RMS Empress of Japan (1890)
Empress of Japan
| |
History | |
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Canada | |
Name | Empress of Japan |
Owner | Canadian Pacific Steamship Company |
Port of registry | Canada |
Builder | Naval Construction & Armaments Co, Barrow-in-Furness |
Launched | 13 December 1890 by Lady Alice Stanley |
Out of service | 1922 |
Fate | Scrapped in 1926 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ocean liner |
Tonnage | 5,905 tons |
Length | 456 ft (139 m) |
Beam | 51 ft (16 m) |
Propulsion | twin propellers |
Speed | 16 knots |
Capacity |
|
RMS Empress of Japan, also known as the "
Over the course of her career, Empress of Japan traversed 4 million kilometres (2.5 million miles).[5] She made 315 Pacific crossings.[4]
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 ocean liners. Each of these three vessels was given an Imperial name.[6]
Empress of Japan and her two running mates –
History
Empress of Japan was built by Naval Construction & Armaments Co. (now absorbed into
She was launched on 13 December 1890 by Lady Alice Stanley, daughter-in-law of
Captained by Captain Henry Pybus, Empress of Japan won blue ribbon for record crossing of the Trans-Pacific crossing of 1897.[10] The ship remained in active trans-Pacific service until 1922; and then she remained harbor-bound in Vancouver for several years.[5] The dragon figurehead has been preserved at the Seawall in Stanley Park[10]
World War I
Empress of Japan was refitted as an
In 1923, the war-weary ship was used in a different kind of battle when Canadian Pacific used the aging Empress of Japan to house strikebreakers in a dispute with the Vancouver and District Waterfront Workers' Association.[13] The ship remained moored in Vancouver's harbor until 1926.[4]
The CP eventually replaced the Empress with a new vessel, which was also called
Salvage
The figurehead was rescued after being discarded during the salvage of 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 neighbourhoods and added to their homes and property values.[5]
See 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
Notes
- ^ 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.
- ^ Simplon Postcards: Empress of Japan, 2 images
- SS Empress of Japan (1930) was built for CPto sail the trans-Pacific route.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ship List: Description of Empress of Japan Archived 4 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Davis, C. RMS Empress of Japan, History of Metropolitan Vancouver website.
- ^ a b Miller, William H. (1984). The First Great Ocean Liners in Photographs, p. 52.
- ^ Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986). 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.
- ^ Musk, George. (1981). Canadian Pacific: The Story of the Famous Shipping Line, p. 63.
- ^ Trevent, Edward. (1911) The A B C of Wireless Telegraphy: A Plain Treatise on Hertzian Wave Signalling, p. 13.
- ^ a b "St Clair Hotel - Hostel". stclairvancouver.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Kirsten Weisenburger, Kirsten and Marc Dinsdale. "First Class Warrior Empress," Pacific Rim Online Magazine (Vancouver, British Columbia). 1998.
- ^ Tate, p. 145.
- ^ Phillips, Paul A. (1967). No Power Greater: A Century of Labour in British Columbia, p. 93.
References
- Dept. of Agriculture, Canada. (1907). Report of the Minister of Agriculture for Canada. Ottawa: S.E. Dawson (King's Printer).
- Miller, William H. (1984). The First Great Ocean Liners in Photographs. New York: OCLC 59208481
- Musk, George. (1981). Canadian Pacific: The Story of the Famous Shipping Line. Newton Abbot, Devon: ISBN 0-7153-7968-2
- Osborne, Richard; Spong, Harry & Grover, Tom (2007). Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878–1945. Windsor, UK: World Warship Society. ISBN 978-0-9543310-8-5.
- Parliament, Canada. (1892) 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) 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. ISBN 978-0-8453-4792-8(cloth)
- Trevent, Edward. (1911) The A B C of Wireless Telegraphy: A Plain Treatise on Hertzian Wave Signalling. Lynne, Massachusetts: Bubier Publishing.
- Weisenburger, Kirsten and Marc Dinsdale. "First Class Warrior Empress," The Sunday Province (Vancouver, B.C.). 4 July 1926.
External links
- McCord Museum/Musée McCord: "Empress of Japan II" (photo, c. 1935)
- The Ships List: Passenger ships web site