ATLANTIC EMPRESS: R.M.S. EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND

 

A Two-Ocean Empress for the Ages-- Canadian Pacific uniquely maintained both trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic services with Empress of Japan/Scotland the longest serving on both as well being, uniquely, the largest vessel and holding speed records on both routes.   Renamed during a war that claimed her fleetmates and ravaged Canadian Pacific (which suffered proportionally more losses than any single line of any combatant nation),  Empress of Scotland was a survivor with a score to settle.  Indeed, her career as a transport was without equal of any major liner, transcending war and peace, encompassing 712,000 miles and carrying 292,000 troops from 1939-1948.  

Gracefully matured, the now 20-year-old Empress was switched from the Pacific to the Atlantic after Canadian Pacific's own airliners replaced passenger ships on the Orient route after the war.  Refitted to the nines, but retaining every bit of her original grace and beauty, inside and out, Empress of Scotland assumed the mantle of the tragically lost Empress of Britain as the greatest liner on the St. Lawrence route in the post-war era as well as re-establishing C.P. in the cruise trade.  But first, as we continue the story of this magnificent ship, Empress of Scotland has a war to help win, building on her splendid trooping record as Empress of Japan.  

R.M.S. Empress of Scotland anchored in the Tail of the Bank with the paddle steamer Jeanie Deans, c. 1951. Painting by Stephen J. Card 2013, via shipsnostalgia.com

R.M.S. Empress of Scotland in the St. Lawrence River. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and  Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

Few liners equalled the splendid record for continuous and reliable service established by the Empress of Japan, which, after the Pearl Harbour attack, was renamed Empress of Scotland. The mileage she covered, year after year, was truly extraordinary. 

Empress to the Orient, W. Kaye Lamb

Because she was so ideally suited to transport duties, the Scotland was retained long after the end of the war in Europe to aid in the deployment of forces for the last months of the Pacific campaign and to carry the troops and other personnel home.

The Pacific Empresses, Robert D. Turner

She was called "the ideal transport," and her high speed, great steaming range, large troop capacity and superb reliability made Empress of Scotland one of the most valuable troopships of the Second World War and indeed well beyond it.  Her value was reflected in that by the time she was finally released to her owners in mid 1948, she had steamed an astonishing 719,783 miles and carried 258,292 troops and other personnel all over the world. 

Canadian Pacific poster, 1942. 

1942

Undated aerial photo of H.M.T. Empress of Scotland. Credit: Imperial War Museum. 

With her new name came new horizons reflecting the changing direction of the war, notably the increased American and Canadian involvement in it as well as the build up to the first Allied invasion, that of North Africa beginning in November 1942.  

Empress of Scotland's first assignment was her last WS convoy and one of the most unusual, being routed, carrying British forces, from the Clyde (departing 27 October 1942)  to  Durban, but routed so far west to avoid the main convoys going to North Africa, that the ships (Empress of Scotland, Athlone Castle, Stirling Castle, Tamaroa, Arawa and Largs Bay and their escorts) refuelled in Bahia, Brazil, that country only recently declaring on Germany.  Upon the convoy's arrival there on the 17th, the Brazilians insisted the troops land and participate in what amounted to a victory parade over the successful landings at North Africa on the 7th.  With less fanfare, the convoy reached Durban on 4 December.

From there, Empress of Scotland began a new phase in her career that would mark much of the remainder of her life: a North Atlantic ferry.  

On her first trans-Atlantic crossing since she begin her career than a dozen years ago, Empress of Scotland left Durban on 9 December 1942 and arrived at New York on the 29th.  There, she was given a major refitting and conversion into a high density (with as many as 4,432 berths) troop transport and considerably increased defensive armament. Most of her original accommodation below "B" Deck was gutted and replaced by three-tier bunks. 

Canadian Pacific poster, 1943.

1943

Assigned to the  AT/TA series Atlantic convoys, her first such, AT.33, departed New York on 8 January 1943 for the Clyde (arriving the 13th) but Empress of Scotland was the only vessel in the convoy, escorted by USS Bainbridge, and carried 4,191 troops.  She was further refitted upon arrival in the Clyde.  The return trans-Atlantic convoys, were assigned the TA prefix with Empress of Scotland sailing from the Clyde on 23 January for Halifax (arriving there on the 28th) and on this, she was again the only vessel and sailed unescorted thereafter.  

On her next trans-Atlantic run,  AT.36, from Halifax on 5 February 1943 with 3,971 Canadian troops, she reached the Clyde on the 11th. Westbound, Empress of Scotland started TA.36 on the 20th and docked at Halifax on the 27th and underwent 18 days of repair at New York. From there, she undertook AT.39, departing 23 March and landing her 4,327 American troops at the Clyde on the 30th and proceeding to Liverpool for refitting there before sailing back to New York, from the Clyde, as TA.39, on 6 April, arriving the 13th.

Then there were two: on 13 March 1943 Empress of Canada, en route from Durban to Britain,  was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci, 329 of her ship's company and passengers (mainly Italian prisoners of war)..  This left only Empress of Scotland and Empress of Russia as the remaining Pacific Empresses and already a broken man after the loss of Empress of Britain and debilitated by a stroke, Sir Edward Beatty passed away ten days later. 

Taking a break from the monotony of the North Atlantic, Empress of Scotland sailed from New York on 22 April 1943, bound for Casablanca, where she arrived on the 30th and sailed the following day back to Halifax, docking there on the 7th.

Back on the North Atlantic run, Empress of Scotland departed Halifax on 17 May 1943, as AT.43,  and arrived at Liverpool on the 24th. Westbound, her voyage of 29 May-6 June, was designated TA.43. This was followed by AT.49 departing on the 11th, carrying 4,173 Canadian forces who were landed safely at Liverpool on the 18th.

Embarking in Empress of Scotland at Newport News, October 1943. Original caption: "1st Lt. Xavier N. Benziger, Jr., 0-1640221, Greenwich, Conn., commanding officer of Unit 6485-G, 1157th Signal Service Company, consisting of 2 officers and 96 Chinese enlisted men on Pier 6, about to embark on HMS Empress of Scotland for overseas duty. This company included telephone and radio operators, radio repair men, and others technically trained for communications work. Official Photograph U.S. Army Signal Corps, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, Newport News Virginia." Credit: U.S. National Archives

Just landed at Newport News 24 October 1943 from Empress of Scotland."Informal group of American pilots just after debarking from Empress of Scotland at Pier 6 after nine months' service in Africa, Sicily, and Italy. They have each completed 50 missions and will spend three to six months in U.S. for rehabilitation. Most flyers wear some reminder of their plane as a sentimental gesture. Official Photograph U.S. Army Signal Corps, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, Newport News Virginia." Credit: U.S. National Archives.

Just arrived at Newport News from Liverpool and before beginning an extensive period of duty on the North African trooping run, Empress of Scotland's lifeboat crews are put through their paces to the satisfaction of the U.S. Coast Guard.  Note the anti-aircraft gun tubs just below the bridge wing and along the top of the Sports Deck.  Credit: U.S. National Archives, via shippinghistory.com member threebs. 

After crossing to Newport News from Liverpool (TA.49 24 June-2 July 1943) with German POWs, Empress of Scotland started a new assignment taking  her through the rest of the year: a regular shuttle service from Newport News to and from Casablanca. These voyages were not assigned convoy numbers and all told, she carried some 30,000 mostly American service personnel to/from the North African Theatre of Operations:

Newport News 7 July

Casablanca 15 July

Casablanca 17 July

Newport News 25 July

Newport News 30 July

Casablanca 6 August 

Casablanca 8 August

New York 16 August

(refit)

Fresh from a refit at New York, H.M.T. Empress of Scotland lies at Pier 6, Newport News, on 6 October 1943 embarking troops for the first of many crossings that year to Casablanca, North Africa. Credit: U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph, U.S. National Archives. 

New York 4 October

Newport News 5 October

Casablanca 15 October

Casablanca 16 October

Newport News 24 October

Newport New 28 October

Casablanca  5 November

Casablanca 6 November

Newport News 13 November

Newport News 21 November

Casablanca 27 November

Casablanca 28 November

Newport News 6 December

Newport News 17 December

Casablanca 25 December

Casablanca 26 December

Newport News 2 January 1944

Just off Empress of Scotland at Newport News, 24 October 1943."French sailors shown at Pier 6 after debarking from Empress of Scotland. They are here in the United States for advanced naval training before returning to the combat areas. Official Photograph U.S. Army Signal Corps, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, Newport News Virginia. Credit: U.S. National Archives.

 Aboard H.M.T. Empress of Scotland at Newport News, 27 October 1943: "Three members of WAC unit 6946 get accustomed to their new home aboard the Empress of Scotland docked at Pier 6 just before sailing overseas. Upper bunk, Pvt. Edith F. Marean, A-225671, of Boston, Mass; lower bunk, Pvt. Esther Lannon, A-915443, of Salt Lake City, Utah; combing hair, Pvt. Lois M. Pershall, A-909964, of Lake Chelan, Washington. Official Photograph U.S. Army Signal Corps, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, Newport News Virginia. Credit: U.S. National Archives.

Empress of Scotland sailing from Newport News, November 1943. Credit: U.S. National Archives via The Mariners Museum.

1944

Breaking her Casablanca routine, Empress of Scotland began the New Year 1944 by sailing on one of the longest voyages taking took her from Newport News on 11 January to Cape Town (arriving 5 February), Bombay (8-20th), then to Durban (28 February-3 March), Cape Town (5th) and then direct to Liverpool where she arrived on  the 20th.  After a brief refit there,  she sailed on the 31st for Halifax (convoy TA.100B, alone and unescorted) and arrived there on 7 April with 732 troops.

Empress of Scotland at Newport News, 7 January 1944. Credit: U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph, U.S. National Archives. 

That spring and summer, Empress of Scotland was back on the North Atlantic trooping run between Halifax, the Mersey and the Clyde:

Halifax 11 April AT.103A 4,936 troops

Liverpool 18 April  

Liverpool 22 April 1944 AT.103A 1,444 troops

Halifax 29 April

Halifax 4 May AT.113A 4,912 troops

Liverpool 10 May

Liverpool 14 May AT.133 166 troops

Halifax 21 May

Halifax 26 May AT.118 4,883 troops

Glasgow 1 June

Glasgow 6 June  TA.118 1,250 troops

Halifax 13 June

Halifax 17 June TA.123 4,899 troops

Glasgow 23 June

Glasgow 27 June TA.123 1,300 troops, 2,150 POWs

Halifax 4 July

Halifax 12 July AT.131

Glasgow 18 July

Glasgow25 July TA.131 1,100 troops

Halifax 31 July

Halifax 4 August AT.139 4,864

Liverpool 10 August 

Upon arrival at Liverpool on 10 August 1944, the hardworking Empress of Scotland finally got a badly needed 48-day rest and refit there. When she resumed service, her days as a back and forth Atlantic shuttle were over and, instead, she began one of the widest ranging periods of her lengthy wartime service.

On 2 October 1944, Empress of Scotland sailed from Liverpool for Cape Town (via Freetown for refuelling, 9-10th) where she arrived on the 17th, departing a week later for Casablanca reached on  on 4 November. With German POWs aboard, she on the 6th, bound for Liverpool where she arrived on the 9th.

Embarking on one of her longest wartime voyages, beginning as convoy TA.166A, Empress of Scotland departed Liverpool on 18 November with 3,656 troops for Cristobal which was reached on the 29th. Transiting the Panama Canal on the 30th, she proceeded direct to Sydney, a distance of 7,781 miles, and docked there on 16 December, ending a busy year with her arrival at Wellington on the 23rd. 

Undated photo of Empress of Scotland. Credit: Queensland State Library,

1945

Empress of Scotland, with 3,705 troops, sailed from Wellington on 5 January 1945, assigned convoy number US.25, but as usual, sailing alone and unescorted, to Hobart were she arrived on the 9th.  In company with the American transports General G.M. Randall and General William Mitchell, she departed on the 9th for Aden, reached on the 23rd. Proceeding independently, Empress of Scotland, transited the Suez Canal on 1 February, called at Malta (4-5th), Algiers (7-12th) and Gibraltar (13-14th) and returned on Liverpool on the 20th. The Gibraltar-Mersey segment was made as part of the formidable MKF.29 convoy composed of 19 merchantman (including Alcantara, Batory, Bergensfjord, Circassia, Duchess of Richmond, Durban Castle, Highland Chieftain, Johann van Oldenbarnevelt, Mooltan, Nea Hellas, Orduna, Queen of Bermuda, Scythia, Strathnaver and Worcestershire.) Empress of Scotland had 2,941 troops aboard.

Empress of Scotland in the Clyde. Credit: Scottish Maritime Museum.

After a brief refit, Empress of Scotland left Glasgow on 10 March 1945 with convoy KMF.41, another large fleet of liners including Arawa, Arundel Castle, Bergensfjord, Boissevain, Cameronia, Circassia, Duchess of Richmond, Durban Castle, Georgic, Highland Monarch, Monarch of Bermuda, Queen of Bermuda and Strathaird, as far as Gibraltar, and then independently to Cristobal where she arrived on the 22rd. Passing through the Panama Canal, Empress of Scotland continued direct to Sydney, reached on 9 April.   On the 11th, she sailed across the Tasman to Wellington (calling there 14-21st) before returning to Australia where she docked at Melbourne on the 24th for the first time since January 1940.  

