View source for RMS Empress of Canada (1920)

{{Short description|Ocean liner}}
{{Other ships|RMS Empress of Canada}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = RMS Empress of Canada docked at Vancouver June 1936.jpg
| Ship caption = RMS ''Empress of Canada'' docked at Vancouver, June 1936.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = [[United Kingdom]]
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|government}}
| Ship name = ''Empress of Canada ''
| Ship owner = [[Canadian Pacific Steamships]]
| Ship operator = *1922–1939: Canadian Pacific Steamships
*1939–1943: [[British Admiralty]]
| Ship registry = 1922–1939: Canada
| Ship route = 
| Ship ordered = 1920
| Ship builder = [[Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company]], [[Govan]]
| Ship original cost = Approximately $6,800,000
| Ship yard number = 528
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 18 August 1920<ref name=pmrNov20>{{cite journal |author1=Pacific American Steamship Association |author2=Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast |year=1920 |title=European Marine Developments |journal=Pacific Marine Review |volume=17 |issue=November |pages=87–88 |location=San Francisco |publisher=J.S. Hines |url=https://archive.org/stream/pacificmarinerev17192paci#page/n1118/mode/1up |access-date=11 May 2015}}</ref>
| Ship completed = May 1922
| Ship christened = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship maiden voyage = 5 May 1922
| Ship in service = 5 May 1922
| Ship out of service = 14 March 1943
| Ship identification = 
| Ship fate = Torpedoed and sunk 14 March 1943
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship type = [[Ocean liner]]
| Ship tonnage = {{GRT|21,517}}
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = *{{convert|653|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} [[Length overall|oa]]<ref name=pmrNov20 />
* {{convert|627|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|77.7|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}<ref name=pmrNov20 />
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = 
| Ship draft = 
| Ship depth = 
| Ship decks = 
| Ship deck clearance = 
| Ship ramps = 
| Ship ice class = 
| Ship power = 
| Ship propulsion = 6 steam turbines
| Ship speed = {{convert|18|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship capacity = *488 1st class passengers
*109 2nd class passengers
*926 3rd class passengers
| Ship crew = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
'''RMS ''Empress of Canada''''' was an [[ocean liner]] built in 1920 for the [[Canadian Pacific Steamships]] (CP) by [[Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company]] at [[Govan]] on the [[River Clyde|Clyde]] in [[Scotland]]. This ship—the first of three CP vessels to be named ''Empress of Canada''{{efn|The third [[RMS Empress of Canada (1961)|SS ''Empress of Canada'']] (1961) was built for [[CP Ships]].}}—regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route between the west coast of Canada and the Asian waters until 1939.

==History==
In 1920, [[Canadian Pacific Steamships]] ordered a new ship to be built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at [[Govan]] near [[Glasgow]] in Scotland.<ref>{{cite web |last=Johnston |first=Ian |title=Govan Shipyard |url=http://www.shipsmonthly.com/ships/home.htm |url-status=dead  |work=Ships Monthly |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611163521/http://www.shipsmonthly.com/ships/home.htm |archive-date=11 June 2008 |date=June 1985}}</ref> This Empress was a {{convert|653|ft|adj=on}} [[ocean liner]] measuring {{GRT|21,517|disp=long}}. The ship was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 18 August 1920 with a notable speech by the general manager of the Canadian Pacific Ocean Services, Ltd., Sir Thomas Fisher, who noted the approximately $6,800,000 price compared to a pre-war cost of about $2,200,000 and cost of operation that had risen at least 350 per cent, which had forced first class fares from $76 to $202 (based on a $4 to the pound sterling) and predicted dire consequences for shipping and the [[British Empire]].<ref name=pmrNov20 /> A world tour, planned for early 1921, was cancelled due to labour disturbances making on-schedule completion doubtful.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Pacific American Steamship Association |author2=Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast |year=1920 |title=''Empress of Canada'' Tour Off |journal=Pacific Marine Review |volume=17 |issue=November |page=111 |location=San Francisco |publisher=J.S. Hines |url=https://archive.org/stream/pacificmarinerev17192paci#page/n1142/mode/1up |access-date=11 May 2015}}</ref>

The liner undertook her maiden voyage on 5 May 1922.  Based at the port of [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada, the first ''Empress of Canada'' was intended to provide service to the [[Empire of Japan]], [[Hong Kong]], and China.  She was at the time the largest vessel ever engaged in trans-Pacific service.<ref name=pmrJul22>{{cite journal |author1=Pacific American Steamship Association |author2=Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast |year=1922 |title=The ''Empress of Canada'' |journal=Pacific Marine Review |volume=19 |issue=July |pages=412–413 |location=San Francisco |publisher=J.S. Hines |url=https://archive.org/stream/pacificmarinerev1922paci#page/n503/mode/1up |access-date=11 May 2015}}</ref> Her [[sister ship]]s included ''Empress of France'' and ''Empress of Britain''.

