100 passengers joined
the
ship at Monte Carlo.
While the itinerary of the cruise was very similar to the previous two,
the
1934 cruise had the addition of a call at Bali.
On the 14th May she was back at New York with another legendary
World Cruise
completed.
The most
notable event
during 1934 for the Empress was the retirement of Captain Latta who had
commanded the ship from her entry into service. His final voyage was
the 30th
June departure from Quebec.
His successor was Captain Ronald N. Stuart, VC, DSO. In August the
Empress
again made a record breaking crossing, with a voyage between Quebec
and Cherbourg
made in just 4 days, 6 hours and 58 minutes. A month later the Empress
encountered the worst weather and roughest seas of her career. In
November she
briefly ran aground while at Quebec
but was refloated within 30 minutes. It had however been a rather
unsuccessful
year financially for Canadian Pacific that had advertised itself as ‘
The
World’s Greatest Travel System’ and it had been unable to pay out any
dividends
to its shareholders.
However
for the 1935 World
Cruise it was the most expensive and luxurious cabins that were selling
out
faster than the less expensive ones so this gave an indication that
perhaps the
effects of the Depression were coming to an end and people were feeling
more
relaxed about travelling. However it was
a mere 180 passengers that boarded the liner for her voyage across to New York. On
this voyage
as well as a considerable quantity of mail, she was transporting $1
million in
gold. It was a stormy crossing which delayed her arrival by one day.
Such was
the success of her West Indies cruise
in 1934 that Canadian Pacific
scheduled her to undertake two similar cruises before setting off on
her World
Cruise. The first of these was a 4 day trip to Nassau,
and this was followed by a 11 day cruise to Kingston,
Havana and Nassau.
On the 10th January 1935, with over 400 passengers on board,
the
Empress of Britain sailed from New York for the Mediterranean on the
first leg
of her 130 day World Cruise. As with the previous cruises, there were
lengthy
stays of several days in some of the ports. By the 28th May
she was
back in Southampton.
On her
first voyage to Canada
in 1935
the Empress of Britain had just 318 passengers on board, 125 of them in
First
Class; there were also 7000 bags of mail in her holds. A thick blanket
of fog
hung over the Gulf of St Lawrence
bringing
shipping to a standstill. However the Empress managed to reach Quebec by 7.45
am on the
15th June, two days behind schedule. The passengers were
disembarked
and the dock workers managed to unload all her cargo and a further 550
passengers boarded in remarkably quick time, allowing her to set sail
for England
at
2.30pm. Unfortunately fog in the gulf had persisted and the following
morning
between Anticosti Island and the Magdalen Islands
the Empress collided with the cargo ship Kafiristan, which was loaded
with
coal. While the Empress suffered some hull damage, it was not serious.
The
Kafiristan however was no so lucky and several members of the crew were
injured. The Empress of Britain stood by the damaged ship for several
hours and
sent a boat across to collect the injured seamen. Sadly as they were
being
helped into the boat three of the men fell into the sea and drowned.
Another
Canadian Pacific ship, the Beaverford, took the cargo ship in tow, and
the Empress
of Britain was able to continue her voyage. Although the collision was
seen as
unavoidable, the Empress of Britain was eventually held to be largely
to blame.
On her arrival in Southampton workmen
from
Harland & Wolff’s repair yard there spent 22 hours carrying out
repairs,
and she was able to return to service barely a day behind schedule.
While the
Empress had
carried over 700 passengers on some of her crossings by the late summer
of
1935, her passenger compliment was sometimes still less than 300, and
on one
occasion as few as 184.
Canadian
Pacific had
expected that the Empress would follow her usual route for her World
Cruise in
1936. But in October 1935 Italy
invaded Abyssinia and this made passage through the Mediterranean and Red Sea difficult. As a result Canadian Pacific
decided
to send the Empress of Britain via South Africa instead.
However, not
wanting two large ships in the same part of the world at the same time,
they
cancelled the Empress of Australia’s planned South Africa and South America cruise,
sending her on a series
of shorter cruises to the West Indies
instead.
As was now
her regular
pattern, the Empress first sailed on a 9 day Caribbean
cruise and embarked 610 passengers for this. Then she sailed from New York with
just 240
passengers for her World Cruise. A further 100 British and European
passengers
joined the ship at Funchal, having sailed there on board the Empress of
Australia, which was on her way to New York. The Empress of Britain
caused quite a stir when
she arrived at Cape Town
with huge crowds lining the docks to greet her. A strong south-east
wind
hindered her departure pinning her to the dock. Several tugs were
eventually
able to get her on her way, 24 hours delayed. Having made calls at Cape
Town
and Durban, the Empress of Britain steamed up to Bombay and from there
resumed
her usual route around the world.
