RMS Empress of India (1891)

RMS "Empress of India" 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. [Simplon Postcards: [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/ "Empress of India", 4 images] ] This ship would be the first of two CP vessels to be named "Empress of India," [The second of two ships named SS "Empress of India" (1908) was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd Line (NDL), purchased by CP in 1921, then re-named.] and on April 28, 1891, she was the very first of many ships named "Empress" arriving at Vancouver harbor. [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#PPA144,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. 144.] ] The "Empress" regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route between the west coast of Canada and the Far East until she was sold to the Maharajah of Gwalior in 1914.Ship List: [http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsE.html Description of "Empress of India"] ]

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."

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 India" and her two sister-ship ocean liners -- the RMS "Empress of China and the RMS "Empress of Japan" -- 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 India" was built by Naval Construction & Armament Co. (now absorbed into Vickers Armstrongs) at Barrow, England. The keel was laid in 1890. [see above] ] She was launched on August 30, 1890 by Lady Louise Egerton, sister of Lord Harrington. [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 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, [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.] ] The ocean liner provided accommodation for 50 first-class passengers and for 150 second class passengers. There was also room for 400 third-class passengers. [see above] ]

The SS "Empress of India" left Liverpool on February 8, 1891 on her maiden voyage via Suez to Hong Kong and Vancouver. Thereafter, she regularly sailed back and forth along the Hong Kong - Shanghai - Nagasaki - Kobe - Yokohama - Vancouver route. [see above] ] In the early days of wireless telegraphy, the call sign established for the "Empress of India" was "MPI." [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.] ]

Much of what would have been construed as ordinary, even unremarkable during this period was an inextricable part of the ship's history. In the conventional course of trans-Pacific traffic, the ship was sometimes held in quarantine, as when it was discovered that a passenger from Hong Kong to Kobe showed signs of smallpox, and the vessel was held in Yokohama port until the incubation period for the disease had passed. [Dept. of Agriculture, Canada. (1907). [http://books.google.com/books?id=JFZJAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=SS+Empress+of+China&source=web&ots=smrcgurzMN&sig=D3vCVvqCc0XZCQUjMty6yUVM41I&hl=en "Report of the Minister of Agriculture for Canada," p. 12.] ] The cargo holds of the "Empress" would have been routinely examined in the normal course of harbor-master's business in Hong Kong, Yokohama or Vancouver. [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," p. 223.] ]

On August 17, 1903, the "Empress of India" collided with and sank the Chinese cruiser "Huang Tai." [see above] ]

The vessel was repoted sold on December 19, 1914, to the "Geakwar" of Baroda (also known as the Maharajah of Gwalior), said to be the richest of the Indian princes). [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E05E4DE103EE733A05753C2A9649D946596D6CF "Empress of India" Sold; Gaekwar of Baroda Buys Liner to Serve as Hospital Ship,"] "New York Times." December 20, 1914.] The former "Empress" was re-fitted as a hospital ship for Indian troops. On January 19, 1915, the ship was renamed "Loyalty". In March 1919, she was sold to Scindia S.N. Company in Bombay (now Mumbai). In February 1923, the ship was sold for scrapping at Bombay. [see above] ]

CP "Empresses of India"
In 1921, Canadian Pacific added two German-built vessels to the "Empress" fleet; and initially, both were confusingly re-named "Empress of China." Within months, one of these ships will be re-named the SS "Empress of India" and the other will be re-named the SS "Empress of Australia". A quick explanation will help distinguish these the quite different ships which each sailed with the same name.
* The first SS "Empress of India" was a 5,905-ton vessel, launched in 1890 from Barrow, England. She would be sold in 1914, re-named SS "Loyalty" in 1915, and scrapped in Bombay in 1919. [see above] ]
** A CP sister-ship, the first SS "Empress of China", was also a Barrow-built, 5,905-ton vessel; but she was launched a few months later, in 1891. She was wrecked on a reef at Tokyo Bay in 1911, and subsequently scrapped in 1912.White Empress fleet: [http://www.angelfire.com/pe2/pjs1/eos22.html 20 ships, descriptions] ]

* The second SS "Empress of India" was a 16,992-ton vessel launched in 1907 from Gestemunde, Germany as the SS "Prince Freidrich Wilhelm." The ship was purchased in 1921 by Canadian Pacific and then immediately, the ship was re-named "Empress of China" for only a short time.
**This second SS "Empress" of China and of India will be re-named several more times -- as the SS "Montlaurier" in 1922; and as the SS "Montnairn" in 1925. The ship was scrapped 1929. [see above] ]

In other words, this vessel from Barrow is the first of two ships named "Empress of India".

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).
* 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.

External links

* The Ships List: [http://www.theshipslist.com/index.html Passenger ships web site]
* Simplon Postcards: [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/ Canadian Pacific postcard images]

ee also

* CP Ships
* List of ocean liners
* List of ships in British Columbia