From Melbourne it was a long trip home, getting underway on  25 April 1945, calling at Colombo on 6-7 May and receiving the news of the German surrender en route to Suez where she arrived on the 14th and, transiting the Canal, reached Taranto on the 20th. After doubling back to Port Said (24-25th), Empress of Scotland touched at Naples (28-31st) and Gibraltar on 4-6 June where she joined Convoy MKF.45 composed of 11 merchantmen, including Capetown Castle, Carthage, Cilicia, Highland Monarch, Orion, Ormonde, Orontes, Reina del Pacifico, Tamaroa and Tegelberg, for Liverpool reached on the 8th. This proved to be the last great Mediterranean convoy. 

On her final wartime voyage, Empress of Scotland left Liverpool on 30 June 1945 for India, calling at Port Said (7 July), Colombo (16-20th) and docking at Bombay on the 22nd.  Heading back on the following day, she transited the Suez Canal on the 30th and came into the Mersey on 8 August 1945. With wartime censorship gone with V-J Day on the 14th, the Kent & Sussex Courier, reporting on a serviceman returning from long service in Burma, said "Pte. Waddington said he will never forget his homecoming. He travelled in the Empress of Scotland from Bombay to Liverpool in 13 days. There were nearly 5,000 on board, and when they saw the coast of dear old England, they nearly turned the boat over, because they all rushed to the starboardside!"  

The war record of Empress of Japan/Empress of Scotland was one of the most exceptional of any liner:

H.M.T. EMPRESS OF JAPAN/SCOTLAND

December 1939-August 1945

• Miles steamed: 482,014
• Troops carried: 201,068
• POWs carried: 26,000
• Civilians carried: 8,000
• Cargo carried: 30,867 tons
• Meals served: 11¾ mn.
• Countries visited: 24

Three complete round-world voyages

3 June-27 October 1941, 34,368 miles, 141 days (119 days at sea),  Glasgow to Freetown, Cape Town, Bombay, Colombo, Singapore, Vancouver, San Pedro, Balboa and back to Glasgow.  

18 November 1944-20 February 1945, 28,301 miles, 94 days, Liverpool to Cristobal, Balboa, Sydney, Wellington, Hobart, Aden, Suez, Port Said, Malta, Algiers, Gibraltar and back to Liverpool.

10 March-8 June 1945, 30,147 miles, 90 days, Liverpool to Cristobal, Balboa, Sydney, Wellington, Melbourne, Colombo, Suez, Port Said, Taranto, Port Said, Naples, Gibraltar and back to Liverpool. 

Her master, Capt. J.W. Thomas, OBE, was in command through her war service and never "off articles" and was one of several officers and crew who served aboard throughout.

Now the flagship of a much decimated Canadian Pacific fleet (of 22 ships that went to war in 1939, 14 were lost, 10 by enemy action, one by marine accident, one burnt out refitting just after the war ended and two permanently taken over by the Admiralty), none had done the chequerboard houseflag prouder.  Yet her work on H.M. Service was not nearly over and Empress of Scotland was about to embark on perhaps her most varied and valuable service, there being hundreds of thousands of  returning service personnel, former prisoners of war, refugees, war brides and babies and displaced civilians anxious to start new peacetime lives.  

Welcoming its first Empress since 1939, Quebec's Chateau Frontenac provides a perfect C.P.-themed background for the arrival of Empress of Scotland on 9 September 1945. Credit: Canadian Pacific 1945 Annual Report. 

Carrying 4,100 troops, and glistening in a new coat of light grey paint, the Empress of Scotland arriving at Quebec on Sunday afternoon reached her 2,108th day of war service and her 484,914 mile of war travel. This remarkable distance makes her probably the farthest travelled merchant ship of the whole war. The trip just completed was actually almost in the 'blue ribbon' class, the ship having left Liverpool at 9.30 a.m., British Summer Time, on Tuesday.

The Kingston Whig-Standard, 12 September 1945.

Cheering troops lined the decks of the trim 26,000-ton transport as she steamed slowly past the heights of Dufferin Terrace and the Citadel and nosed into her berth, alongside with eight troop trains waited to carry the men and women to every part of Canada.

From the Plains of Abraham, an artillery unit fired a thundering salute, ships in the harbor blew their whistles and small vessels escorted the liner, paying the second visit of her career to Quebec, into her berth.

When the battery began firing its salute, a gunner aboard the liner hollered: 'Cut out that stuff, we've heard enough of it.' Another remarked 'That's pretty dry power.'

The Gazette, 10 September 1945

Empress of Scotland's first post-war voyage was suitable and symbolic enough, returning to her "native" Canada, and returning some of her valiant sons and daughters after long war service.  She left Liverpool on 4 September 1945, bound for Quebec, having among the 4,112 servicemen, 430 members of the R.C.A.F.. Empress of Scotland arrived at Quebec on the 9th along with Cameronia, also packed with returning servicemen.  The C.P. liner had done the crossing in an exceptionally good time of five and a half days.  

On the return crossing, beginning 11 September 1945, Empress of Scotland had 400 civilian passengers including The Governor-General, The Earl of Athlone, and Princess Alice, making their first trip home in five years, and the gold and blue Governor-General's flag was broken out at her foremast upon sailing.  The most tragic passenger aboard was 21-year-old Vera Kissell, sailing to England to marry a 24-year-old Canadian pilot, Flight Sgt. Roy Cartright. Shortly after sailing, a gentlemen delivered a telegram to her from the airman's commanding officer in Wales advising that Cartwright had been killed in a flying accident the day before.  A devastated Vera disembarked with the pilot at Father Point the next morning.  It turned out that the gentlemen who delivered the telegram to her was the Earl of Athlone.  A Royal Navy Guard of Honour consisting of 100 men official welcomed the Vice Regal couple on the Landing Stage as Empress of Scotland docked on the 17th. 

The ship's reacquaintance with Canada proved fleeting and Empress of Scotland would, instead, find herself assigned to the East African and India trooping run which, with a few diversions, she would ply until the end of 1946, and mainly occupied with returning troops, former POWs and civilians.

On her first such voyage, she left Liverpool on 3 October 1945 and after calling at Taranto and transiting the Suez Canal, Empress of Scotland arrived at Bombay on the 19th, again showing every ounce of her speed in making a very smart passage.  Sailing for home on the 25th, she voyaged direct to the Mersey, arriving there on 6 November with 1,100 men on leave and another 500 for discharge; 46 officers and 41 other ranks, and a number of Merchant Navy men released from prison camps; and 32 civilian passengers.  Her 13-day 43-min.  passage from Bombay was, in fact a record, beating the previous mark of 14 days by a full day.  When she docked, it was also reported that the ship's cat, Smokey Junior, who gone missing on the ship's last call at Bombay in July, had wandered back aboard just before the sailed.  Smokey Jr.'s mother, Smokey, had been Empress of Japan's cat for years. 

Making her last voyage to Canada for the timebeing, Empress of Scotland departed Liverpool on 22 November 1945, packed with returning Canadian servicemen. "Her lights ablaze, the 26,000-ton troopship Empress of Scotland steamed into post Tuesday night [27th] with 4,269 Canadian war veterans aboard." (Star-Phoenix, 28 November 1945). Among those aboard were 51 officers and 523 other ranks of the famous French-Canadian infantry regiment, Le Regiment de Maison-neuve. 

On her homeward crossing from Halifax on 29 November 1945, among her 568 passengers were 30 British evacuees, all over 70 years old as well as more than 250 wives and children of R.A.F. men who had been reposted back to Britain as well as 141 Canadian war brides and 54 babies settling in Britain. 

Empress of Scotland docked at Liverpool on 5 December with more records: doing the roundtrip from Liverpool to Halifax in 10 days 10 hours 57 mins. The outward passage clocked 5 days 8 hours 13 mins and the return just 5 days 2 hours 44 mins. 

Canadian Pacific poster, 1946.

1946

For Empress of Scotland, the New Year brought a return to the Indian/East and South African trooping run on which she was continuously engaged on throughout 1946. These are best listed in tabular fashion:

Liverpool 16 January

Port Said 23 January

Suez 26 January

Kilindini (Mombasa) 1-3 February

Durban 6-15 February

Cape Town 17-18 February

Liverpool 3 March

Liverpool 16 March

Port Said 23 March

Aden 27 March

Bombay 1-4 April

Kilindini (Mombasa) 12-13 April

Bombay 19-24 April

Suez 30 April

Port Said 2 May

Liverpool 9 May

Liverpool 31 May

Naples 5 June

Port Said 8 June

Suez 10 June

Aden 13 June

Bombay 17-23 June

Port Said 1 July

Liverpool 8 July

On the above voyage, Empress of Scotland carried 3,500 returning Italian POWs to Naples where she docked on 5 June. 

The voyage was more notable for its conclusion when she docked at Liverpool on 8 July 1946, with 2,000 troops and 400 civilian passengers, the press reporting that "women passengers on board the Canadian Pacific liner, Empress of Scotland sun-bathing in scanty costumes and beach-suites, caused something of a stir during the voyage from Bombay to Liverpool… so great was the heat during the monsoon passage that lady passengers indulged in sun-bathing. Some of the more elderly passengers considered their attire improper with so many troops moving about the ship's decks and complained to the Lieut.-Colonel R.H. Hooper, the ship's O.C. troops.  In consequence the Colonel called a meeting of lady passengers and suggested that 'too brief'  costumes should be avoided. A number of women at first took object, but later compiled." (Liverpool Echo, 8 July 1946.) One passenger, a mother of two, told a reporter of the Echo, "I think it was ridiculous. I saw nothing improper or anything to complain of. It is true that when the girls, many of whom are very pretty, passed the troops in their beach suits and shorts, the troops whistled and cheered them. This is not unusual at any time. Troops will always whistle to a pretty girl, and their action is invariably harmless." 

Liverpool 4 August

Port Said 11 August

Suez 12 August

Singapore 23-26 August

Colombo 30 August-1 September

Bombay 3-8 September

Suez 14-15 September

Port Said 15 September

Liverpool 22 September

When Empress of Scotland called at Colombo on 30 August, she landed the last party, some 600, of Ceylonese repatriates from Malaya.  It was also reported that 27 Indian stowaways had gotten on board before the ship left Singapore and they were removed from the ship, repatriated to Bombay and handed over to authorities there. 

Liverpool 19 October

Port Said 25 October

Suez 27 October

Bombay 2-7 November

Suez 13 November

Port Said 14 November

Liverpool November

Empress of Scotland's final voyage of the year, departing Liverpool 10 December 1946 was the most newsworthy when her 2,648 embarking personnel (145 below her listed capacity at the time which was 2,793) refused to sail in the ship the previous evening, citing overcrowding. Six men actually slid down the mooring lines to the pier but were later rounded up and another 90 left the vessel by more conventional means the previous evening and were soon joined by 300 more. The gangways were raised by 11:00 p.m. to prevent anymore departures. By dawn the following day, most had re-embarked, with no disciplinary action taken against them. A spokesman for Western Command stated that "It is emphasised that, although this was a highly irregular breach of discipline, the soldiers were very orderly, well-behaved, and respectful. They returned to the ship as soon as they realised their genuine grievances would be met."  Even so, 175 refused to em-embark. and were taken to a transit camp to embark on a later transport. Nine corporals involved in the initial walk-out were court martialled for mutiny in January 1947. One was sentenced to three years, one to six months and the other reduced to privates.

As it was, thick fog enveloping the Mersey resulted in Empress of Scotland not being to get away until 7:00 p.m. on 10 December 1946, with taking away 1,000 service personnel, including 500 R.A.F. men and 350 civilians for Port Said, Singapore and Kure, Japan. "Tugs pulled her away to a chorus of 'Waltzing Matilda' from the Service men aboard. 'Are we downhearted?' they yelled. And across the river echoed: 'No!' Mersey ferry captained sounded the 'Cock-a-doodle-do' on their sirens and other ships repeated it. The Empress reached midstream quickly and headed for the sea." (Daily Herald, 11 December 1946).

Empress of Scotland features in this hopeful Canadian Pacific advertisement, 9 November 1946, Saturday Evening Post. Note the chequerboard houseflags on the centre funnel only and reference to travel from Southampton to Shanghai "all the way."

1947

Recalling her Empress of Japan salad days, Empress of Scotland made her first call at Hong Kong since 1940 when she arrived on 5 January.  She then proceeded to Kure, Japan,  landing the first party of wives and families of the British Commonwealth occupation forces there.  Sailing  on the 14th with 690 troops returning for leave or demobilisation, she called at Singapore (21st) Bombay (29th) Aden (1 February), Suez (4th)  Port Said 5th  before returning to Liverpool on the 12th.

Having returned so many servicemen since the war, Empress of Scotland now found herself sailing from England with troops destined for the "hot spots" of the immediate post-war era.  In one of her most impressive passages, she left Liverpool on 1 March 1947 with 1,000 troops for Palestine and called at Malta on the 5th, making the passage in just four days.  At Haifa, she embarked 600 British civilian evacuees, including 200 children.  After a very quick roundtrip indeed, Empress of Scotland returned to Liverpool on  the 10th.

Empress of Scotland during one of her two calls at Malta in March-April 1947.  Note she has had her gun tubs removed and her wheelhouse is now varnished wood. Credit: redensignships.co.uk

After a refit, Empress of Scotland sailed from Liverpool for Bombay on 3 April 1947 and at Malta on the 9th, met up with the inbound Georgic there before proceeding to Port Said on the 11th together with Strathnaver and reaching Bombay on the 19th. 