===Great Kantō earthquake===
On 4 September 1923, ''Empress of Canada'' arrived at [[Tokyo]] harbour—just three days after the devastating [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|Great Kantō earthquake]] struck the city.  Those aboard ''Empress of Canada'' found that the Canadian ocean liner {{RMS|Empress of Australia|1919|6}} had been converted to a command post from which the British consul was directing relief work. ''Empress of Canada'' transported refugees – 587 Europeans, 31 Japanese, and 362 Chinese – to [[Kobe]], Japan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/09/09/archives/all-ships-aiding-relief.html&scp=1&sq=ss+Empress+of+Australia&st=p  |title=All Ships Aiding Relief |work=The New York Times |date=9 September 1923}}</ref>

On 13 October 1929, ''Empress of Canada'' ran aground off [[Vancouver Island]], British Columbia. Ninety-six passengers were taken off by [[ship's tender|tender]] and landed at [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], British Columbia. She was refloated on 15 October and towed to [[Esquimalt]], British Columbia, for [[drydock]]ing.<ref name=Times151029b>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Pacific liner aground |date=15 October 1929 |page=16 |issue=45334 |column=E }}</ref><ref name=Times161029a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Empress of Canada |date=16 October 1929 |page=14 |issue=45335 |column=F }}</ref>

===Attack===
{{Main|1931 Empress of Canada stabbings}}
On 5 June 1931, as the ''Empress of Canada'' sailed in the Pacific Ocean between [[Honolulu]] and [[Yokohama]], 42-year-old Filipino passenger Graciano Bilas killed two people and wounded 29 others in a mass stabbing aboard the ship.<ref name="SG">{{Cite news |date=25 June 1931 |title=The Empress of Canada Affray |language=en-SG |work=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19310625-1.2.100 |access-date=17 April 2023}}</ref> Bilas was found to be insane at the time of the crime and was committed to a psychiatric hospital.<ref name="SG" />

===World War II===
[[File:Captain A. J. Hailey in uniform with a cat on the first C.P. R.M.S. Empress of Canada.jpg|thumb|upright|Captain A. J. Hailey with his cat on ''Empress of Canada'', 1920s]]
Following the outbreak of [[World War II]] in 1939, she was converted for use as a [[troopship]]. She was one of the ships in the first Australian–New Zealand convoy, designated US.1 for secrecy, destined for [[North Africa]] and at that time not yet fully converted for full troop capacity with few ships of the convoy carrying more than 25 per cent more than their normal passenger load.<ref name=Gill>{{cite book |last=Gill |first=G. Hermon |title=Royal Australian Navy 1939–1942 |series=Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy |volume=1 |year=1957 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |location=Canberra |pages=85–94 |url=http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67910 |access-date=22 December 2013 |archive-date=25 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525001721/http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67910 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Empress of Canada'' departed [[Wellington]], New Zealand on 6 January 1940 with the New Zealand elements, joined the Australian ships and arrived in [[Aden]] on 8 February from where the convoy split with all ships heading for [[Suez]].<ref name=Gill />
[[File:SS Empress of Canada ballroom.jpg|thumb|right|''Empress of Canada''{{'}}s ballroom was cleared for sleeping as [[ANZAC]] troops are transported from the [[Antipodes]] to the war zones in the Northern Hemisphere. This image was captured at sea in January 1940 near [[Fremantle, Western Australia]].]]

On 14 June 1940 the ship was part of the troop convoy US.3 consisting of the liners ''Andes'', ''Aquitania'', ''Empress of Britain'', ''Mauretania'' and ''Queen Mary'', which sailed from Australia en route to the Clyde and was met to the west of [[Gibraltar]] by a naval force led by the [[battlecruiser]] {{HMS|Hood}}.

She continued to transport [[ANZAC]] troops from New Zealand and from Australia to the war zones in Europe until sunk. The return voyage from Europe was not less dangerous than the trip north had been. On 14 March 1943 at 01.00 am, while en route from [[Durban]], South Africa to [[Takoradi]] carrying Italian [[prisoners of war]] along with Polish and Greek refugees,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wreck.fr/dictionnaire/222.pdf#prof |title=Dictionary of Wrecks |website=wreck.fr |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20170510050450/http://www.wreck.fr/dictionnaire/222.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2017}}</ref> ''Empress of Canada'' was [[torpedo]]ed at midnight and sunk by the {{ship|Italian submarine|Leonardo da Vinci|1939|6}} approximately {{convert|400|mi}} south of [[Cape Palmas]] off the coast of Africa. Of the approximate 1,800 people on board, 392 died. 149 of the fatalities reported were Italian prisoners.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jordan |first=Roger |title=The World's Merchant Fleets, 1939: The Particulars And Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships |publisher=Naval Institute Press |date=2006 |page=110 |isbn=1-59114-959-2}}</ref> British rescuers saved 800 of those aboard.<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |title=400 Lives Lost in Sinking of Liner Year Ago |newspaper=The San Bernardino Daily Sun |location=San Bernardino, California |date=19 February 1944 |volume=50 |page=2}}</ref> ''Leonardo da Vinci'' herself was sunk on 23 May 1943 by British destroyer {{HMS|Active|H14|6}} and the frigate {{HMS|Ness|K219|6}} (both escorts to convoys WS-30 and KMF-15), with no survivors.<ref name="WRECKS">{{cite web |title=WRECKsite – Leonardo da Vinci |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?137885}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of ocean liners]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Empress of Canada (ship, 1922)}}
* [http://members.tripod.com/~merchantships/cprships1.html The Role of the CP Ships in World War II]
* [[New York Public Library]] Digital Gallery:
** NYPL ID 97714, unknown photographer: [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?97714  ''Empress'', starboard view]
** NYPL ID 97713, unknown photographer: [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?97713  ''Empress'', portside view]
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80012455 IWM Interview with survivor William Birch]
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80030632 IWM Interview with survivor Mike Juni]

{{Coord|1|13|0|S|9|57|0|W|display=title}}
{{1929 shipwrecks}}
{{March 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empress of Canada (1920)}}
[[Category:1920 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Govan]]
[[Category:Ships of CP Ships]]
[[Category:Ocean liners]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1929]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1943]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Italian submarines]]
[[Category:Steamships of Canada]]
[[Category:Troopships of Canada]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Africa]]