1923 to 1934
In 1923 the Scandinavian is scuppered and Montcalm is sold to Norwegian owners.
The first Empress of Australia assists at Yokohama after an earthquake.
The Sternwheeler fleet is reduced to 5 ships and the Company’s twelve cargo ships are given the prefix ‘B’.
1924 Belfast is added to the Clyde Canada service.
Built: Cammel Laird and Co., Birkenhead.
Tonnage: 19, 379g 10, 296n
Engines: Twin Screw 4 Single Reduction Parsons Steam Turbines, 13, 000 SHP, 16 Knots.
Passengers: 500 Cabin Class.
Laid Down: 23rd March 1920 as Suffren for French Line. 23rd February launched as De Grasse. She is towed from Cammel Lairds to St. Nazaire for completion because of industrial action at the British Ship Yard.
Passenger now 399 Cabin, 1, 712 Third Class and 420 Crew.
In 1932 she is refitted, tonnage drops to 18, 435g.
Passengers change to 536 Cabin and 410 Third Class.
In June of 1940 she is captured by the invading Germans at Bordeaux and is used as an accommodation ship in the Gironde Estuary off Blaye. The following year she becomes a depot ship for the Atlantic operating Italian submarines. On 25th August 1944 she is sunk by the retreating Germans but raised and refitted at Chantiers and Ateliers De Saint-Nazaire-Penhoet and is now given a single funnel as shown.
During the war it was not permissible for British registered vessels to change their names, as previously covered in 1942. The rule was lifted for one ship which was formerly the Empress of Japan who became the Empress of Scotland.
On the 5th February the Empress of Asia was sunk by Japanese aircraft off Singapore and the Duchess of Athol was lost when torpedoed West of Ascension by U.178.
In July of 1943 The Duchess of York was set on fire by long range German bombers off the coast of Morocco. The hulk was later sank by torpedo.
1925 On 27th February Sir Thomas Fisher, the General Manager dies and he’s succeeded by Captain James Gillies, the Fleet Commodore. Too many ships chasing the same cargo drives down freight rates. The USA slow down the immigration programme altogether, not a good year. To counter lost business the Canadian Government sponsor immigrants who only have to pay £2 for the crossing; the Government make up the difference. CPs start to plan new building to replace obsolete ships in its fleet.
The METAGAMA and MONTNAIRN are left as the only ships on the Clyde-Canada service. PRETORIAN, SCOTI AN and GRAMPIAN, former Allan Line ships are sold in the year 1926.
In 1927 five new cargo ships enter service, all with the prefix Beaver. They are BEAVERBURN, BEAVERFORD, BEAVERDALE, BEAVERHILL and BEAVERBRAE. The BAWTRY is sold. CPs threaten to leave the Atlantic Conference over an agreement with regards what constitutes ‘Cabin Class’, an argument going back some years with other operators.
With the Empress ships leaving Liverpool to go to Southampton four new Duchess ships take up the Liverpool service. The first, the DUCHESS OF BEDFORD commences her service 1st June 1928.
Built: 1928 by William Beardsmore & Co., Dalmuir.
Tonnage: 20,119g, 11,872n.
Engines: Twin Screw, 2 x 3 Stage Parsons Turbines, single reduction geared, 20,000 S.H.P., 17.5 Knots
Passengers: 580 Cabin, 480 Tourist, 510 3rd, 510 Crew.
Launched 23rd November 1927 by the Duchess of Atholl, Completed July 1928.
She made her maiden voyage from Liverpool on the 13th of July to Montreal via Quebec. On the 30th of December 1935 she lost her rudder when on passage to Liverpool and subsequently had to continue the voyage using her engines to steer. She was requisitioned on the 30th of December 1939 for trooping duties. On the 5th of May 1942 she took part in the landings at Courier Bay, Diego Suarez on the Island of Madagascar. It was thought at the time that the Japanese might attempt to occupy the island thus threatening the Middle East lifline. Three other troopships took part, Oronsay ( Orient ), Sobieski ( Gdynia America ) and Winchester Castle ( Union Castle ). The assault ships were Karanja and Karen ( British India ), Royal Ulsterman ( Burns & Laird ) and Bachaquero ( Lago Shipping ). Protecting convoy W.S.17 were 27 Warships which included Ramilles, Malaya, Illustrious, Indomitable, Devonshire and Hermoine the Hospital Ship was Atlantis of Royal Mail.