Homeward, Empress of Scotland departed Bombay on the 23rd with 2,500 troops, transited the Suez Canal on the 30th and returned to Liverpool on 7 May. A day away from Aden, a R.A.F. airman fell ill with a suspected case of infantile paralysis and although the ship not scheduled to call there, diverted course to there. Meanwhile the patient was kept alive with oxygen,  12 men in relays giving him artificial respiration.  As the ship's supply of oxygen was running out,  R.A.F. Aden was tasked with parachuting a supply. Empress of Scotland stopped five hours later and a lifeboat lowered just as an R.A.F. bomber flew over and dropped four cylinders. Alas, the airman died a few hours later. The ship's arrival, too, was eventful when five stowaways being held in the ship's brig were found to have escaped and a search, "the biggest manhunt in the history of the Prince's Landing Stage" (Liverpool Echo) ensued and all were apprehended within two days. 

The ship's next voyage rekindled her Empress of Japan days, taking her from Liverpool on 24 May 1947 to Singapore (11-13 June), Hong Kong (16-17th), Shanghai (20th), Kure (21-23rd), Hong Kong (28-29th), Singapore (2-3 July), Bombay (10-11th) and finally, home, via Suez, to Liverpool where she docked on 26 July.  Among those landing was a contingent of Filipino Boy Scouts en route to the Jamboree in Paris. 

Empress of Scotland in the Far East c. 1947. Credit: Merchant-navy.net,  Brian Probetts collection.

Empress of Scotland sailed again for the Far East from Liverpool on 13 August 1947, transiting the Suez Canal on the 20th, pausing at Colombo on the 28-30th, Singapore 3-5 September and turning around at Hong Kong 8-10th, and on the homeward passage, called at Singapore  on the 15th, Bombay on the 22rd and returned to Liverpool on 6 October.  Among those disembarking was 78-year-old Mrs. R. McLaren, coming home from Calcutta with her husband after 35 years there. Mrs. McLaren had been a stewardess aboard Titanic and after coming ashore, visited the Titanic Memorial on Mann Island. 

February 1947 flyer announcing the resumption of C.P.'s North Atlantic service with Empress of Canada, ex-Duchess of Richmond.  Credit: Wallace B. Chung and  Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

The big event of 1947 for Canadian Pacific was the revival of their "Atlantic Empress" service, although in the badly diminished fleet, it meant "elevating" the status of   Duchess of Richmond to Empress of Canada in the course her extensive refitting at Govan.  She re-opened the service upon her 12 July departure from Liverpool for Quebec and Montreal. The other surviving Duchess, Duchess of Bedford, now to be named Empress of France, was already at Govan since March for similar work.  

At Glasgow on 22 October 1947, C.P. Chairman and President W.M. Neal reviewed rebuilding plans, stating that "the immediate requirements of his Company are two 20,000 ton passenger and cargo liners, one for the Pacific service and the other for the Atlantic trade" and, according to The Scotsman, "discussions with regard to the construction of these vessels had taken place with Clyde shipbuilders, but the question of price was the stumbling block to the placing of the contract."  Mr. Neal further stated "We have not the slightest intention of replacing the 42,000 tons Empress of Britain."  As for Empress of Scotland, he did not anticipate her release from government service "before next spring."

In a dispute over the present system of engaging seaman and wages, picketing broke out along the Liverpool docks on 25 October 1947 just before Empress of Scotland was preparing to depart on her next voyage and about one-fifth of her crew refused to sign articles.  Although it was initially expected she could still sail scheduled on the 28th and began embarking her troops the day before, her departure was put back to the 31st, and she remained in Gladstone Dock surrounded by pickets. Three other liners, Empress of Canada, Media and Brazil Star (sailing on her maiden voyage to Argentina) were also delayed.  Finally, on the 31st Empress of Scotland, with some 2,000 troops and civilians aboard, and Brasil Star, sailed, the Empress only able to get away when a special train from London brought 50 extra seamen who had to be brought aboard under heavy police escort. After transiting the Suez Canal, she called at Aden on 11 November, Colombo on the 16th, Penang on the 19th and arrived at Singapore on the 20th.

The homewards Empress departed Singapore on 24 November, called at Colombo (28th), Bombay (2 December), Aden (5th)  and returned to Liverpool on 15 December, "one of the happiest troopships to enter the port for some time. The 3,000 service personnel and families were joyful because they will be reunited with their families for Christmas and the crew because they will have both Christmas and New Year at home, many of them for the first time since before the war." (Liverpool Echo, 16 December 1947). 

The Atlantic Empresses Are Back... c. 1948 Canadian Pacific poster showing Empress of Canada or Empress of France in the scenic splendour of the St. Lawrence River. 

1948

Stirring army march tunes echoed over the Mersey yesterday to welcome home from India the 1st Bn. South Staffs Regiment as the 26,000-ton troopship Empress of Scotland came alongside the Liverpool landing-stage.

Daily Herald, 16 February 1948 

On New Years Day, Empress of Scotland sailed "out East" once again, passing through the Suez Canal on 6 January 1948 and calling at Mombasa on the 21st before proceeding to Bombay where she docked on the 27th. There, she embarked among the very last British troops and their dependents still in India including the remaining 20 officers and 200 other ranks of the 1st Bttn. Essex Regt. who had been there since 1938. Altogether, she sailed on the 27th with 1,853 troops and 900 civilians.  When the ship arrived at Liverpool on 15 February ambulances were on the quayside to transfer to local hospitals some 48 patients, mostly children, suffering from an outbreak out measles that occurred aboard shortly after she left Gibraltar.

Routine in between voyage repairs were delayed by labour disputes so it was not until 12 March 1948 that Empress of Scotland was ready to sail again. This saw her calling at Gibraltar (15th), Malta (17th) and arrive at Port Said on the 20th. There, she embarked 1,700 returning Middle East service personnel and sailed for home on the 22nd, again calling en route at Malta (24-26th) and Gibraltar (28th), returning to Liverpool on the 31st. 

Empress of Scotland comes into the Mersey for the last time as a transport, 2 May 1948. Credit: Vancouver Sun, 12 May 1948.

On what would be her final voyage as a transport, Empress of Scotland left Liverpool on 12 April 1948, and managed to include some new ports even for her, calling en route at Gibraltar on the 15th, Malta (17th), Port Said (20-22nd), Haifa (23rd), Salonika (25th and arriving at Piraeus on the 26th. She sailed the same day for England, calling only at Malta (27th) and coming into Liverpool on 2 May. Ten miles off the Bar Lightship, Capt. Thomas reported that a dove alighted on the ship's bridge and stayed there until the vessel came alongside. Concluding a remarkable phase in her career, Empress of Scotland landed 1,700 returning servicemen and 20 wounded and closed out the last page of her log as a transport.  

H.M.T. EMPRESS OF JAPAN/SCOTLAND

• Deployment dates: 26 November 1939 - 2 May 1948
• On H.M. Service: eight years, five months and seven days
• Total time in shipyards refitting: 125 days
• Miles steamed: 712,689 miles
• Sailed: round the world (3 times), Antipodes (5), Canada (12), North Africa (7), India (8), South Africa and Singapore (5) and Japan (2)
• Passengers carried: 292,000 (92% of whom were service personnel)
• Meals served: 20 million

It was finally "Duty Done" for what had been one of the hardest working and most miles steamed and troops carried of all transports.   Duty done, too, for her Captain, John Wallace Thomas, the 6-ft. 3-in. Newfoundlander who had skippered the vessel throughout her career as a transport.  On  29 May 1948, Capt. Thomas sailed from Liverpool, as a passenger, in Beaverford, bound for his Vancouver home and retirement. "I'll get down to a bit of gardening and paint the house," Capt. "Tommy" as he was affectionately known on Merseyside, told reporters.  

Her troop fittings were removed by the Harland & Wolff yard at Liverpool and Empress of Scotland was drydocked there before proceeding to Govan. It was estimated that the total refurbishment would take nearly two years. 

Meanwhile, the future of Canadian Pacific's trans-Pacific run looked bleak. With civil war still raging in China and Japan and the Philippines still devastated by war, normal cargo and passenger trade was practically non existent with little prospects for immediate recovery. In March 1948, plans to place two of the new "Beaver" ships on the route had been abandoned whilst conversion of Aorangi to resume the Canadian-Australian service had been plagued by strikes, delays and cost overruns. Passenger traffic, too, was severely depressed.  At the same time,  Dr. Kaye Lamb, Ph.D, librarian of the University of British Columbia published the first comprehensive history of the C.P. Pacific Empresses in the British Columbia Historical Quarterly.  It would prove also an epitaph, "Clearly, the end of an epoch has been reached in the history of the Empress service," he wrote.  Empress of Asia's final voyage in January 1941 would prove to the finale to the service. 

On 11 May 1948 Empress of Scotland was formerly returned to Canadian Pacific whilst still at Liverpool.  "Whether she will return to the Pacific service or remain in the Atlantic, has not yet been announced by CPR officials, but it is known that the company would like to revive the 'Empress' service to the Orient as soon as economic conditions warrant it.' (The Province, 11 May 1948)

Empress of Scotland remained in Liverpool long enough for 64 children from Wood End Primary school, on an outing to Liverpool and New Brighton on 18 June 1948 to see her in dry dock "being refitted for service as a passenger liner after her wartime career as a troopship." (Tamworth Herald, 19 June 1948). 

Empress of Scotland returns to her birthplace on 14 November 1948 for her post-war refitting and refurbishment. Credit: https://www.deviantart.com

"Arrived-- November 14-- Empress of Scotland, Liverpool, Fairfield Basin, light." so the Glasgow Herald reported her arrival back her birthplace, Fairfield's, Govan, Scotland, to finally begin her post-war refitting and refurbishing almost nine years exactly since her final commercial voyage as Empress of Japan. 

The Clyde was deservedly proud of the C. P. R. liner Empress of Scotland when, under her original name of Empress of Japan, she was launched from the Govan yard of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. twenty years ago. The river should be equally proud of the new Empress, which after two years of reconditioning, 'face-lift,' and overhaul by the Fairfield Company, is ready to resume her pre-war civilian service.

The Scotsman, 3 May 1950

The original builders, the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Govan, have carried out the re-conditioning of the vessel, the graceful lines of whose gleaming white hull will be recognised by  all who see her, and the many interior changes will be noted with admiration by all who will be conveyed in her. 

Lancaster Guardian, 12 May 1950

One of the last liners to undergo what had now become a specialty of hard-pressed British shipyards-- the post-war "refit"-- that for Empress of Scotland was, like so many, protracted by  shortages of labour and especially materials.  She, at least, was being refurbished by the same yard and, in many cases, by the same men who originally built her.  The biggest transformation was not of the ship so much as her future deployment and the former Pacific Empress, the greatest ship of that mighty ocean, would emerge as an Atlantic Empress and like her storied lost fleetmate Empress of Britain, assume the title of the largest and faster liner on the Canadian run. 

The refit at Govan, costing $3.6 mn., involved as many as 1,500 workers on the ship every day.  The work, which included the complete replacing of all exterior teak decking as well as all of the interior decking, a complete overhaul of her machinery, enclosing the Promenade Deck and refurbishing all the public rooms and accommodation to provide 458 First and 205 Tourist Class berths in all outside cabins as well as all new and much improved crew spaces was extensive enough but in tribute to her original design, especially her machinery and superb maintenance, she was largely unaltered in the essentials. 

A comprehensive sprinkler system was installed throughout the passenger and crew accommodation in addition to  firedoors subdividing the vessel  into fire zones. The sprinkler installation brought with it, too, all new ceilings in the public areas and First Class cabins, as well as new lighting.  After some consideration to preserving them as a souvenir of her war service, her railing teakwood caps bearing the graffiti "signatures" of thousands of her troop passengers, were sanded down, revarnished and restored to as new condition. 

1949

When reporting the departure of N.R. Nickalls, C.P. Superintendent Engineer of Vancouver, for Scotland aboard Empress of France from St. John on 2 February 1949 to "assist in the supervision of the reconversion of Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Scotland," it was also stated that C.P. had made "no statement to date on whether the Scotland will be put in the Pacific or the Atlantic when her reconversion is completed."

Aerial Empresses-- Canadian Pacific became the first steamship company to operate their own long distance air service when in July 1949 Canadair North Stars began service to the Antipodes and later the Orient, ending any hope of a revival of the Pacific Empress ships. 

The question was finally resolved when on 26 April 1949 it was made known that Empress of Scotland would indeed join the North Atlantic run and, on account of her size as well as the height of her masts, run only to Quebec and not Montreal. On 13 July Canadian Pacific Air Line opened a new service to Sydney via San Francisco, Honolulu, Canton Island and Fiji amid plans to open an air route to Shanghai and Hong Kong via Tokyo. The era of the Pacific Empress ships was indeed over. 

On 9 November 1949 Canadian Pacific announced in Montreal that Empress of Scotland would enter the trans-Atlantic service in May 1950 from Liverpool to Canada and maintain a five-day schedule between Greenock and Quebec, the fastest service yet between the two ports. The fully refitted vessel would accommodate 663 passengers in two classes compared to 1,115 in three as before the war. 

Mr. Johnston [Chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board] expressed the thanks of the board to the officials of the C.P.R. Company for their successful intervention in adding to the transatlantic routing to the Clyde. Indeed the whole Scottish people were greatly obliged to the executives of the company for their courage and enterprise in the matter, and the board would taken every possible step to see that the venture was a success."

The Scotsman, 10 November 1949.