In 1936
the number of
passengers carried by the Empress of Britain rose considerably and on
three
westbound voyages she carried over 1000 and with some eastbound voyages
she
also reached close to that number. There was also an increase in the
number of
passengers booking on the World Cruise, and on the 9th
January 1937
she sailed from New York
with over 400 passengers aboard. The Empress of Britain was well and
truly
established as the pre-eminent World Cruise liner: the largest, newest,
most
opulent and indeed the most expensive. As a consequence her passenger
lists on
these fabled voyages read like a who’s who with royalty, other titled
aristocrats and business moguls as well as the merely very rich. Many
of these
people returned to the Empress year after year giving the ship a very
exclusive
and club like atmosphere. She was now under the command of Captain G.R.
Parry
who remained her master until October 1937 when Captain W.G. Buskwood
took
over.
At last
there was a real
change, with 1937 having the best Atlantic season for the Empress of
Britain as
she carried in excess of 13,000 passengers between June and November.
Although
the Empress of Britain operated very speedy crossings, Canadian Pacific
were
operating at something of a handicap. Although the Empress of Australia
was
also employed on the Southampton to Quebec
service, being older and slower, she was unable to offer a balanced
service
with the Empress of Britain.
In 1938
Canadian Pacific had
expected to return the World Cruise to its usual route but due to the
continued
conflict between China
and Japan they had
to rethink the itinerary and
decided to send the Empress to Australia
and New Zealand
instead. Prior to her departure she made a 12 day cruise to the Caribbean as usual. The Empress caused a stir
wherever
she called and over 30,000 people lined Sydney’s
waterfront when she arrived for her three day stay. She was the largest
liner
to enter the harbour and as her masts were too tall to pass under the
harbour
bridge she docked at Wooloomooloo. After a call at Melbourne
she steamed across the Tasman Sea to New
Zealand
and called at Wellington and then Auckland where
the harbour
had been specially dredged to accommodate her 32 ft draft.
1938 did
not continue to
maintain the successes of 1937 for Canadian Pacific. Political unrest
in Europe
affected the numbers of people travelling from Canada
and the United States
that
summer, and neither Australia
nor New Zealand had
held the
same allure for the World Cruise passengers as China
or Japan
had. However although they did try to return to the original World
Cruise route
the war between China and Japan kept hindering things. So the 127 day
World
Cruise for 1939 in fact would not circumnavigate the world.
It was
planned that the
Empress of Britain would depart New York
on
the 7th January, crossing the Atlantic to Madeira,
Gibraltar, Algiers and Monte Carlo.
Then there would be the ever popular calls at Naples
and Athens, and the
usual extended stay that allowed passengers to tour the Holy Land. Then onward to Suez,
the Red
Sea towards India,
with a
call of several days at Bombay.
From there her passengers could take tours to Udaipur,
Jaipur, Amber, Delhi, Agra,
Benares, Darjeeling, Calcutta
and Madras, and even cross to Ceylon and reboard the Empress at Colombo. From
there she
would cross the Indian Ocean to Penang,
Singapore and Bangkok
and on up to Hong Kong. Having called
at Manila, Bali and Tandjong Priok on
Java, the Empress was
then to return across the Indian Ocean to South
Africa, calling at Durban
and Cape Town.
From both these ports there would be extensive tours to Bulawayo
and Victoria Falls. After leaving Cape Town the Empress of Britain was to head
across the
South Atlantic to St Helena, and then continue on to Rio de Janeiro.
It would be the first time
she would call at a South American port. A call was then made at Bahia
and then
on to Trinidad and finally Havana.
Having issued the brochure Canadian Pacific was then faced with
political
conflict in the Holy Land which caused them to have to cancel the call
there
and substitute Beirut.
Sadly despite the imaginative and exciting itinerary passengers seemed
reluctant to book the cruise.
The
Empress of Britain was
now under the command of Captain Charles Howard Sapsworth, who as it
would
later turn out would be her final master. Strong westerly gales delayed
the
arrival of the Empress in New
York
by 24 hours. On the 23rd December she sailed on a four day
Christmas
cruise to Bermuda. On board there
were 650
passengers, all set to have a truly festive time. Following this, a
further 600
passengers boarded the liner for an 8 day cruise to Havana,
Nassau and Bermuda.
