RMS Empress of Britain (1931)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Empress of Britain |
| Operator: |
 Canadian Pacific Steamship Company
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| Port of registry: | London, United Kingdom |
| Route: | Southampton to Quebec (Cruising in winter) |
| Builder: | John Brown & Company of Clydebank, Scotland |
| Yard number: | 530 |
| Laid down: | 28 November 1928 |
| Launched: | 11 June 1930 |
| Completed: | 5 April 1931 |
| In service: | 27 May 1931 |
| Fate: | Torpedoed and sunk 28 October 1940 by a German U-boat. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Steam passenger liner |
| Tonnage: | 42,348 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 760 ft 6 in (231.80 m) |
| Beam: | 97 ft 6 in (29.72 m) |
| Draft: | 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 24 kn (44 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 465 1st class, 260 tourist class, 470 3rd class (700 one class when cruising) |
| Crew: | 740 |
The RMS Empress of Britain was an ocean liner built between 1928 and 1931 by John Brown shipyard in Scotland and owned by Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. This ship was the second of three CP vessels named Empress of Britain — provided scheduled trans-Atlantic passenger service from spring to autumn between Canada and Europe from 1931 until 1939.
In her time, the Empress was the largest, fastest, and most luxurious ship between England and Canada. She was torpedoed on 28 October 1940 by U-32 and sank. At 42,348 gross tons, she was the largest liner lost during the Second World War and the largest ship sunk by a U-boat.
Work began on Empress of Britain on 28 November 1928 when the plates of her keel were laid at John Brown & Co, Clydebank, Scotland. She was launched on 11 June 1930 by HRH Prince of Wales. This was the first time that launching ceremonies in Britain were broadcast by radio to Canada and the United States.
Although mostly equipped with eight Yarrow boilers, she was also the first to be fitted with a single Johnson boiler as an experiment.
The ship began sea trials on 11 April 1931 where she recorded 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h), and left Southampton on her maiden voyage to Quebec on 27 May 1931.
As the ship would sail a more northerly trans-Atlantic route where ice-infested waters off Newfoundland sometimes awaited, Empress of Britain was ordered with outer steel plating double the thickness at the stem and for 150 feet (46 m) back at either side, up to the waterline. Her sea trials showed her to be “the world’s most economical steamship for fuel consumption per horsepower-hour for her day.”
Her primary role was to entice passengers between England and Quebec instead of the more popular Southampton–New York. The ship was designed to carry 1,195 passengers (465 first class, 260 tourist class and 470 third class).
Empress of Britain was the first passenger liner designed specifically to become a cruise ship in winter when the St. Lawrence River was frozen. The Empress of Britain was annually converted into an all-first-class, luxury cruise ship, carrying 700 passengers.
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Wikipedia