SS Duchess of Bedford
Empress of France
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|
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: |
|
| Owner: |
 Canadian Pacific Steamships
|
| Port of registry: | London, UK
|
| Builder: | John Brown, Clydebank, United Kingdom |
| Yard number: | 518 |
| Launched: | 24 January 1928 |
| Completed: | May 1928 |
| Out of service: | 1960 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage: | 20,123 GRT (1947, 20,448 GRT) |
| Length: | 601ft (183.2 m ) |
| Beam: | 75ft (22.9 m ) |
| Propulsion: | two steam turbines, twin propellers |
| Speed: | 18 knots |
| Capacity: | As built 580 cabin, 480, tourist, 510 3rd. 1947, 400 1st class, 300 tourist |
| Crew: | 510 |
RMS Empress of France was an ocean liner built in 1928 by John Brown at Clydebank in the United Kingdom for the Canadian Pacific Steamships and launched as the SS Duchess of Bedford in 1928. She was renamed Empress of France in 1947.
Duchess of Bedford was one of the several Canadian Pacific liners which were known as the "Drunken Duchesses" for their lively performance in heavy seas." She was built as a sister ship to SS Duchess of York, SS Duchess of Richmond and SS Duchess of Atholl.
Among Duchess of Bedford's better-known passengers in 1931 was Montagu Norman, the Governor of the Bank of England, who was en route from Canada to England when he received word the United Kingdom had permanently abandoned the gold standard.
The writer Elspeth Huxley worked on her biography of Lord Delamere while crossing the Atlantic in 1933.
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Duchess of Bedford was commandeered by the Admiralty to bring civil and military officials from England to India.
Duchess of Bedford was amongst the ships which evacuated Singapore in 1941.Duchess of Bedford transported 1955 men of the 18th Infantry Division to Singapore before it fell, departing Bombay on January 19, 1942 and arriving ten days later. Duchess of Bedford was joined by an "empress" sister ship in this convoy duty. The troopship SS Empress of Japan carried 1981 men of the 18th Division. The convoy departed with evacuees on January 30.
The "Duchess of Bedford" may best be known for her role in the historic "Operation Torch," where, along with the HMS Warwick Castle, she carried troops of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, United States from Grenoch Harbor, Great Britain, stopping briefly in Glasgow, Scotland, to Arzew, Algeria where she landed said troops on November 8, 1942 to facilitate the United States' first involvement in the theater and the overall invasion of Axis held North Africa.
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Wikipedia