She was torpedoed on the 10th of October 1942 by U-178 when 200 miles north of Ascension Island, the following narrative is by survivor Charles Cusack Jnr who's Father was onboard Canadian Pacific's Empress of Asia when it was sank on the 5th of February the same year.
Duchess of Atholl (C.P.R.), while sailing from Cape Town, South Africa to Glasgow Scotland, was sunk by a German u-boat on the west coast of South Africa near Sierra Leone. It happened at 6am, just after early call. Most of the crew were still in their bunks. It was strange and frightening; all engineering generators stopped and all lights went out. There were cries of “we’ve been hit” and the dreaded word, “torpedoes”, was being shouted. The “abandon ship” orders were called and all members were told to make their way to boat stations. Although I had served three years on the ship, it was very difficult to find my way in the pitch dark. I was frantic to find my brother, Joe, who was also a member of the crew.
When I arrived on the boat deck, the officers and deck hands were getting the lifeboats ready for everyone to embark and I managed to locate my brother and we both got into the same boat.
Under the circumstances, it all went very well. All lifeboats were launched and we pulled away from the poor Duchess as she was slowly settling into the ocean. It was a sad sight for me because I had sailed in her for three years and was sorry to see her go down.
Considering the tragedy, the evacuation went very well. The only casualties were four engine-room staff who were killed where the torpedo had hit. It took over three hours for her to go down. As the ocean poured into her, she settled further and further into the water, then her stern went under, her bow came up into the air and she slid under the waves. It is every seaman’s nightmare to watch his ship go down.
After she had gone, the U-boat surfaced and an officer emerged on the conning tower with a megaphone. He apologized for sinking her and asked if we needed any assistance, medical or otherwise. He said that he had sent an S.O.S. and for us to keep all boats together and for us not to drift apart because it would be a couple of days before help would arrive. He then went down into the sub and she then submerged leaving us all alone in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The captain of the U178 was Kapitan Zur See Ibbeken.
I felt sad because she was such a happy ship with a great crew and I had served in her since before the war started. We had a football team of which I was a member and I looked forward to games against other ships when we reached port. We also gave concerts to entertain the troops on board. I fancied myself as a Frank Sinatra! We had an Irishman, a seaman from the deck department, who was a terrific singer. He would sing all the Irish songs (Danny Boy, Irish Eyes are Smiling and the beautiful Au Via Maria). He was the star of our show with the voice of Andre Petchelli. I’m sure you could hear the applause miles away after he had sung!
My father, Charley Snr, brother-in-law, Peter Christian, his brother, Billy, my brother, Joe and my school friend, George Bond were all members of her crew. When the war started, no family members were allowed to sail on the same vessel, so we were all assigned to different ships.
The ship had been carrying a cargo of oranges and when she sank, most of them floated to the top, so we were able to fish them out and into our boats. We were on the equator, so the oranges were a Godsend.
We were in the lifeboats for three days waiting to be picked up. It was quite an experience. During the day it was so very hot, with the sun blazing down on us. One middle aged man, the pastry chef who worked in the bakery, caught sunstroke and was in a bad shape. He was rambling and one of his eyeballs had rolled back, just revealing the white of his eye. It was frightening. We called the motor launch over and somehow managed to transfer him over to the ship’s doctor, Dr Miller. Dr Miller was trying to cope with everyone’s needs. The nighttime was just as bad. No one could sleep with the motion of the boat in the Atlantic waves. In fact, most of us were seasick from the motion and very wet with the spray. By the time we were picked up by the destroyer, we were all pretty exhausted.
On the third day, we sighted a spot on the horizon, which gradually got larger. To our joy, it turned out to be the Royal navy destroyer, Boreas H.77. We were all cheering for joy. Before she approached us, she circled all around for quite a few times, probably searching to see if the u-boat was still there waiting. When the destroyer came up to us, they had put nets over her sides so we could clamber up the sides onto her deck. Some of us had to be helped up because they were weak after three days. We were treated very well by the crew, watered and well fed. It took over three days to reach …….? From where we were picked up by the Arundel Castle and shipped home to the U.K.
After three weeks leave, I was order to join another C.P.R. ship (Empress of Canada), on which I was again torpedoed in the same area as the Duchess of Atholl. Unfortunately it was a more tragic experience with a great loss of life. She was sunk by an Italian submarine.