However it was a mere handful of passengers that had book on the World
Cruise.
Just 164 passengers boarded the Empress on the 7th January
and while
more were due to board at Monte
Carlo
she would still be sailing with far fewer than the 400 that Canadian
Pacific
saw as the ideal World Cruise complement. However a further 100 did
board at Cape Town taking advantage of
a far more luxurious way to
get to New York
than the ships regularly employed on the route.
Canadian
Pacific had planned
for the Empress of Britain to undertake 22 Atlantic crossings during
1939.
However things did not work out quite as they had planned. On the 6th
May 1939 HM King George VI and Queen Elizabeth had embarked on the
Empress of
Australia for a voyage to Canada
for a royal tour of the Dominion. At the conclusion of the tour the
royal party
were to return aboard the Empress of Britain and considerable
preparations were
made to ensure that everything was beyond even Canadian Pacific’s
normal
flawless standards. The Empress of Britain had made her first crossing
of the season
to Quebec and, having disembarked her
passengers sailed for Halifax
to be made ready for her royal guests. The King was to occupy the
deluxe suite
on the port side of A deck and the Queen was in the corresponding suite
on the
starboard side. With the royal party onboard, the Empress of Britain
left Halifax
at 6.32 pm on the
15th June. She had just 42 passengers on board: the King and
Queen,
37 staff members, a photographer and two reporters. Three ships of the
Royal
Navy and two of the Royal Canadian Navy accompanied the liner across
the Atlantic. On the 21st
June 1939, around 100
miles from Bishops Rock, the Empress of Britain passed the outbound
Empress of
Australia. The following day the Empress of Britain and her illustrious
passengers arrived in Southampton.
The royal
charter of the
liner had somewhat disrupted her schedule and it was not until the 1st
July that she was able to resume her regular sailings, embarking 435
passengers
for that particular voyage. Although plans for a 1940 World Cruise had
been
made Canadian Pacific decided in August 1939 that this would be
cancelled.
Instead after making three cruises to the Caribbean the Empress would
sail on a
6 week cruise around South America.
As the
summer progressed the situation in Europe
deteriorated. On the 2nd September the Empress of Britain
was in
Southampton being made ready for another voyage to Quebec, however for a while it
seemed that
the Admiralty may not give permission for her to sail. In the end
permission
was granted and she set sail with her portholes covered and public room
windows
blacked out, she sailed with 1,140 passengers. The following day they
were
informed via the ship’s radio that as everyone had expected Britain was at war with Germany
and the
Second World War had started. The
Empress of Britain arrived in Quebec
on the 7th September 1939 and having disembarked her
passengers
remained there to await further instructions.
On
War Service (1939 - ):
The
Empress of Britain
remained in Quebec until November
1939 when
she sailed for Halifax
never to be seen in the St Lawrence ever again. She had been
requisitioned for
war service as a troopship like so many other liners of that time. The
Empress
embarked troops from the First Canadian Division for an Atlantic voyage
quite
unlike any other of her career. Although having been painted grey and
fitted
with some limited amount of armament – a 6in naval gun and a 3in
anti-aircraft
gun at her stern four Lewis machine guns on her bridge and one either
side of
her second funnel. Internally the Empress still gleamed in her
peacetime
magnificence. The troops she embarked went to war in luxury, enjoying
the full
benefit of Canadian Pacific’s high standard of service. On the 10th
December 1939, in company with the liners Empress of Australia, Duchess
of
Bedford, Aquitania and Monarch of Bermuda, the Empress of Britain
departed on
her first convoy; the liners, with their valuable cargo of troops, were
escorted across the Atlantic to Scotland
by Canadian and British destroyers.
Once the
troops had been
disembarked the Empress of Britain was sent to Southampton where she
was dry
docked and changed internally so that she could accommodate more
troops, her
larger cabins being fitted to take as many as 12 men. Her days as a
luxury
liner were over. Sadly her fine panelling and artwork were only covered
over
with protective panels rather than being totally removed. With the
hasty
refitting work completed she returned to Halifax
to embark more troops, also taking them across to Scotland.
At the completion of that
voyage she again sailed for Southampton and then left for New Zealand via the Mediterranean,
arriving in Wellington
on the 14th
April 1940. There she embarked troops of the 2nd New Zealand
Expeditionary Force. The Aquitania, Empress of Japan
and Andes were also there embarking
troops,
and the four liners, plus some cargo vessels, all departed in convoy on
the 2nd
May. When off Sydney, the convoy was
joined by
the liners Queen Mary, Mauretania and
the
Empress of Canada, making it one of the most impressive of the war.