 

The news that C.P. would resume their direct service from the Clyde (formerly maintained weekly by the Duchess liners calling at the Tail of the Bank) with Empress of Scotland was enthusiastically greeted in Scotland after the announcement in London by Canadian Pacific and Mr. Thomas Johnston, Chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board, who said that the new service would represent "a milestone in the regeneration of Scotland's economy." The first sailing from Greenock would be on 9 May and C.P. announced that there would be ten sailings with a departure from Liverpool every third Tuesday. 

A vision about to be realised: a fully refitted Empress of Scotland sailing from Quebec with C.P.'s landmark Chateau Frontenac as backdrop, painted by John Stobart.  Credit: Wallace B. Chung and  Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

1950

Capt. E.A. Shergold.

On 23 February 1950 Canadian Pacific appointed Capt. Edgar Arthur Shergold, then master of Empress of Canada, to command Empress of Scotland with Capt. J.P. Dobson, formerly captain of Empress of Australia, going over to the Canada. Capt. Shergold's first C.P. appointment dated to being Third Officer of Missanabie and he was extra second when she was torpedoed and sunk in September 1918. 

Empress of Scotland alongside Fairfield's Govan fitting out basin undergoing her lengthy and comprehensive post-war refitting and refurbishment. 

Credit: Ottawa Citizen, 7 January 1950.

Credit: Ottawa Citizen, 7 January 1950

Canadian Pacific reported on 20 March 1950 that the Tourist Class accommodation for Empress of Scotland's maiden voyage was already sold-out with some First Class space still available.

One of the first advertisements for Empress of Scotland's introduction into trans-Atlantic service. Credit: Punch, 22 March 1950.

Finishing touches... Empress of Scotland's funnels get a final cleaning and painting as her refit nears its conclusion. Credit: Belfast Telegraph, 31 March 1950. 

Empress of Scotland alongside the fitting out basin, Govan, just before departure for drydocking and trials. Credit: Flickr, Belfast Trust.

On 24 April 1950 Empress of Scotland left the Govan fitting basin and went into dry dock at Liverpool  to complete to her overhaul. She then returned to the Clyde for trials on the Arran measured mile.  Running her trials on the 30th on the Arran measured mile, a maximum speed of 22.5 knots was recorded, the Glasgow Herald reporting: "Part of her reconditioning was the fitting of new propellers, but her speed over the measured mile at Arran disappointed the firm's experts." It was, in fact, the same speed she had averaged on her acceptance trials when new and the vessel showed herself capable of greater speeds on actual long voyages as indeed she had as Empress of Japan. 

Empress of Scotland on her trials off Arran looking every bit as splendid as she did before the war. Credit: W. Ralston photograph, National Galleries of Scotland.

The decision to include aerial photo coverage of Empress of Scotland on her trials was well-rewarded.

Credit: The Scotsman, 1 May 1950.

The Empress of Scotland, the Canadian Pacific's new flagship, transformed from a trooper into a luxury liner, is in her berth at Liverpool, preparing for her first voyage on the Liverpool-Quebec run on May 9. 

When the Empress of Scotland sailed into Mersey yesterday she was welcome by the Empress of Canada, already berthed in the river, and there was a special greeting for Captain E.A. Shergold, who until his appointment was Captain of the Empress of Canada.

Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 3 May 1950

The great British maritime painter, Norman Wilkinson (1878-1971), whose association with Canadian Pacific ships dated back to Empress of Britain and Empress of Ireland, painted the first official portrait of Empress of Scotland which was released in January 1950. Credit:Wallace B. Chung and  Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

From seawards storm clouds chased their way towards the verdant Clydeside  hills-- hills which, every time I see them, strike me as being such a marvelous backscreen against which to demonstrate the merits of man-made ships-- but as our  tender approached her the sun obligingly flickered through the clouds and cast its beam of approbation on this smart, three funnelled, stately ship; painted around her gleaming white hull was a green band almost, as it were, a laurel wreath in honour of her distinguished war record. 

It thrilled me to see this romantic ship again; I had known her well when she was the crack ship in the trans-Pacific run. She looked now as impressive (or should I say 'empessive') as ever. From 1930 to 1939, when the Orient was still the Orient (and the call of the East was 'boy'), the Empress of Japan (as she then was) was certainly the 'taipan's' favourite, and there must be thousands who have the happiest recollections of a voyage or voyages, in her. It seems to me that, with so fine a past, she can scarcely fail to have a remarkable future. 

C.M. Squarey, The Patient Talks

For two years the ship that as a trooper sailed three times around the world and carried more than 300,000 troops to India and the Far East, has been in a Clydeside shipyard while Scottish craftsmen ripped her down to a shell and rebuilt to a standard higher than when she originally sailed from the same yard

But the magnificent panelled entrance halls and public rooms that stretch the width of the ship still retain their old qualities of homeliness.

Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 3 May 1950

By 1950, the refitting, restoring, refurbishing and retooling of the passenger ship had become almost old hat, accomplished in shipyards all over the world as the battered, war-ravaged and troop-weary liners that survived took their turns, often after long waits, to undergo their metamorphosis back to their peacetime commercial pursuits. Some, like Conte Grande and Ile de France emerged as practically new ships inside and out, whilst others like Queen Mary and Mauretania were restored to virtually their pre-war appearance.  

For Empress of Scotland, it was a longer wait and an even longer period in the shipyard... a year and a half... not only to be restored as a first class express liner, but now as a flagship of her line and moreover for an entirely different route, one that would not only comprise ocean crossings but tropical cruises.  That she did so without losing one bit of her grace, style and beauty outside or her appealing combination of the imposing and cosy internally, speaks highly of her superb original design, construction and quality.  That she had already clocked one million ocean miles by the time she resumed service with her original turbines, boilers and auxiliaries, speaks just as well on her machinery specification.  Transferred rather than transformed, Empress of Scotland resumed service as if not missing a beat after more than a decade "on other duties" and managed to still rank as one of the finest, best looking and performing liners of the 1950s. 

Still looking Bloody Marvelous... the "reborn" Empress of Scotland on her post-refit trials off Arran in April 1950. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and  Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

Simply the most splendid looking liner of her age, Empress of Scotland on her manoeuvring tests. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and  Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.   

As Empress of Scotland retained her essential machinery, dimensions, deck and hold layouts, lifesaving equipment and other particulars from her original guise, the reader is invited to be reacquainted with these details in the previous monograph on her as Empress of Japan:

https://wantedonthevoyage.blogspot.com/2022/03/pacific-empress-rms-empress-of-japan.html

Last of the proper three-funnelled Empresses, the Scotland's profile was reassuringly and perfectly classic. Credit: eBay auction photos. 

The Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Scotland is the largest ship of their fleet, of which she is flagship, and she is one of the handsomest vessels sailing out of the Mersey. Her imposing, well-designed, white painted hull, graceful lines, slightly raking stem and cruiser stern, together with her three yellow funnels bearing the C.P.R. flags on each, give the vessel an air of distinction that never fails to attract the admiration of all who see her alongside the landing stage. 

Her lines are a true reflection of the line, for she has been a record-breaker from her first voyage.

Merseyside, Men and Merchantmen, no. 13 Empress of Scotland, Liverpool Echo, 31 March 1951. 

She also happily retained, unlike Ile de France, her three funnels which being that the third was a dummy and could have been easily dispensed with on practical grounds,  put Empress of Scotland in the suddenly select group of "three flue boats," especially on the Atlantic, now confined to her and Queen Mary. Even more remarkably, Empress of Scotland was now the sole three-funnelled liner of the Canadian Pacific ocean fleet which, in 1939, had more--- Empress of Britain, Empress of Japan, Empress of Australia, Empress of Canada, Empress of Asia and Empress of Russia--- than any other line.  There, too, were no swishy efforts at "streamlining" or "modernising" her lines, indeed the only noticeable alteration was the removal of her bridge wing cabs, and her unequalled classic lines, grace and dignity were happily not spoilt. 

The timeless grace and presence of a White Empress Restored. Credit: Sjöhistoriksa Museet.

Externally fresh, the white Scotland's graceful lines are much the same as in pre-war years except the promenade deck now is enclosed with deep windows allowed a full view from a deck chair.

The Ottawa Citizen, 10 May 1950

Even the most neophyte ship buff, then or now, could discern the main external difference between the pre-war Empress of Japan and the post-war Empress of Scotland... the enclosing of her promenade deck and yes, the rather stylish enhancement of the classic C.P. buff funnel livery with was the first "modern" and contrived houseflag and still the most recognisable on the Ocean Highways.... Van Horne's red-and-white chequerboard.  A more minor livery alteration was the substitution of green for the original blue sheerline. 

The reasons to enclose the promenade deck for her new role on the North Atlantic and indeed the most northerly track across it, were obvious enough, but as with most things associated with the refit of Empress of Scotland, it was admirably conceived and rendered. Unlike Empress of Britain, the windows were made full length from deck to deckhead, immeasurably improving both the light and ocean vistas enjoyed by strollers or deck chair commodores, and also the external appearance with an especially neat arrangement of the windows to coordinate with the lifeboat davit spacing. 

Empress of Scotland on trials showing her perfect combination of power and proportion. The addition of the C.P. chequerboard on the funnels just compliments her livery perfectly.  Credit: W. Ralston photograph, National Galleries of Scotland collection.

R.M.S. EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND

North Atlantic Deck Plans (c. 1952)

credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

(LEFT CLICK on image to view full size scan)

Sun Deck.

Boat Deck.

Promenade Deck.

A Deck.

B Deck.

C Deck.

D Deck.

R.M.S. EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND

Cruise Deck Plans (c. 1953)

credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

(LEFT CLICK on image to view full size scan)

Sun Deck.

Boat Deck.

Promenade Deck.

A Deck.

B Deck.

C Deck.

D Deck.

As refitted, Empress of Scotland was a unique North Atlantic liner for the time, being then the largest two-class vessel on the route, and doubly remarkable, for having a far greater proportion of First Class berths (458) to Tourist (250). This was due to her existing accommodation and public room layout and facilities from her Empress of Japan days when she accommodated 399 First, 164 Second (Tourist) and 100 Third (cabins) so it is easy to see how the space was distributed in her new guise. Furthermore, the "new" ship boasted another first on the North Atlantic in having all outside cabins (except for two inside "servant cabins" near the suites), regardless of class, something that would not be repeated until Kungsholm of 1953. Ultimately, however, her predominance of First Class accommodation and remarkable low-density shortened her life on the Canadian run as it became increasingly oriented to immigrant and Tourist Class travel, for which the new Empress of Britain (1956) and Empress of England (1957) were built for. 

The sheer spaciousness of the Empress' cabins, especially in Tourist Class, was unmatched on the Atlantic and reflected that overall, her total passenger capacity had gone from 1,173 to 708, largely by the total removal of the 510 "open berths" in Third Class, some of that space going to much improved crew accommodation, and the rest to cargo. That so much of her accommodation above B Deck was original, reflected in the specification "as built."  Owing to enthusiastic graffiti artists among some of her transport passengers over the years, a lot of the veneered woodwork in cabins was patched and painted over in pastel hues, this also reflecting a desire for a lighter and brighter character as well.  

Most of the interior refurbishing, redecoration and furnishings were provided by Maple-Martyn (H.H. Martyn of Cheltenham) which had just completed the interiors of Southampton's magnificent Ocean Terminal, Rangitoto, Rangitata, Chusan and contracted to decorate the abuilding Ocean Monarch and had provided similar for Empress of Japan as built.  Except the dining room chairs, almost all of the public room furniture was replaced, the emphasis being on "homely" armchairs and in bolder, brighter colours than their pre-war predecessors.  The overall effect was an effective melding of the original 1930s woodsy "Dominion Deco" interior architecture with 1950s West End hotel furnishings and Empress of Scotland surely was one of the best decorated of all British North Atlantic liners of her era.   

Messrs. Waring and Gillow, of Lancaster, have carried out much important work on the ship and the firm's craftsmen may well feel proud of the results of their part, they are everything they contributed to beauty and comfort in the other ships on which they have been engaged since the war. Including the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Mauretania, Stratheden, Canton, Strathmore, Arnhem, Caronia, Himalaya, Chusan, Presidente Peron and the Eva Peron. A great deal could be written about the wonderful features of Empress of Scotland The firm of Waring and Gillow have been engaged on the woodwork and upholstery in the magnificent dining saloon, lounge, shop, smoking room and bar. nursery, staircase and entrances and the bureau. They have, indeed, achieved a great degree of comfort and harmony the spacious and brighter rooms. Finely figured woods are noted everywhere —woods which had been specially selected and matched up. Among them are quilted birch. Nigerian pear, bleached okoume, eucalyptus burr, ucaltu and white sycamore. The coverings for the lavishly upholstered furniture are in very fine damasks, tapestry and hides, in special shades to tone with the general scheme.

A new lighting system has been carried out for which electric fittings of special design were supplied and special fittings were also furnished for the new air-conditioning system and the sprinkler Installation, which is an automatic fire extinguisher. 

Lancaster Guardian, 12 May 1950

Not unusual for a ship of her era, Empress of Japan never made a single cruise, but post-war, as Empress of Scotland, she was intended to emulate Empress of Britain in not only reintroducing Canadian Pacific to the cruise trade, but specifically to the most demanding and lucrative of it at the time: from New York to the West Indies in the winter.  As before the war, the marketing imperative was directed by the annual winter closure of the St. Lawrence to navigation, which coupled with Canadian winters in general, resulted in a substantial seasonal fall-off in trade.  

