RMS Empress of Japan (1891)

RMS "Empress of Japan", also known as the "Queen of the Pacific", was an ocean liner built in 1890-1891 [The disambiguation date used in this article's title is not the year in which the hull is launched, but rather the year of the vessel's sea trial or maiden voyage.] by Naval Construction & Armament Co., Barrow, England for Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP). [Simplon Postcards: [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/ "Empress of Japan", 2 images] ] This ship -- the first of two CP vessels to be named "Empress of Japan" [The second of two ships named SS "Empress of Japan" (1930) was built for CP to sail the trans-Pacific route.] -- regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route between the west coast of Canada and the Far East until 1922.Ship List: [http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsE.html Description of "Empress of Japan"] ] Over the course of her career, the "Empress" traversed 4 million kilometres (2.5 million miles).Davis, C. [http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/archives_empress.htm RMS "Empress of Japan,"] History of Metropolitan Vancouver website.] She made 315 Pacific crossings. [see above] ]

Royal Mail Ship

This "Empress" enjoyed the "RMS", meaning "Royal Mail Ship." This is the ship prefix still in use today by seagoing vessels which carry mail under contract by Royal Mail. Technically, a ship would use the prefix only while contracted to carry mail, and would revert at other times to a standard type designation such as "SS", meaning "Steam Ship" or "Steamer Ship." During wartime, for example, the RMS "Empress of Japan" would have been identified as the SS "Empress of Japan."

In 1891, Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the British government reached agreement on a contract for subsidized mail service between Britain and Hong Kong via Canada; and the route began to be serviced by three specially designed Empress liners. The RMS "Empress of Japan" and her two sister-ship ocean liners -- the RMS "Empress of India" and the RMS "Empress of China" -- created a flexible foundation for the CPR trans-Pacific fleet which would ply this route for the next half century. [see above] ]

History

The "Empress of Japan" was built by Naval Construction & Armament Co. (now absorbed into Vickers Armstrongs) at Barrow, England. The 5,905-ton vessel had a length of 455.6 feet, and her beam was 51.2 feet. The graceful white-painted, clipper-bowed ship had two buff-colored funnels with a band of black paint at the top, three lightweight schooner-type masts, and an average speed of 16-knots. This "Empress" and her two sister-ship "Empresses" were the first vessels in the Pacific to have twin screws with reioprocating engines. [Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986). [http://books.google.com/books?id=OuUvlfcIGRQC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=canadian+pacific+empress&source=web&ots=Ty9J-NVSiW&sig=g7UKEtRCOkLR_IWGfk5OUk4t95Q&hl=en#PPA145,M1 "Transpacific Steam: The Story of Steam Navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867-1941," p. 145.] ] The ocean liner provided accommodation for 160 first-class passengers and for 40 second class passengers. There was also room for up to 700 third-class passengers. [see above] ]

She was launched on December 13, 1890 by Lady Alice Stanley, daughter-in-law of Lord Stanley, who was then the Governor-General of Canada. [Musk, George. (1981). [http://books.google.com/books?id=JYoEAAAAMAAJ&q=ss+empress+of+russia&dq=ss+empress+of+russia&lr=&pgis=1 "Canadian Pacific: The Story of the Famous Shipping Line," p. 63.] ] The ship left Liverpool on April 11, 1891 on her maiden voyage via Suez to Hong Kong and Vancouver, arriving in British Columbia on the 2nd of June. Thereafter, she regularly sailed the route between Canada and the east coast of Asia. [see above] ] In the early days of wireless telegraphy, the call sign established for the "Empress of Japan" was "MPJ." [Trevent, Edward. (1911) [http://books.google.com/books?id=6xxIAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA13&dq=SS+Empress+of+China "The A B C of Wireless Telegraphy: A Plain Treatise on Hertzian Wave Signalling," p. 13.] ] It also transported passengers and cargo, notably Japanese tea.