Having
sailed from Fremantle it took the convoy two weeks to reach Cape Town.
The
Empress of Britain was
back on the Clyde by mid June and remained there for some weeks, her
next
voyage beginning from Liverpool on
the 6th
August, with over 3000 troops aboard. Again, she was sailing in convoy
with
another array of once splendid liners, including the Monarch of Bermuda
and the
Polish liner Batory. Although the convoy was bound for Suez,
they faced a long voyage around South Africa to get there.
Once Italy had
entered the war it had become too
dangerous for convoys of liners loaded with soldiers to sail through
the Mediterranean. On the 16th
September the
convoy arrived at Suez, and the Empress
remained
there until the 24th September, when she became part of
another
convoy heading for Durban.
This time instead of thousands of troops she was carrying a small
passenger
load, many of whom were families of Army and Royal Air Force personnel.
After
her call at Durban the Empress of
Britain sailed
for Cape Town
and there she took on a cargo of 300 tons of sugar. It has also been
often
reported that she had taken on a load of gold bullion. However this has
never
been substantiated. She sailed on the 11th October for Britain
with
224 military personnel and civilians and a crew of 419 aboard. The
voyage was
uneventful, the Empress maintaining a zigzag course at 22 knots without
an
escort due to her high speed.
On
Saturday the 26th
October 1940 the Empress was almost home, just 60 miles off the north west coast of Ireland
and she was expected to
reach port within a day.
At 9.20am
the lookout
spotted a four engined plane approaching, and then circle the liner: it
was at
first thought to be friendly. It was in fact a German long range
Focke-Wulf
Condor 200. Having circled the speeding liner it made its first
approach from
her stern, dropping two bombs and raining machine gun fire onto her.
Captain
Sapsworth had called for full speed and the Empress was steaming at 24
knots,
returning fire from her Lewis guns, which managed to inflict some
damage to the
plane: rupturing an oil line and putting an engine out of action.
Despite this
the enemy plane remained a lethal adversary, returning for another
attack, but
already the Empress was filling with thick black smoke, one of the
bombs having
penetrated her former Mayfair Lounge. The Empress was burning. Two more
bombs
were dropped from the plane, neither finding their mark. The next time
the
pilot turned his plane to approach the Empress from her bow, raking the
ship
with machine gun fire and dropping yet two more bombs, one of which
struck the
Sun Deck, destroying several lifeboats and creating more fires. The
other bomb
hit the ship near to her stern, which put the anti-aircraft gun out of
action,
creating a fire that caused the stored ammunition to explode. Yet again
the
pilot turned his plane to create more havoc upon the already crippled
liner,
this time spraying machine gun fire across her bridge. The enemy plane
then
turned away to the south, her pilot sending signals indicating the
position of
the burning liner.
It was
only after
Oberleutnant Jpe had landed his plane at the base in northern France
that
they discovered the identity of the ship that they had attacked and
this caused
great excitement. A telex, reporting the attack, was sent to German
Supreme
Headquarters. Realising just how significant the attack was a
reconnaissance
plane was sent out to verify the attack. Despite having done so, the
official
German news agency still reported that the Empress of Britain had been
sunk
stating “The Empress of Britain was successfully attacked by German
bombers on
Saturday morning within the waters of Northern Ireland. The ship
was
badly hit and began to sink at once. The crew took to their boats.”
It was
fortunate that
despite the ferocity of the attack and subsequent fires, there were
relatively
few casualties. However Captain Sapsworth immediately realised that the
once
glorious Empress was doomed; the fires had spread through several decks
and as
the fire fighting equipment had been damaged in the attack they could
not be
brought under control. Thus he gave the order to stop all engines and
for the
ship to be abandoned. From the sighting of the plane to the “Abandon
Ship”
order a mere 30 minutes had elapsed. When the crew were sure that the
enemy
plane would not return they lowered the undamaged lifeboats and began
to
evacuate the ship. However it took nearly 6 hours before the last
survivor had
been taken off the Empress.
Late that
afternoon the first
rescue ships arrived on the scene, the Polish destroyer Burza and the
Royal
Navy destroyer Echo, and arriving soon after them were three trawlers, Cape Argona,
Paynter and Drangey. As the destroyers approached, huge sheets of flame
shot up
through the devastated liner. They lowered their boats to pick up the
survivors
and later took aboard those that had been picked up by the trawlers.