Far too big for the winter service to Halifax or St. John, Empress of Scotland had to be a success as a cruise ship from New York.  In that she largely succeeded was due to the fact that unlike most of her rivals (in particular, Mauretania), much of her design had been with the warm weather of the Pacific in mind especially China in summer and the Philippines and Hawaii year-round, and her spacious, airy cabins, high deck heads and generally open design served her equally well in the West Indies.  She was, however, not air-conditioned (except her dining rooms) and few of her crew remember sweltering nights aboard her with much fondness.  Whilst cruising, her capacity was further reduced to 450 berths so only First Class and the best Tourist Class cabins were used, the later with reduced capacity. When cruising, 81 per cent of cabins had some combination of private bath, shower and toilet. 

For the annual cruising season, a large 17-ton swimming pool tank was fitted into the no. 5 hatch and umbrella, chairs and tables made for a makeshift but still pleasant "lido" deck area.  Chairs and tables were also set up on the aft enclosed Promenade Deck to serve buffet lunches. The Tourist Class lounge was set up as the tourist/shore excursion office. She was severely constrained as to where she could dock alongside, however, limiting her ports of call and even at La Guiara, a regular call, she had to anchor. For some of the small ports without big tenders, she had motor tenders carried forward which were put aboard during her pre-cruise overhauls in Liverpool. Another seasonal addition was additional laundry capacity.

 

Credit: The Huntington Museum, John Haskell Kemble Collection.

'Spacious, 'gracious'-- these describe the Empress of Scotland, flagship of the Canadian Pacific fleet. From her nobly proportioned foyer with its carved teak grand staircase, to the high ceilinged Dining Room, from the airy Sun Deck to the wide, glass-enclosed Promenade Deck, from the vista-fenestration of the shipwide Cocktail Room through Mall-like Long Gallery to the Empress Room, in the French Empire style lounge, the Card Room, the Library and Writing Room, her First Class public spaces represent the latest word in comfort, quiet elegance, travelability!

The whole Promenade Deck-- indoors and out-- is yours. Connected by the Long Gallery, a 'Peacock Alley' to rival any ashore, are the Main Foyer-- crossroads of the social life of the Empress of Scotland, Cocktail Room, Writing Room and Library, Empress Room and the stately Lounge. 

Canadian Pacific brochure.

First Class retained its pre-war magnificence and the Promenade Deck array of public spaces and indeed spaciousness in general, remained.  The main public rooms, too, remained largely intact decoratively with most of essential architectural details, panelling and layout retained. The biggest change was the installation, in all of the circulating spaces, foyers and halls as well as some public rooms, of new ceilings and strip florescent lighting, and the removal of much of the gilded decorative elements to window treatments and pediments and ornamental light fixtures, all of which gave the rooms a much brighter, lighter and more contemporary character whilst retaining the rich panelling and stately appearance of the spaces.  Underfoot, all of the interior flooring was replaced with more monochromatic and less patterned rubber decking with area rugs and runners whilst the parquet floors in the Palm Court/Ballroom now the Cocktail Lounge, and Smoking Room, now the Empress Room, remained. 

First Class Sun Deck. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Post-war, First Class had its access to the topmost Sun Deck restricted to that expanse of open between the first and second funnels which was designated as the sports deck. The rest of the deck was now designated for crew only.

First Class Boat Deck. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class had the full use of the ships expansive open promenade on Boat Deck, extending some 300 ft. on each side as well as the open section aft. 

First Class Enclosed Promenade Deck (set up for lunch buffet on cruises).  Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class still enjoyed most of the newly enclosed Promenade Deck, save for a small section on the starboardside given to Tourist Class.  The full-length windows were a major improvement and, if anything, gave the deck more light (as well the public rooms) than the previous covered promenade but with solid bulwarks. 

First Class cocktail lounge. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class cocktail lounge. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Popular rendezvous before lunch and dinner… or other social events… the cocktail lounge, full width of the Empress of Scotland, keynotes the spacious for which your ideal cruise ship is famous. Intimate groupings suit small convivial parties.

Canadian Pacific brochure.

Her new cocktail lounge, right forward, spanning the full width of the ship, is a noble and imposing room; to my eye it looks rather better in daylight than in artificial light. The lighting effects in this room are as bold as they are original, and will likely enough invoke some argument, but I for one would not pass judgement on their contentious design without living in that room for three or four days.

C.M. Squarey, The Patient Talks

Nothing represented the ship's transition from a 1930s liner to one competing for the cream of the 1950s trans-Atlantic trade than the transformation of the formal Palm Court/Ballroom... the signature space of Empress of Japan... to that most 'fifties of public spaces, the "cocktail lounge" and it was surely the largest and best example afloat.  This featured an enormous 16-stool bar occupying the former orchestra platform and all new new furniture, a mix of tables and chairs and armchairs.  The room's original oak panelling remained as did the superb parquet floor. And, referencing Mr. Squarey's remarks, modern multi-coloured neon lighting effects overhead in the evening as well as bold striped chartreuse and blue curtains.

First Class children's playroom. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class writing room & library. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class card room. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

The group of the smaller rooms along  the starboardside of Promenade Deck... the children's room forward and amidships, the library and writing room and card room... remained very similar to their pre-war appearance and decoration and kept most of their original furnishings.  The adult rooms being rendered in Georgian with pale green (card room) and pale cream (writing room and library) painted panelling, and each having a marble fireplace. 

First Class long gallery. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class long gallery as Empress of Japan. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

Perhaps the most changed First Class space was the long gallery whose new decor, while retaining the original ash and walnut panelling contrasting with cream panels, was entirely stripped of its ornate "deco" ornamentation, lighting fixtures, flooring and furnishing and re-rendered in a far simpler, severe and modern mode with florescent strip lighting and simpler, block pattern rubber flooring.

First Class entrance hall. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class entrance hall. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class entrance hall and main staircase. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Other than a completely new ceiling with strip florescent lighting and new furnishings and flooring, the entrance hall and magnificent carved wood main staircase remained largely original from Empress of Japan (including the large Japanese themed mural) and still one of the most impressive shipboard spaces of its era. 

First Class lounge. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class lounge. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Going formal? The lounge, decorated in French Empire style, compliments milady's loveliest gowns.

Canadian Pacific brochure. 

Except for some new furniture, restoration of the originals and new luxurious rugs, the lounge retained its pre-war decoration, mountain ash and walnut panelling and formal atmosphere.  In use, it was employed exclusively as a lounge and ballroom at night, its previous utility as a cinema being given over to the Empress Room. 

First/Tourist Class Empress Room. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First/Tourist Class Empress Room bar. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Pleasant Smoking Room by day, an up-to-date movie theatre in which the most recent releases are shown, night club or ballroom by night, The Empress Room is a popular rendez-vous. Less formal in its appointments than the Lounge, this bright room is favoured by many carefree impromptu groups.

In purpose if not so much in appearance, the former First Class smoking room, was the most transformed of the public rooms. Restyled as The Empress Room, it was the only venue that was available, at different times, to both First and Tourist Class, and mainly as a movie theatre, but also retaining its wonderful original "hole in the wall" bar and still used as a smoking room.  But apparently not quite the same as before the war, according to C.M. Squarey (The Patient Talks): "Others, who knew it of old, will join me in lamenting the disappearance of the original smoke-room, for in its original state it was a most enchanting room. This space is now called 'The Empress Room; it may have its admirers, but I think, too, it will have some critics. It is true that I am amongst those who deplore the tendency to dispense with genuine smoking-rooms in ships carrying first class, but considering the needs of her trade, perhaps what has been done is the right thing, particularly since the room is now to be used part-time by the tourist-class passengers-- it is equipped with a cinema."

First Class dining room. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class dining room.  Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class dining room.  Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Bright and cheerful by day with its oval windows an a brilliant setting for smartly gowned diners, is the Dining Room on C Deck. Bronze fittings, blue Cipolino marble in Burmese teak frames and cornice lights that give a soft glow, combine in a quiet elegance that makes every dinner an event. 

Canadian Pacific brochure.

You will 'feel like a million' amid the cool Cyprian marble columns, gleaming white napery and sparkling silver of Empress of Scotland's air-conditioned dining room. Wide as the ship itself, this two-storeyed room reflects the blue of sea and sky by day… glows under cool cathode lights by night.

Canadian Pacific brochure.

All but unchanged from its Empress of Japan days was the 294-seat dining room on "C" Deck with its striking blue veined Cipolino marble facings and contrasting Burmese teak panels and the original chairs, all restored to their original splendour with each table having its own centre shaded lamp, thus retaining the classic pre-war atmosphere.  One welcome change, especially on cruises, was the addition of air-conditioning. 

First Class swimming pool. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

The indoor swimming pool, on "D" Deck, was largely the same although the surrounds were stripped of their original decoration and generally brightened with all new furnishings for the adjoining pool cafe. It should be mentioned that one pre-war amenity that was not restored was the large gymnasium on Boat Deck.

First Class Entrance Foyer "B" Deck. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class Foyer "C" Deck.  Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

A feature of Empress of Japan, the spacious foyers off the main staircase on "A", "B" and "C" Decks, remained although with new ceilings, lighting, flooring and furniture, that on C Deck being especially attractive and now having the pursers office and the C.P.R. booking office which were previously off the "A" Deck foyer. 

Missing from Empress of Scotland was the First Class veranda cafe, aft of the smoking room. That space was given over, partially, to a large new children's room for Tourist Class.

First Class cabin A-44. 

First Class cabin A-45. 

First Class cabin A-51.

First Class cabin A-54.

First Class cabin with bath.

First Class cabin A-68 with bath.

First Class A Deck cabin.

First Class cabin B-33.

First Class cabin B-54

All above photographs, Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

First Class accommodation was on "A" and "B" Decks with a total of  63 two-berth, 76 three-berth and 26 four-berth, all with private toilet and all with wash basins.  On "A" Deck were 43 cabins with bath and toilet and 40 with shower and toilet and on "B" Deck, six with  bath and toilet, 51 with shower and toilet and 27 with toilet only.  These featured a mix of originally wood veneered bulkheading or new pastel paint finishes and retained their pre-war spaciousness and, less appealingly, their pre-war British liner cabin visual clutter of exposed electric conduits, non flush-fitted wardrobes and thermotank trunking although post-war, they had fitted ceilings and new bulkhead-mounted wash basins instead of the original pedestal ones. 

The suites, offered in various combinations using interconnecting rooms, on A Deck.

First Class suite bedroom.

First Class suite sitting room. 

There were ten suites on "A" Deck in an array of different combinations and configurations using connecting adjoining rooms in addition to the only inside cabins on the ship which were servant cabins adjacent to the suites. The lavish decor and verandas of the Empress of Japan's suites, however, were not recreated in Empress of Scotland and the suites, whilst certainly commodious, were quite plainly and indifferently furnished compared to pre-war days.

Tourist Class was an interesting combination of mostly newly constructed cabins aft on "C" and "D" Decks and original and new or expanded public rooms aft on Promenade, "A" and "C" Decks which assumed the space formerly given over to Third Class in Empress of Japan as well as some former First Class rooms. The result was one of the best Tourist Classes on the North Atlantic for the time although just preceding the "Tourist is Tops" era introduced by Ryndam and Maasdam.

Empress of Japan Promenade Deck aft.

Empress of Scotland Promenade Deck aft.

New Tourist Class facilities aft on Promenade Deck included a large new children's playroom occupying some of the space belonging to the former First Class veranda cafe and a new passenger lift situated aft of the smoking room.

Tourist Class children's room. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

One of Empress of Japan's nicest rooms, the Tourist Class smoking room, was happily restored to its pre-war condition and Tudor inspired decor and Austrian oak panelling and largely original furniture with new coverings. 

Tourist Class smoking room. : Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Tourist Class smoking room. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Tourist Class smoking room. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Empress of Japan "A" Deck Tourist Class lounge.

Empress of Scotland "A" Deck Tourist Class lounge.

Entirely new was the much larger Tourist Class lounge aft on "A" Deck which while occupying the same space as that in Empress of Japan was expanded from an "island" surrounded by covered promenade to a full width room with sea facing windows. Like its predecessor, it was panelled in cedar veneers, but was much simpler and more modern in decor with medium blue soft furnishings and hangings and decorative mirror panels.

Tourist Class lounge. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Tourist Class lounge. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Empress of Japan "C" Deck showing Tourist/Third Class dining saloons.

Empress of Scotland "C" Deck showing Tourist Class dining room.

Also new was the 168-seat Tourist Class dining room aft on "C" Deck and separated from that for First Class by the galley.  The location was the same as the pre-war Tourist dining saloon which, however, only had 128 seats.  The new one's added capacity came from an extension aft taking up some cabins whilst additional cabins occupied the space aft of the former Third Class dining room.  Like the original room, the panelling was in sycamore and oak but the space was now air-conditioned like the First Class dining saloon so both could be used on cruises. The original dining chairs from the old Tourist and Third Class rooms were used in the new space. 

Tourist Class dining room. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Tourist Class dining room. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Tourist Class accommodation, almost all of it new from the rebuilding, was aft on "C" and "D" Deck and all outside, although achieved in many cases by the "Bibby" configuration.  In terms of finish, fit and size, it represented a tremendous improvement over Tourist Class in Cunard ships of the time, being in many respects comparable to Cabin Class.  All cabins had wash basins with hot and cold running water (one for two berth, two for the four berths), fitted dresser and bedside cabinets and thermotank ventilation. All 22 cabins on "C" Deck additionally had private toilet facilities.

Tourist Class four-berth cabin.

Tourist Class cabin D3.