This vessel was part of a fleet of "Empress" ships, but somehow the "Empress of Japan" stood out, in part because she held the speed record for crossing the Pacific for over two decades. The proud ship remained in active trans-Pacific service until 1922; and then she lingered, harbor-bound in Vancouver for several years. [see above] ]

World War I

The "Empress" was refitted as an Armed merchantman during the Great War; and consequently, she lost the elegant white gleam associated with luxury cruise ships. The agreement of commission between Canadian Pacific Railway, the Canadian Federal Government and the British Parliament included a clause which stated that in the event of war, the "Empress of Japan" would be re-fitted to meet Admiralty requirements. In 1914, two days before the "Empress" arrived in Yokohama on a routine trip to Asia, World War I broke out in Europe. His Majesty's Admiralty acted swiftly to take advantage of the wartime commissioning clause, and the "Empress" was re-fitted. [Kirsten Weisenburger, Kirsten and Marc Dinsdale. [http://www.langara.bc.ca/prm/1998/42empres.htm "First Class Warrior Empress,"] "The Sunday Province" (Vancouver, B.C.). July 4, 1926.] During the war years, SS "Empress of Japan" was also refitted as an Armed Auxiliary Cruiser. [see above] ] After the Armistice, this ship was the only one of the first three "Empress" ocean liners to return to the trans-Pacific route. [Tate, [http://books.google.com/books?id=OuUvlfcIGRQC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=canadian+pacific+empress&source=web&ots=Ty9J-NVSiW&sig=g7UKEtRCOkLR_IWGfk5OUk4t95Q&hl=en#PPA145,M1 p. 145.] ]

In 1923, the war-weary ship was used in a different kind of battle when CP used the aging "Empress" to house strikebreakers in a dispute with the Vancouver and District Waterfront Workers' Association. [Phillips, Paul A. (1967). "No Power Greater: A Century of Labour in British Columbia," p. 93.] The ship remained moored in Vancouver's harbor until 1926. [see above] ] The CP eventually replaced the old ship with a new one, which was also called the RMS "Empress of Japan". [see above] ]

alvage

The figurehead was rescued after being discarded from during the salvage of the "Empress of Japan" by the "Vancouver Daily Province" newspaper. It was restored and in 1927 was mounted for public display in Vancouver's Stanley Park. That figurehead was itself replaced in 1960 with a fiberglass replica, as the original was beginning to deteriorate. The original figurehead has been once again restored and is now housed at the Vancouver Maritime Museum as part of its permanent collection.

Various portions of the ship's once lavish interior were also scavenged by local homeowners from Vancouver's wealthiest neighborhoods and added to their homes and property values. [see above] ]

Notes

References

* Dept. of Agriculture, Canada. (1907). [http://books.google.com/books?id=JFZJAAAAMAAJ&dq=SS+Empress+of+China&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "Report of the Minister of Agriculture for Canada."] Ottawa: S.E. Dawson (King's Printer).
* Musk, George. (1981). [http://books.google.com/books?id=iWoTAAAAYAAJ&q=ss+empress+of+britain&dq=ss+empress+of+britain&lr=&pgis=1 "Canadian Pacific: The Story of the Famous Shipping Line."] Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. 10-ISBN 0-715-37968-2
* Parliament, Canada. (1892) [http://books.google.com/books?id=JSBOAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA7-PA223&lpg=RA7-PA223&dq=SS+Empress+of+China&source=web&ots=f4NhQOMj90&sig=CgcfBkRS789c3RTd8N6jwEl-BH0&hl=en "Sessional Papers."] Ottawa: S.E. Dawson (King's Printer).
* Phillips, Paul A. (1967). "No Power Greater: A Century of Labour in British Columbia." Vancouver: British Columbia Federation of Labour/Boag Foundation.
* Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986) [http://books.google.com/books?id=OuUvlfcIGRQC&dq=canadian+pacific+empress&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "Transpacific Steam: The Story of Steam Navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867-1941."] Cranbury, New Jersey : Cornwall Books/Associated University Presses. 10-ISBN 0-845-34792-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-845-34792-8 (cloth)
* Trevent, Edward. (1911) [http://books.google.com/books?id=6xxIAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=SS+Empress+of+China&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 "The A B C of Wireless Telegraphy: A Plain Treatise on Hertzian Wave Signalling."] Lynne, Massachusetts: Bubier Publishing.
* Weisenburger, Kirsten and Marc Dinsdale. [http://www.langara.bc.ca/prm/1998/42empres.htm "First Class Warrior Empress,"] "The Sunday Province" (Vancouver, B.C.). July 4, 1926.

External links

* McCord Museum/Musée McCord: [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/large.php?Lang=1&accessnumber=MP-0000.158.150 "Empress of Japan II" (photo, c. 1935)]
* The Ships List: [http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/cp.html Passenger ships web site]

ee also

* CP Ships
* List of ocean liners
* List of ships in British Columbia
* List of attractions and monuments in Stanley Park
* Samuel Robinson, junior officer (1895), captain