Once they
had everyone aboard they were instructed to sail for the Clyde.
Two further destroyers, Broke and Sardonyx, arrived to take their
place.
It was
very fortunate that
out of the 643 people onboard, only 45 were unaccounted for, and just
32 of
those were members of the crew. It was presumed that those unaccounted
people
had either been killed outright, injured and then trapped by fires or
that they
had drowned.
Remarkably
considering the
intensity of the attack and the subsequent explosions and fires, the
hull of
what remained of the Empress of Britain was still intact. Although she
had a
slight list, she appeared to be in no danger of sinking, therefore it
was
decided that it was worth trying to save her. On the 27th
October,
the day after the attack, a party of men from the Broke went on board
and
attached tow ropes. The ocean going tugs Marauder and Thames
had arrived, and had the task of towing the gutted hulk of the once
magnificent
Empress. Slowly under the care of the tugs, she began to move, with the
Broke
and Sardonyx standing by as escorts. The magnificent Empress of Britain
although ripped apart by explosions and gutted by fire, was not dead
yet. Under
the tender care of the salvage tugs and the watchful eye of her
escorting
destroyers she could yet, with luck, make port. A ship of her capacity
was a
valuable asset during those dark days of the Second World War; she
could be
rebuilt and she needed to be rebuilt.
Sadly good
fortune had
deserted the Empress as during the attack a German submarine U-32 was
just 60
miles to the south west. Her commander, Oberleutnant Hans Jenisch, had
been
informed, after the attack, of the location of the burning liner, and
headed in
that direction. Although he had spotted the limping Empress and her
attendant
tugs and destroyers, he had been unable to do anything other than order
the
U-boat to dive as there was a patrolling plane circling overhead.
Later, when
Jenisch ordered his craft to the surface, the Empress was nowhere to be
seen,
but that night, using passive sonar, he located the ships and closed in
on
them. The destroyers were maintaining a zigzag course but U-32 was able
to get
into position between them and the Empress of Britain and fired two
torpedoes.
The first of these detonated prematurely but the second hit the
devastated
liner, causing a massive explosion. It appears that initially the crews
of the
destroyers assumed that the fires aboard the liner had reached her fuel
tanks
and caused the explosion. Although anxious to escape undetected,
Jenisch
ordered U-32 around and fired another torpedo; it found its mark just
aft of
where the earlier one had exploded, ripping another hole in the hull of
the
Empress. Confident of his success, Jenisch ordered his submarine
safetly away
from the scene.
The
Empress of Britain was
now mortally wounded, her hull rapidly filling with water and she began
to list
heavily to port. The crews of the tugs rapidly let go of the tow lines
and at
2.05 am on Monday the 28th October 1940, the Empress of
Britain
slipped beneath the waves of the North Atlantic, a mere half a day’s
sailing
from the shipyard where she had been built. Britain’s
greatest liner was no
more.
Her war
service was not over
though. As the largest wreck on the seabed off Britain
and in a known location,
she was used to help rid the world of the U-boat menace. Scientists had
been
developing anti-submarine weapons, one of which was the ‘Hedgehog’ a
forward
thrown series of mortar bombs that proved to be a successful weapon in
the
Battle of the Atlantic. The projectiles, fired over the bow from a
naval
vessel, sank in the approximate pattern of a submarine’s shape. Only
exploding
on contact, the Hedgehog was designed to puncture and explode the
pressure hull
of a submarine and the Empress was used as a target for the development
of this
weapon. Her wreck therefore is likely surrounded by unexploded ordnance
and
covered in fishing nets from trawlers that use this area for fishing.
Soon after
her sinking,
newspapers started reporting her loss.
Sir Edward
Beatty, GBE, KC
LL.D, chairman and president of Canadian Pacific Railway, issued the
following
statement:
“News of the loss of the Empress of Britain will come to the
great army
of people who have travelled aboard her very much as would that of the
loss of
a personal friend, while all Canadians will hear with a feeling of deep
regret
that the gallant ship which for nine years proudly represented Canada
in all
the world’s great ports has met her fate at the hands of the enemy. The
Empress
of Britain was
designed and
built to help maintain for the St Lawrence gateway to Canada
a
position of high importance among the world’s ocean ports, and
splendidly she
accomplished that duty. She had many proud moments in her all too short
career.
Those who saw her first entry into Quebec
harbour will not forget the tremendous demonstration that greeted her.