Tourist Class four-berth cabin. 

Tourist Class two-berth cabin.

Tourist Class cabin D-31

Tourist Class cabin C-14.

Tourist Class cabin D-25.

all above photographs, Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

For the second time in as many decades, a great three-funnelled liner, still the largest yet built by Fairfields, left Govan, bound for the Mersey and then Canada.  Whereas her first such trip had been merely a "trial trip" of a vessel whose stomping ground was to be the Pacific Ocean, now the reborn Empress of Scotland would undertake the first of what would prove to be 90 round voyages across the North Atlantic as well as 29 cruises to the Caribbean in her new role as the undisputed Empress of the Atlantic and Canadian Pacific flagship.

R.M.S. Empress of Scotland, Ocean Empress Supreme.  Credit: redensignships.co.uk

Something new and exciting in a ships, a vessel spoken of with affection and pride by her crew as second to none afloat to-day, slipped from her anchorage at the Tail of the Bank at Greenock after the fall of darkness last night. 

There was no fuss, no ceremony. But it was an occasion of considerable importance in sea travel to Scotland. 

Here was the new Empress of Scotland moving smoothly across the dark, restless waters of the firth of Clyde heading from Liverpool-- the ship rebuilt by the Canadian Pacific to restore the company's pre-war direct passenger service between Scotland and Canada.

Aberdeen Press and Journal, 3 May 1950 

No other steamship line suffered more losses proportionate to its pre-war tonnage than Canadian Pacific or contributed more to the hard-won peace.  If the war  had, both its upheaval and technological advances, resulted in the first major long distance ship to airliner conversion of C.P.'s original trans-Pacific route, the prospects for the North Atlantic run seemed boundless and bright as Canada enjoyed a well earned post-war prosperity and welcomed a new generation of immigrants.

So it was that more than a decade after she last carried commercial passengers, the former Empress of Japan resumed service on a different ocean.  So long was her absence from service, that the North Atlantic run had settled down in quality and character so that the initial post-war westbound tide of migrants, war refugees and displaced persons had ebbed and Canadian Pacific's revived Empress Service catered instead to a more conventional commercial tourist and business traveller traffic for which Empress of Scotland with her emphasis on First Class accommodation was initially well suited. In addition, Canadian Pacific uniquely operated their own service from Bremen and Antwerpen to Canada for displaced persons under contract with the Canadian Government with Beaverbrae (II) through 1954 leaving the tourist and First Class trade to the Empresses. Moreover, with Empress of Scotland, C.P. Pacific could finally revive its winter cruise trade from New York.

Departing Liverpool on 9 May 1950 on her "maiden" voyage, Empress of Scotland made her first call at Greenock the following day, embarking 139 passengers who arrived at Princes Pier by special train from Glasgow. She had 187 First and 312 Tourist Class passengers on departure. 

Spic and span after two years in a British drydock where she was reconditioned for the St. Lawrence service, the 26,000-ton liner Empress of Scotland got a noisy welcome from scores of river and harbor craft here last night as she poked her big bow out of the mist that hung like a blanket over the port.

Commanded by Capt. A.E. Shergold, who skippered the Empress of Canada into Montreal until appointment to his new command, the vessel had earlier cracked the Atlantic crossing record from Greenock to Father Point by several hours making the voyage in the fast time of five days and 36 minutes… He'd have made it in five days, Captain Shergold admitted, but tide forced him to reduce speed on the way in. Despite her shiny new engines the Empress of Scotland clipped her way across the Atlantic at a speed of almost 22 knots. Her only rival was the ill-fated Empress of Britain which had a faster turn of speed but never made the crossing from Greenock.

The Montreal Star, 16 May 1950

Empress of Scotland returned to Quebec for the first time in five years when she arrived at 8:00 p.m. on 15 May 1950, in dense fog and driving rain and.... 12 hours ahead of schedule.  She had, in fact, set a new speed record, her first on the North Atlantic, logging 5 days 36 mins from Greenock to Father Point and averaging 21.05 knots. Because of the late hour of arrival, most of the passengers for Montreal remained aboard overnight and travelled the following morning by special train.

Maiden voyage memories: Empress of Scotland passes Father Point after setting a new record from Greenock (top), the English Premier League footballers aboard, bound for their Canadian tour (bottom left) and Capt. A.E. Shergold (bottom right). Credit: Vulcan Advocate, 6 June 1950.

Starting with Empress of Scotland's first eastbound sailing on 19 May 1950 (with 325 First and 209 Tourist Class passengers) and every succeeding departing every third Friday, Canadian Pacific ran a special train, The Empress Special, equipped with coaches, parlor cars and dining cars, departing Montreal's Windsor Station at 10:00 a.m. and arriving Quebec at 2:00 p.m. in time for the sailing at 4:00 p.m.  Trains from Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg connected with it in Montreal as well as trains from Chicago and Toronto, one from Saint John and a Delaware & Hudson train from New York.  The ship made her first  eastbound call at Greenock the evening of 25 May 1950, landing 200 passengers  (80 of whom were from the United States) who were greeted by Mr. Tom Johnson, Chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board, who spoke from the bridge and his message relayed over the ship's loudspeakers. The call there lasted just two and a half hours. "The passengers were greeted by cheering people who lined the pier and by music by the kilted Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders." (The Scotsman, 16 May 1950).

Kit, a Border Collie from Scotland, bound for Calgary, and her litter of four pups delivered at sea on 1 June 1950. Credit: Calgary Herald, 9 June 1950.

On her second voyage, commencing from Liverpool on 30 May 1950, Empress of Scotland numbered among her 453 passengers, 36 members of the Empire Press Union bound for the seventh Imperial Press Conference which opened in Quebec on 8 June, moving to Montreal, then Ottawa before finishing in Toronto on the 28th. Delegates from Australia, New Zealand, India and Africa were among those aboard in addition to most of the British attendees.  Her non human passengers were swelled by four when Kit, a year-old Border Collie en route from Roxburgh, Scotland to Calgary, gave birth to four pups on 1 June.  

On 3 June 1950 Canadian Pacific announced that after 1 December they would shift their winter terminus from Halifax to Saint John, N.B.  The company had used the New Brunswick port up to 1931 when, after a fire destroyed the customs and immigration facilities there, winter operations shifted to Halifax 21 October so after many years, it was "back to normal" winter operations. In the event, Empress of Scotland owing to her winter cruise programme, never called at St. John and only occasionally at Halifax en route to New York. 

Delegates to the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux Conference in London were among the more than 600 sailing in Empress of Scotland from Quebec on 9 June 1950, occupying three special boat trains from Montreal.   On this crossing, Empress of Scotland again set a new speed record for the eastbound crossing, doing Father Point to Greenock in 5 days 42 mins.  At an average speed of 21.93 knots and besting the previous record by seven hours.

Relief supplies donated in Britain for the fire ravaged lower St. Lawrence towns of Rimouski and Cabano are unloaded from Empress of Scotland in June 1950. Credit: Owen Sound Daily Sun Times, 29 June 1950. 

On 21 June 1950 Empress of Scotland cleared the Tail of the Bank on her third voyage to Canada and the first to take the Belle Isle route, navigable only in summer and about 100 miles shorter than that via Cape Race with the expectations she would be able to soon set a new record for the shorter run. When Empress of Scotland docked at Quebec on the 26th 1950, she landed the third shipment of relief materials from Britain for the lower St. Lawrence towns of Rimouski and Cabano which had been swept by fire in May. The supplies included 115 tons of earthenware dishes, household linen and blankets, cutlery and carpentry kits. Also aboard were six members of British agricultural mission en route to an inspection of experimental farms and agricultural institutions in Canada. 

Canadian Pacific track chart showing the two routes from Liverpool to the St. Lawrence: the longer (2,602 miles) route via Cape Race taken in Spring and Autumn to avoid ice and the shorter (2,526 miles) run north round Belle Isle followed in Summer. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.

Empress of Scotland set up a new double record for the round voyage using the shorter Belle Isle route. She did the outbound crossing from the Clyde to Father Point (21-26 June 1951) in 4 days 14 hours 42 mins at an average 21.3 knots.  When she arrived at Liverpool on 7 July, she had also set a new eastward mark of 4 days 23 hours 30 mins and could have done 10 hours but Capt. Shergold slowed his approach off the Scottish coast to permit a daylight docking at Greenock.  

High winds prevented Empress of Scotland from leaving Gladstone Dock at Liverpool to embark passengers at the Landing Stage on 11 July 1950 and her passengers, instead, were transferred by coach to the dock to embark for sailing that evening. 

Credit: Montreal Daily Star, 8 August 1950.

A party of 50 British schoolboys aged 15-17, led by Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, bound for a one-month tour of Canada, were among those landing from Empress of Scotland at Quebec on 7 August 1950.  Empress of Scotland's next arrival at Quebec on the 28th occurred during a national rail strike and 300 passengers for Montreal had to travel by coach and another 70 by Canadian Pacific Air Lines. Her 291 bags of regular mail and 134 bags of registered post were dispatched onwards by truck, but the second class post joined the 3,000 bags in sheds already accumulated from recent arrivals by Empress of Canada and Scythia. The ship's eastbound sailing on 1 September had aboard the returning British schoolboy party and 52 Canadian hockey players en route to play a series against Scottish clubs.  Upon arrival in Greenock on the 7th, "the 52 players who check in confessed they still were groggy from the effects of the rough voyage. The ship was buffeted by hurricane-like gales."  (Montreal Star, 7 September 1950). 

The Canadian Pacific Railway Company, which won an enviable reputation for its cruises to all parts of the world in the 1930s, will re-enter the cruise field this winter when its beautifully appointed flagship Empress of Scotland makes a series of seven voyages from New York down through the Caribbean ports of the stories Spanish Main.

Ottawa Journal, 13 September 1950.

Although already advertised since late July, on 12 September H.B. Beaumont, Steamship Passenger Traffic Manager of Canadian Pacific, officially announced the return of the company to the cruise trade with the first series of winter Caribbean itineraries from New York in winter 1950-51.  Starting the programme would be two 12-day cruises, including calls at Kingston, La Guaira and Havana on 22 December 1950 and 5 January 1951 followed by five 14-day itineraries adding stops in Willemstad and Panama departing 19 January, 4 and 20 February, 8 and 24 March.  "For the cruises, the Empress of Scotland will have outdoor and indoor swimming pools, a Lido deck for sunbathers where buffet meals will be served on tables sheltered by umbrellas from the sun, and other attractive features. Buffet meals will also be served on the glass enclosed promenade deck. " (Gazette, 13 September 1950).

On 22 September 1950 it was reported that Canadian Pacific had "shelved further orders for ocean indefinitely" owing to high shipbuilding prices in Britain, with estimates towards replacing Empress of Britain running at almost three times her original cost.  "Any likelihood of reviving a 'big ship' programme has been further  discouraged this autumn by the relative lightness of bookings for the present limited fleet."  (Belfast Telegraph, 22 September 1950).

On the North Atlantic Ferry in the meantime, Empress of Scotland was delayed by heavy autumn storms en route and did not dock at Quebec until 19 September 1950, some 16 hours behind schedule. Among her 626 passengers was the Rt. Hon. Thibodeau Rinfret, Chief Justice for Canada, and Sir Frank Lee, the Permanent Secretary for the British Ministry of Food. 

Empress of Scotland in the Mersey. Credit: pinterest.com

Empress of Scotland was commanded by Capt.  S.W. Keay, O.B.E, for one round voyage, in relief of Capt. Shergold who was on leave, when she arrived at Quebec on 10 October 1950 with 596 passengers including George W. Barr, O.B.E., Managing Director of Fairfield Shipbuilding Co.  She came in some 19 hours late after being delayed by heavy weather in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The following day 300 travel agents, including 100 from the U.S., inspected the ship as part of the promotion of her upcoming Caribbean cruises.

Among the more unusual passengers landed at Greenock from Canada on 9 November 1950 were 50 Alaskan geese and ducks in eight crates being shipped to the Island of Mull for a private collection. The specialised crates for their transportation had come over from Scotland and they were fed with specially prepared corn by the ship's butcher.  Empress of Scotland also landed 170 human passengers. 

Six hours late owing to high winds preventing her from leaving Gladstone Dock for the Landing Stage, Empress of Scotland finally got away from Liverpool at 1:00 a.m. on 15 November 1950 on her final Atlantic voyage of her first season. She docked at Quebec on the 20th.  The last C.P. passenger ship to sail down the St. Lawrence that season, Empress of Scotland departed Quebec on the 23rd, one day earlier to allow time to prepare for her cruising season and overhaul, for Greenock and Liverpool, arriving there on the 30th.

The direct Scotland-Canada service had proven its worth the first year, Empress of Scotland carrying 5,509 westbound passengers of whom 1,392, or about 25 per cent, had embarked at Greenock. On her nine eastbound crossings, she had carried 4,397 passengers, 1,569 landed at Greenock or 35 per cent of the total. 

Playing Father Knickerbocker, Dr. James J. O'Brien, presented Capt. Shergold with a scroll of welcome from Mayor Impellitteri upon Empress of Scotland's maiden arrival at New York.  Credit: Montreal Daily Star, 22 December 1950.