My father and brother-in-law, Peter Christian, were transferred to another C.P.R. ship, the Empress of Asia, which sailed for Singapore laden with troops, where she was bombed and sunk in Singapore Harbor during the Japanese invasion. They were captured and spent the rest of the war (four years) in Changi camp, Singapore.
Many British ships were lost and many brave lives died at sea and also in prisoner of war camps.
CHARLES CUSACK
Duchess of Bedford later renamed Empress of France
Built in 1928 at John Brown and Co. Clydebank.
Tonnage 20, 123g, 11, 887n, 8, 750dwt
Engines Twin screw, 2x3 Parsons Steam Turbines. 20, 000 SHP cruise 17.5 knots, max. 19 knots
Passengers 580 Cabin Class, 480 Tourist, 510 Third Class, 510 Crew
Launched as the duchess of Bedford by Mrs. Stanley Baldwin, wife of the then Prime Minister, on the 24th January 1928. Maiden voyage on the 1st June the same year, Liverpool-Quebec-Montreal.
In February 1933 she is chartered by Furness Withy awaiting the arrival of the Queen of Bermuda to run alongside their Monarch of Bermuda. On 29th August 1939 she is requisitioned and found herself trooping to Bombay. Nearly three years later on the 9th August 1942 she is credited with sinking an unidentified U-Boat.
From 1943 to 1947 she continues her trooping duties until being decommissioned and arrives on the 3rd March at Fairfields, Govan, Glasgow for refit.
She emerges from the refit as the Empress of France, second ship in CP to carry the name and commences on the Liverpool-Quebec-Montreal service.
Her specifications are now as follows: 20, 448g, capable of carrying 400 First Class passengers and 482 Tourist.
On the 19th December 1960 she leaves Liverpool for her final voyage to the breaker's John Cashmore of Newport, Monmouthshire, South Wales.
Her Empress bar was taken from the yard and can now be found at the Barry Hotel, Barry, Glamorgan.
She is followed by DUCHESS OF ATHOLL commenced 13th July, DUCHESS OF RICHMOND commenced 26th January 1929 and finally DUCHESS OF YORK commenced 22nd March 1929. Between the Duchess’s maiden voyages the new Beaver ships also enter service, replacing the much-outdated BALFOUR, BERWYN, BRECON and BRANDON. All four are sold on.
1929 Saw the transfer of METAGAMA to the Antwerp-Quebec- Montreal route with calls at Southampton and Cherbourg. During this year 129 Atlantic crossings were made by Canadian Pacific, a feat never equalled by any other company.
Duchess of Richmond © mpl
Built: 1929 by Wm Beardmore & Co, Dalmuir.
Tonnage: 20, 022, 11, 821n, 8, 755 dwt
Engine: Twin Screw, 2 x 3 Parsons Turbine, 20, 000 SHP, 17.5 Knots Cruising, 19 Knots Maximum.
Passengers: 580 Cabin, 480 Tourist, 510 Third Class, 510 Crew.
Launched on 18th June 1928, completed January 1929.
Ostensively built with her three sisters for the Liverpool- Quebec service the Duchess of Richmond's maiden voyage was a mini cruise to the Canary Islands. In the November of 1932 she was in collision with Cunard's passenger ship Alaunia off Sorel, Quebec, the Alaunia was the second of four ships to carry the name. On the 14th of February 1940 she was requisitioned by the Government for trooping duties and her first trip was Liverpool-Mediterranean-Suez. She had an uneventful war but two of her sisters were not so fortunate Duchess of Atholl was sank in 1942 and Duchess of York followed her a year later. In May of 1946 she was relieved of trooping duties and arrived at the yard of Fairfield's, Glasgow for refurbishment, her tonnage changed to 20, 325g, and her passenger numbers changed to 397 First Class, 303 Tourist. On the 12th July 1947 she re-entered service as the Empress of Canada wearing her new white livery and her first voyage was on the 16th of July from Liverpool to Montreal via Quebec.
On the 25th January 1953 she caught fire whilst at Gladstone Dock in Liverpool so much water was pumped onto her that she finally capsized and remained there until righted in March 1954. The whole operation cost nearly half a million pounds and after recovery the insurance assessors declared her a total loss. In August she was sold for scrap to Cantiere Di Portovenere of Genoa and was towed to La Spezia by the tug Zwarte Zee arriving on the 10th October.