That was
an event second only in interest to the day the ship bore Their
Majesties the
King and Queen from Halifax
on their way home. To the Canadian Pacific Steamship Co. her loss
brings an
especially keen regret. We were proud of her beauty and of her
consistently
fine performance and we had reason also to be gratified by the fact
that, while
her building might have been termed a bold experiment, it was seen to
be
thoroughly justified very early in her career. The ship has met her end
gallantly in the service of the country, as have many others, but when
the war
is finished and won, still others equally as fine will be built to take
their
places and carry on the work of maintaining our British supremacy on
the seas.
Of the loss of the 45 passengers and crew one can only speak with
sorrow, which
may be somewhat mitigated by pride in the fact that they went to their
death
with their faces bravely turned towards their duty, as is the manner of
British
seamen. To their relatives and friends will go the country’s heartfelt
sympathy.”
During the
following days
after the sinking of the magnificent Empress of Britain other equally
warm
tributes were paid to this great ship.
The Prime
Minister of Canada,
the Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King said:
“She will be long remembered by Canadians as a brave ship who
did her
duty in peace and war. Canadians have heard with profound regret of the
loss of
the Empress of Britain,
and with pride of the heroic conduct of her officers and men. For many
years
she carried the name and fame of Canada with high honour
into most
of the world’s great ports. When war broke out she was assigned to the
sterner
tasks of war, and in those tasks played a memorable part. To the
relatives of
the heroic seamen who lost their lives when their ship sank in the
Atlantic, I
send the deepest sympathy of the people of Canada.”
New York, a city associated with all the greatest
of ocean
liners, paid its own special tribute in The New York Times on the 29th
October 1940:
“No ship ever fitted her name more truly than the Empress of Britain.
She
was indeed an empress, with pride and grace and dignity in every inch
of her…” The
article recalled the role of the Empress, during both peace and war,
and ended
by saying “… The memory of this fine ship
will survive until a new Empress of Britain inherits her name.”
A tribute
was also send from Buckingham
Palace to
Sir Edward Beatty and Canadian
Pacific:
“I
have been asked by the King and Queen to convey to
you and the directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway their sincere
sympathy in
the loss of that fine ship, the Empress of Britain, in which Their
Majesties
had such a pleasant voyage from Canada last year.”
Sir Edward
responded:
“I
shall be very glad if you will be good enough to
express to Their Majesties our directors’ and my own deep appreciation
of their
kind message of sympathy in the loss of the Empress of Britain. She was
a
beautiful ship, of which all Canadians were very proud. In my
judgement, she
was one of the finest examples of the skill of the Clyde
shipbuilders and she ended her life gloriously in the service of the
nation.”
Just two
days after sinking
the Empress of Britain, the U-32 herself was sunk by the British
destroyer
Harvester. She and another destroyer, Highlander, picked up several
members of
the submarine’s crew. Later in one of those strange twists of fate,
those same
crew members were being transported from Britain
to a prisoner of war camp in Canada,
aboard the Canadian Pacific liner, the Duchess of York. She was under
the
command of one Captain Sapsworth, who had been commanding the Empress
of
Britain!
On the
afternoon of Sunday
the 10th November 1940, a memorial service for the ship and
her men
was held in Montreal’s church
of St Andrew and St Paul. The
church was filled with Montreal’s
prominent
citizens and hundreds of others who had known the ship as passengers or
as
officers of the company she represented. In the course of his address
Rev. Dr.
Geo. H. Donald said:
“To
the many thousands of passengers who had
travelled on the Empress of Britain across the Atlantic or on cruises
around
the world, her loss was felt as that of a personal friend rather than
as an
inanimate vessel, magnificent though that vessel was. There is
something
intimate and personal about all ships but she was one of the greatest
that
sailed the Atlantic and the further
seas. The
whole world was proud of her and mourns today as for one who died
before her
time.”
Sadly
today the splendour
and luxury of the Empress of Britain of 1930 is somewhat overlooked,
the ship
being labelled instead as one of the least profit making liners of her
time.
She was, however, conceived as a serious contender to those liners that
regarded Manhattan
as their terminus, and suffered as a consequence. The route to New York always
remained
the prestige service. She was built and entered service in the early
days of
the Depression and as those days began to fade, Europe
began to fall into political unrest and the turmoil of the Second World
War.
Like all great liners of the 1930s the odds were somewhat stacked
against her.
Nevertheless the Empress of Britain was a beautiful and remarkable
liner and
her loss will be mourned forever more as the loss of a truly great
ocean liner
the like of which the world shall never seen again.
|