With only 49 passengers aboard, Empress of Scotland left Liverpool on 12 December 1950 for New York.  For her maiden commercial arrival, the Port of New York afforded her a gala welcome as if a brand new ship, indeed it proved the most elaborate afforded the now twenty-year-old vessel.  Upon her arrival off Quarantine on the 19th, Dr. James J. O'Brien, aide to the Mayor Impellitteri of New York, and dressed in the costume of Father Knickerbocker, boarded the ship to present Capt. Shergold with a scroll of welcome signed by the Mayor, and other dignitaries from the City including Capt. J.D. Beard, Supervisor of New York Harbor and Edward F. Cavanagh Jr., Commissioner of Marine and Aviation, as well as Canadian Pacific officials.  Accompanying her into the harbor were the destroyer U.S.S. Ludlow and the Coast Guard cutter U.S.C.G.S. Navesink and the harbour patrol boats Vigilant, Argus, Pegusus II and Lookout II.  It was the first time that a U.S. Navy vessel had provided a ceremonial escort to an arriving merchant ship in New York, a courtesy afforded in recognition of Empress of Scotland's extensive war service. 

Credit: Brooklyn Eagle, 20 December 1950.

Credit: Montreal Gazette, 21 December 1950

Empress of Scotland in the North River approaching Pier 95, the Furness-Withy pier Canadian Pacific used for their New York calls. 

On 22 December 1950 Empress of Scotland sailed on Canadian Pacific's first cruise since August 1939, from New York to Kingston (25th), La Guaira (27th), Havana (30th-1 January) and returning to New York on 3 January 1951.

In 1950, Empress of Scotland completed 10 round North Atlantic voyages to Quebec and one crossing to New York, carrying 10,349 passengers (5,137 First and 5,212 Tourist).

1951

Empress of Scotland rang in the New Year in Havana, Cuba, sailing at 5:00 a.m. on New Years Day for New York. She made one more 12-day cruise-- to Kingston, La Guaira and Havana on 5-17 January 1951. The ship's 14-day cruise pattern-- calling at Kingston, La Guaira, Cristobal and Havana-- began with her 19 January 1951 sailing from New York and repeated on 4 and 20 February and 8 and 24 March. The Havana call, built around the city's infamous nightlife, was programmed to arrive 8:00 p.m. on the first day and leave at 5:00 a.m. on the third. 

Empress of Scotland arriving at New York on one of her Caribbean cruises. Credit: eBay auction photo. 

For the ship and Canadian Pacific it was a successful return to the cruise trade and if the world girding days of  Empress of Britain would not be repeated, C.P.'s annual West Indies programme from New York would remain a winter staple for another 20 years. Competition was already fierce and that first season, Empress of Scotland was vying for passengers with Nieuw Amsterdam, Mauretania, De Grasse, Veendam and Italia among others. 

Route map of Empress of Scotland's first West Indies cruises. 

Empress of Scotland anchored off La Guaira, Venezuela on one of her early cruises, 1951. Credit: Shipspotting.com

Anticipating the 1951 trans-Atlantic season, the Montreal Star reported on 7 March that nine liners-- Franconia, Samaria, Scythia, Ascania, Columbia, Canberra, Empress of Canada, Empress of France and Empress of Scotland would be on the St. Lawrence run. On the 9th Canadian Pacific announced that Empress of Scotland's 9 April sailing back to Liverpool from New York at the end of her cruise season would be offered at special "thrift season" fares with rates starting at $246 First and $156 Tourist.

In their Annual Report for 1950, published on 30 March 1951, Canadian Pacific announced that ocean and coastal steamships posted a net income of $3.1 mn., up $862,000 from the previous year, and "partly helped by the return of the Atlantic fleet flagship Empress of Scotland."

The 3,000th passenger to sail aboard Empress of Scotland from New York crossed the gangway on 9 April for her departure for Liverpool, one of the 375 embarking that day. In all, some 2,500 passengers cruised aboard the vessel during her maiden cruise season.   She arrived at Liverpool on the 17th and then went into drydock for overhaul before commencing her second Atlantic season. On arrival, her Quartermaster, James Mahoney, was fined £150 for attempting to evade Customs duties on 214 pair of nylon stockings, 2,350 cigarettes and a bottle of gin.

Credit: Red Deer Advocate, 16 May 1951.

Empress of Scotland began her 1951 North Atlantic season with her departure from Liverpool on 15 May 1951, calling at Greenock the following day and arriving at Quebec on the 22st with 564 aboard. Her first eastbound sailing on the 25th with 466 passengers, landed 224 of them at Greenock, the British Railways steamer Caledonia acting as tender. 

Canada's Davis Cup team with Capt. E.A. Shergold before sailing from Quebec in Empress of Scotland 25 May 1951. Credit: Montreal Gazette, 30 May 1951.

Figuring in Empress of Scotland's passenger list of 569  from Quebec on 15 June 1951 were Sir Patrick Ashley Cooper, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company and a director of the Bank of England, and Rear Admiral Arthur Bromley. The second eastbound call that year at Greenock on the 21st landed 250 travellers, including 25 American university students.

Gale force winds delayed Empress of Scotland's departure from Liverpool for more than 10 hours. Originally scheduled to sail on 26 June 1951 at 7:00 p.m., she could not be moved to the Landing Stage and instead embarked her 402 passengers in Gladstone Dock and was finally on her way at 5:15 a.m. the following day. 

Advertisement for the first Canadian Pacific cruise from the U.K. since August 1939. Credit: The Sketch, 29 August 1951. 

Clients will not have forgotten the high degree of popularity attained by C.P.R. cruises in pre-war years or the widespread interest with which they were regarded. In this initial post-war cruise, Canadian Pacific service, cuisine and organisation will be maintain at the same high level. 

Travel Agent advertisement July 1951

On 27 July 1950, Canadian Pacific announced a post-war "first"-- the first long "non austerity" cruise for the British market in Empress of Scotland from Southampton and Cherbourg on 22 December on a 28-day voyage to the West Indies calling at Las Palmas, La Brea, Port of Spain, Kingston, Havana and Madeira, returning to Southampton on 19th January 1952.  It would also be the first Canadian Pacific cruise from the U.K. since August 1939. 

Canadian Pacific on 30 July 1950 amended Empress of Scotland's final sailing on the St. Lawrence run for 1951 with the ship now programmed to depart Liverpool on 19 November, a day earlier, calling at Greenock on the 20th and arriving at Quebec on the 25th with her final eastbound crossing commencing on the 27th instead of the 30th to reach Liverpool on 4 December direct with no call at Greenock. This was done to give more time for the ship's annual refit and preparations for her winter cruise programme. 

Empress of Scotland at Wolfe's Cove, Quebec. Credit: Annie Shill photograph, Deborah Waddell www.british-immigrants-in-montreal.com 

Stormy weather delayed the sailing of Empress of Scotland from Liverpool on 4 August 1951 which called at Greenock the following day at noon, embarking 170 passengers for Quebec.  Among her passengers were 20 British doctors who had signed up for three years service with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Empress of Scotland's new master, Capt. Cecil Ernest Duggan.

In September 1950, Capt. E.A. Shergold was promoted to Superintendent for Canadian Pacific in Liverpool. He was replaced on Empress of Scotland's bridge was Capt. Cecil Ernest Duggan, who had first joined Canadian Pacific in 1919.

Canadian Pacific released details of Empress of Scotland's 1951-52 cruise programme on 11 September 1951. In addition to the previously announced West Indies cruise from Southampton, the ship would make three cruises from New York beginning 1 February 1952 (16 days) following by a 14-day itinerary on 20 February and a 16-day one commencing 8 March. 

Canadian Pacific's long standing royal connection (including the Prince of Wales sailing in Empress of France and most famously King George VI and Queen Elizabeth sailing in Empress of Australia and back in Empress of Britain in 1939) was reinforced when in summer 1951 plans were made for Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, on their first Royal Tour of Canada, to sail out in Empress of France to Quebec in late September and return from Newfoundland in Empress of Canada.  Then King George VI, who had been diagnosed  with lung cancer in March 1949, had his left lung removed on 23 September 1951, with expectations the Royal Tour would be cancelled. After a hopeful and speedier initial recovery than anticipated, on the 27th it was announced the tour would go ahead with the Royal Couple flying instead to Montreal on 7 October in the BOAC Boeing Stratocruiser Canopus. On 2 October it was announced that the couple would return in Empress of Scotland, sailing from Bull's Bay, Newfoundland, on 12 November. The ship was scheduled to sail from Quebec on the 9th and would call now en route at Bull's Bay and arrive at Liverpool on the 17th with no call at Greenock en route. In a final alteration, the port of departure was changed to Portugal Cove, Newfoundland. 

The entire block of cabins/suites, totalling ten rooms amidships on the starboardside of "A" Deck was reserved for the Royal party.  The royal suite is in the centre of 10 cabins on the port side of the ship reserved for their party. The three rooms comprising the Royal Suite-- the Princess's room, the Duke's room and between them, the combined sitting and dining room, were completed redecorated.  "All three will be painted in pastel shades. Princess Elizabeth's room will have a fitted carpet of turquoise pattern on a grey ground. The curtains will be of beige and blue silk stripe. Easy chairs will have willow green tapestry with cushions of silk brocade in peach bloom and gold. The bedspread will be turquoise blue silk brocade decorated with a small gold star pattern and bordered with a pale gold fringe. Cherry maple has been chosen for the furniture in this room.The combined sitting and dining room will have a fitted carpet with a ruby pattern on a grey ground, and curtains of purple, brown and cream striped silk. Dining chairs will be upholstered in purple brocade shot with gold. The furniture in this room will be made of light Nigerian walnut." (Yorkshire Port and Leeds Intelligencer, 19 October 1951). Adjoining the Duke's bedroom were three rooms for Princess Elizabeth's private secretary, Prince Philip's valet, and a private detective with the party. Extending from Princess Elizabeth's room were cabins for her lady-in-waiting, her personal maid, Lt. General Sir Frederick Browning, the comptroller of the royal household, and Lieut. Michael Parker, the Duke's equerry. Three other members of the royal staff were quartered nearby. 

Among the 180 passengers landing at Greenock on 25 October 1951 was Sir Harold Yarrow, Chairman and Managing Director of Yarrow & Co. Shipbuilders, Scotstoun. Upon Empress of Scotland's arrival at Liverpool the following morning, workmen began to strip the staterooms to comprise the Royal Suite. On the 27th, fire broke out aboard the vessel in Gladstone Dock, in a cabinet of towels in the barber's shop on A Deck, caused by an electrical appliance igniting. The Bootle Fire Brigade responded to the call with four appliances, extinguishing the fire in 45 minutes with damage was confined to a bulkhead and furnishings in the shop. 

Empress of Scotland sailed from Liverpool on 30 October 1951 with royal cabins occupied by business men and civilians. At Quebec, two doors on the "A" Deck passageway will be closed, sealing off the royal suite and furniture etc will be fitted during turnaround. Empress of Scotland arrived at Quebec on 6 November 1951 and the following day workmen boarded the ship to begin readying the Royal Suites and other accommodation before her departure at 4:13 p.m. on the 9th for Portugal Bay, Newfoundland to embark the Royal Couple on the 12th.  On this crossing, she still carried commercial passengers (102 First and 168 Tourist), cargo and mails.  To the great credit of officers, crew and passengers, all consideration was given to the Royal Couple to ensure their privacy during the voyage although they mingled with passengers through the crossing. 

As the Manaco cast off, the strains of a choir and the music of a band marked Newfoundland's farewell. The Princess and the Duke of the ferry in the bay, smiling and waving while the cameramen snapped them as left the bleak, rockbound coast. The Princess seemed to stand the bad weather well. She peeked out of the door of their cabin and took full note of all that happening outside. The Duke braved the elements on a deck.  As she stepped on to the liner the first thing the Princess said was: "Can we have lunch quickly.' Then she and the Duke made their way straight to the bridge, where they were greeted by Captain C.E. Duggan, the master. On the bridge the Princess and Duke alternately waved to the fishermen and looked down at the transfer of their baggage to the liner.

The Northern Whig, 13 November 1951

Arriving at Sydney, Nova Scotia, from St. John's on 11 November 1951 aboard the cruiser H.M.C.S. Ontario, the Royal Couple motored the following day to Portugal Cove. The weather was atrocious with a northeast gale blowing when Empress of Scotland arrived at 7:30 a.m. and Capt. Duggan found it impossible to anchor and  had to manouevre the ship which was being driven toward the rocky shores, a good four miles off the coast. The Royal Couple embarked on the 248-ton ferry Maneco (b. 1931) at 12:20 p.m. for a very rough, pitching and rolling 50-min. passage in 12 ft. seas out to the Empress, the Princess spending much of it on deck in a well-needed raincoat, while two trawlers filled with soaked photographers and newsreel cameramen provided an escort. Finally coming alongside Empress of Scotland, the Royal Couple embarked through a shell plate door at 1.10 p.m. and made their way to the bridge to be introduced to Capt. Duggan, and watch the loading of their 189 pieces of baggage.  

Screen grabs from the Pathe newsreel of Empress of Scotland's departure from Portugal Cove.

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip wave farewell from the bridge wing of Empress of Scotland upon departure from Portugal Cove, Newfoundland. Credit: Illustrated London News, 24 November 1951.

Escorted by 20 flag-dressed fishing boats, Empress of Scotland sailed at 1:46 p.m.. H.M.C.S. Ontario and H.M.C.S. Micmac provided the initial escort for the liner 100 miles out of Canadian waters. Upon taking leave of her duties, the cruiser fired a 21-gun salute, but owing to the weather conditions and a 37-mph wind, the traditional "cheering the ship" custom was abandoned. Princess Elizabeth filmed the scene from the bridge with her cine camera.  Escorting the couple across was a four-man squad of R.C.M.P. men who had been with them throughout the tour.