1930 The EMPRESS OF JAPAN II enters service, the new Queen of the Pacific.
Empress of Japan
Built at Fairfields, Govan, Glasgow 1929.
Tonnage 26, 032g, 15, 725n
2 X 3 single reduction geared turbines 22 knots.
6, 475 nominal horsepower
6 water tube boilers 425 PSI
399 1st Class 164 2nd Class 100 3rd Class 579 Crew
Renamed Empress of Scotland 16th October 1942
In 1948 after steaming some 600, 000 miles she arrives in Liverpool thus ending her trooping duties and sails for Glasgow to her builders for refitting, initially for the Pacific but is changed to the Atlantic and she emerges from refit with the promenade deck all glassed in. Her weight is increased to 26, 313g and she now carries 458 1st class, 250 tourist and 480 crew.
9th May 1950 sees her first sailing Liverpool-Greenock-Quebec and in winter she cruises in the West Indies. In 1952 Montreal Harbour is dredged so that she can enter the port but her masts have to be shortened to facilitate her passing beneath the Quebec Bridge.
In 1957 she lays up in Liverpool and later dry docks in Belfast.
1958 she is sold to Hamburg America Line, renamed HANSEATIC and commences scheduled Atlantic service and cruising during the off-season. She sadly catches fire in the Engine Room 7th September 1966. Beyond economic repair she is finally sold for scrap and broken up in Hamburg.
On the 28th January 1931, some fifteen years after it was absorbed into CPS Allan Line was finally dissolved in Edinburgh. Some $8.4 million company reserves were transferred to the parent company.
The Great Depression was affecting all shipping Companies and Canadian Pacific had to take various cargo ships out of service and lay them up. The passenger ships that were surplus to requirements found themselves deployed on £1 a day mini cruises. The forerunners of what are commonly called 'booze cruises' today.
CPS and the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand jointly formed the Canadian-Australasian Line Ltd. in July.
This year also saw the winding down of the Lake Okanagan Sternwheeler Service retaining just one ship the Sicamous.
In June of 1930 Edward, The Price of Wales officiated at the launching of the Empress of Britain, the Company's largest ever passenger ship. She was also the largest on the Canadian service.
Empress of Britain
Built 1931 John Brown & Co, Clydebank
Tonnage 42, 348g 22, 545n
Engines 4 screw, 12 single reduction Curtis Brown steam turbines. 62,500 SHP, 9 water tube boilers, 24 knots.
Passengers 465 1st class, 260 Tourist, 470 3rd class and 740 crew.
In 1932 she was in collision with the Briarwood. Both ships sustained superficial damage.
1934 she broke the Quebec-Cherbourg crossing time, reducing it to 4 days, 6 hours and 58 minutes. Thick fog in the St. Lawrence River was to blame when another collision occurred involving the Empress of Britain when she collided with the Common Brother's ship Kafiristan on the 16th June 1935. Unfortunately three crewmembers were killed and several were injured on the Common brother's ship, which had to be taken undertow by Canadian Pacific's cargo ship Beaverford.
In June of 1939 she carried King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on their return trip to England, Halifax N.S. to Southampton and on 25th November was requisitioned for trooping, making two round trips Halifax-Clyde before the year's end.
She sailed on the 17th March for Australia/ New Zealand to bring back troops. Returning in convoy from Freemantle on the 12th May. In convoy with amongst others Empress of Canada, Cunard's Queen Mary, Aquitania and Mauritania and Royal Mail's Andes.
Having then sailed out to Suez via the Cape in the convoy WS2. She sailed from Cape Town for the return voyage with 643 persons onboard. On the 26th October off the west Coast of Ireland she was attacked by a Focke Wulf Condor and was set on fire, which was soon out of control. The order to abandon ship was given leaving a skeleton crew onboard. The vessel was taken undertow by Burza, a Polish destroyer, later being joined by tugs Maraudor and Thames. After being stalked for 24 hours by the U32 she was struck by two torpedoes on the 28th October. She sank with a loss of 45 lives, most of which were killed in the air attack two days previously. She became the largest liner to be sunk during WWII. Two days after the sinking the U32 herself became a casualty when she was sank by the destroyer Harvester.
The Depression continues and in 1932 only 6, 882 emigrants are landed as opposed to 133, 141 in 1929.
Go to 1934 to 1990