Souvenir log for the voyage showing just how rough it was all the way across. Credit: liverpoolships.org

The first few days of the crossing was accomplished in full gale conditions with Force 7-9 winds and on the 13 November 1951 it was reported that "Princess Elizabeth spent two hours today walking round the decks of the liner taking her home from Canada. Despite mountainous seas the Princess, wearing a blue mackintosh with a hood over her head, walked aft to face a stiff northwester on the open deck. She smiled at a tourist family taking the air with an 18-month old baby staggering round the swaying deck on reins. The Princess herself had some difficulty in keeping her foot and hung on to the rails for support as the ship rolled and dipped." (Gazette, 14 November 1951).  

During the five-day crossing, the Royal Couple watched the new film "Where No Vultures Fly" on the 15th when it was reported that "the liner was making full speed in good weather. There was a steady breeze and a moderate sea." When the weather improved, they also played deck tennis. On the evening of the 16th, the British destroyers H.M.S. Creole from Londonderry and H.M.S. Zambezi from Lough Foyle sailed to rendezvous with the liner near Innistrahull Island, off the north coast of Ireland, to escort the liner into Liverpool,  but in the event, still rough weather forced them to break station before entering the busy shipping lanes in the Irish Sea. The Royal Couple joined passengers watching "My Favorite Spy" starring Bob Hope in the Empress Room that evening. 

When later interviewed by the press, Edward Hughes, lounge steward, said that "although the ship rolled practically all the way over, Princess Elizabeth proved the perfect sailor. I don't think she missed a meal and she played deck tennis and deck quoits while the Duke of Edinburgh mostly played table tennis. He's a really hot player." Conversely, it was noted that Prince Philip, the experienced naval officer, confined himself to his cabin during the rough weather. One evening, Princess Elizabeth sat in the back of the Tourist Class section of the Empress Room to watch a film with the other passengers and refused a better seat, saying she wish to be treated like any other passenger.  

Empress of Scotland photographed 450 miles off the coast of Ireland on 14 November 1951 from a Coastal Command Shackleton from R.A.F. Kinloss. Credit: Courier & Advertiser, 15 November 1951.

Credit: Liverpool Echo, 16 November 1951.

The four R.C.M.P. men who acted as the Royal Couple's security detail throughout their Canadian tour also accompanied them across the Atlantic and are shown here visiting Empress of Scotland's bridge. Credit: Illustrated London News. 

Princess Elizabeth inspect and meet some of the officers of Empress of Scotland and, bottom right, are presented with a souvenir sailor doll for Prince Charles and a peasant girl doll for Princess Anne by Senior Bell Boy George Newcomb. Credit: Illustrated London News.

On the 15th the Royal Couple inspected 300 of the off duty crew members: "Everyone from the bottlewasher to the hairdresser lined up on the Promenade Deck when the Princess, wearing a light brown herringbone pleated skirt and belted jacked walked out of her cabin into the bright into bright sunlight. On behalf of the crew, Senior Bellboy George Newcomb, 17, presented the Princess with a large sailor doll bearing the "Empress of Scotland" on its hatband. The gift was for Princess Charles and another doll, a peasant girl, was for Princess Anne. The captain then introduced the Royal couple to 100 of the 300 crew members." (Gazette, 16 November 1951).

Empress of Scotland's arrival at Liverpool and Princess Elizabeth followed by Prince Philip disembarking. 

Upon arrival at Liverpool on 17 November 1951 at 10:00 a.m., Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip presented Capt. Cecil E. Duggan with a pair of gold cuff links initialed "E.P." who described the Royal Couple as "ideal passengers and good sailors. Even in the worst of the heavy weather which we encountered-- and there was a good deal-- neither of them turned a hair." The Princess presented her cabin stewardness, Mrs. Lillian O'Brien, with an autographed family portrait; she had look after the King and Queen aboard Empress of Britain in 1939. First to greet the Royal Couple off the gangway was the Earl of Derby, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, who presented the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Alderman Vere E. Cotton. The Royals inspected a naval guard of honour as they walked along the Landing Stage.  More than 500,000 persons lined the streets of Liverpool to welcome the couple with a ceremony at City Hall and ringing the bells of the new Liverpool Cathedral for the first time. 

It was a successful and memorable voyage for all concerned and proved to be the very last time members of the Royal Family travelled overseas in a liner on a scheduled voyage on an official visit. R.M.S. Empress of Scotland had her proudest moment, one that the late Sir Edward Beatty would have delighted in and capped the unique role Canadian Pacific ships played in Royal Travel for more than a half a century. 

On 12 November 1951, amidst all of the hub-bub of the Royal crossing, Canadian Pacific announced the major news that beginning the next season, Empress of Scotland would terminate her voyages at Montreal instead of Quebec, making her by far the largest vessel to use the port.  To accomplish this would require her 187-foot masts to be shortened a full 46 feet to pass under the Jacques Cartier and Quebec Bridges while extensive consultation with pilots and river men satisfied all that the ship could safely navigate the 158-mile trip from Quebec to Montreal. 

On her final call there for the season, Empress of Scotland anchored off the Tail of the Bank on 20 November 1951 and embarked more than 200 for Quebec. On the return, gales sweeping Britain had Empress of Scotland, which arrived at Liverpool's Landing Stage on 4 December, not be able to enter Gladstone Dock until 2:00 a.m. the following day. 

The 26,032-ton Empress of Scotland left Liverpool for Southampton yesterday to begin a 10,684-mile sunshine cruise. This will give Britons the opportunity since before the war of enjoying a long austerity-free cruise in a large ship. They will pay between 220 and 500 each. Nearly all the 400 passengers will be British and, for once, the dollar will not be needed. The ship will sail only to sterling countries on her way to the West Indies after leaving Southampton on Saturday.

Belfast News-Letter, 20 December 1951

Empress of Scotland sailed from Liverpool on 19 December 1951 for Southampton to begin a 10,684-mile cruise "which will give Britons their first opportunity since before the war of enjoying a long austerity-free cruise in a large ship."  Nearly all the 400 passengers were British, among them were  the Ulster Minister of Commerce, Mr. W.V.M. M'Cleery, Sir Harry Ricardo, Sir Arthur Rogers and Mr. J.A. Player.  

How The Princess Travels By HOWARD ROBERTSON, I am sitting in the bedroom which was occupied by Princess Elizabeth when she returned from Canada. The ship is the Empress of Scotland of the Canadian Pacific line. My wife and I had the honour of having this Cabin during the month’s cruise in the West Indian Islands. The cruise is still in progress and we are approaching now the island of Trinidad. 

In size, the cabin is about ten yards by four. At the inner end, is the private bathroom. The door does not enter from the main alleyway, as is usual. It comes at the side, thereby securing greater privacy. 

The colour-scheme of the walls is very soft, pale green. The carpet is a mild bricky-brown, with a small pattern. The door is polished Canadian maple. So, if the door is the trunk of tree, then the sunlight is percolating through the greenery, down to the brown earth below? 

The Princess's bed occupies the middle of the cabin. It, like the rest of the furniture, is Canadian maple. To the left of the window is a three-section wardrobe. When any of the three doors is opened, a strong electric light illuminates the interior. To the right of the window stands the wash-basin. On the walls above, arc cabinets for holding nick-nacks. On the wall opposite the Princess's bed, there is a full-length mirror; an electric radiator and an electric fan keep the air moving in hot weather. 

First thing in the morning, procession enters bearing the morning tea-trays. The lady’s maid takes her tray to the Princess’s bedside, while the steward places his beside what was the Duke’s. 

The Royal journey from Canada was a rough one. All preparations were made for the giving of firstaid. However, the latter, it seems, was never required. Apparently, the navy-instinct has descended from father to daughter. In addition to this cabin, the Princess had the two adjoining. One was used as a sitting room, and the other as a dressing-room for the Duke. 

When life-boat drill was called, we donned the royal life-belts and took our places at the head of two long lines of passengers—ladies in front, men behind. So good are the precautions nowadays that, no longer, need we sing “For those in peril on the sea.” 

Milngavie and Bearsden Herald, 19 January 1952

In 1951, Empress of Scotland completed 10 round voyages to Quebec and one crossing to New York, carrying 10,552 passengers (4,998 First and 5,554 Tourist) and seven West Indies cruises. 

Credit: Wallace B. Chung and  Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

1952

Empress of Scotland's winter cruise programme was bracketed by her only crossings to/from New York.

Empress of Scotland sailed from Southampton and Cherbourg on 22 January 1952, via Halifax (making her first commercial call there on the 28th and landing 380), for New York (arriving on the 30th with 141 aboard) to begin her abbreviated West Indies programme of three cruises.  All were fully booked and earned an estimated $320,000 in hard currency when "dollar earning" was the focus of British overseas trade.  Her first cruise on 1 February  was 16 days to St. Thomas, Bridgetown, La Guaira, Curacao, Cristobal and Havana followed by a 14-day itinerary on 20 February to Kingston, La Guaira, Willemstad, Cristobal and Havana and then another 16-day routing starting 8 March.   Empress of Scotland sailed from New York on 28 March with 458 passengers for Liverpool where she arrived on 4 April.

In Liverpool's Canada Dock, Empress of Scotland's foremast is removed just above the crow's nest as her masts are shortened by 45 ft. each. Credit: shipsnostalgia.com

The biggest task accomplished during Empress of Scotland's ensuring refit in Liverpool's Canada Dock prior to starting her new extended trans-Atlantic service to Montreal was the drastic shortening of her magnificent, lofty masts by 45-feet to enable her to pass under the Quebec Bridge (just below Quebec) and Jacques Cartier (approaching the entrance to Montreal) and electric transmission lines across various points of the upper St. Lawrence River between Quebec and Montreal. The original masts were cut down to the cross trees and shorter, almost stumpy, replacement mast tops installed. The new foremast was now 214 ft. from the keel and whilst the overall effect on her appearance was hardly favourable, it made her funnels appear even more majestic and dominant. 

Empress of Scotland showing her altered profile in the Mersey.

The shortened masts were especially evident in quartering views as above. 

The vessel's most celebrated voyage other than her crossing with the Royal Couple saw Empress of Scotland sailing from Liverpool on 13 May 1953-- destination-- Montreal, 979 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean and Canada's largest city. On this and thereafter, she would rank as the largest passenger ship to regularly use the port and ushered in the last great era of Montreal as a trans-Atlantic terminus.  

The decision to base the vessel there was purely on an economic basis, putting the largest and fastest liner trading to the St. Lawrence at the heart of much of the biggest Canadian market in Ontario and Quebec but also much closer to the lucrative American midwest urban centres of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis, as well offering more cargo inducement. Together with Empress of France and Empress of  Canada, the Empress Trio would maintain a weekly service from May to November and finally restore Canadian Pacific to its pre-war role as potent competitor to the New York based ships not to mention those of Cunard also on the St. Lawrence run. 

It was, however, a dicey logistical challenge, the often narrow and meandering deepwater channel up river from Quebec to Montreal offered as little as four feet below Empress of Scotland's keel not to mention the man made obstacles of the Quebec and Jacques Carter bridges. Even with the shortening of her masts, there was but a four to six-foot clearance at spring high tide under both and the first voyage was nerve wracking for all concerned despite meticulous planning and preparations as well as extensive consultation with local pilots and port officials.  "Company officials are keeping quite about any difficulties which the big ship may meet on the tricky voyage up river from Quebec. But the whole route has been carefully studied in advance and declared safe. It is known the ship may take on extra fuel oil as a stabilizer in Quebec City,"  (Gazette, 15 May 1952).

Among the 564 passengers sailing for Quebec and Montreal that 13 May 1952 were 15 players and four officials of the Tottenham Hotspur football team bound for a 10-game tour of Canada and the U.S.  She embarked her river pilot, the veteran Albert Gauthier, at Rimouski, on the 19th.

Before departing Quebec on 20 May 1952, 700 tons of oil was taken aboard to stabilize the ship and even out her draught and she commenced what was described as a "tense, vigilant voyage" for her captain, pilot, officers and crew during the 11-hour, 139-passage up river. Chief Engineer J.N. Thompson kept the liner's speed between 14-16 knots as she threaded her way through the twisting channel and past the many hamlets, towns and fishing ports lining the river.  As she glided  past Deschambault, Pilot Gautier's home village, Empress of Scotland sounded three blasts on her whistles in salute to his wife and children as they waved from the river bank.  Gauthier said the ship "handled beautifully" with about 40 ft. of water in the channel whilst Chief Engineer lauded that "we had no vibration and she was as steady as a rock."  For the passengers, "the historic passage provided thrills, chills and optical illusions," as they crowded the open decks.  The biggest thrill was the passage under the Quebec Bridge encountered soon after departure from the Ancient Capital, passed with less than eight feet of clearance, as well as the electric transmission lines across the river at Sorel where the ship's wake soaked a score of the hundreds lining the riverbank. 

Empress of Scotland's maiden arrival at Montreal was truly front page news. Credit: La Patrie, 21 May 1952.

Her arrival will be biggest marine event of the year and port officials are ready to give the huge ship a gala welcome.

The Gazette, 15 May 1952

As Empress of Scotland approached the Quebec Bridge, just after sailing from Quebec, Boatswain George Britton was at her foremast head to check the clearance... as it was, she had an ample 6 ft. Credit: The Gazette, 21 May 1952. 

Passing under the Quebec Bridge, the first of the two epic bridges spanning the St. Lawrence River, Bridge. Credit: The Sphere, 7 June 1952. 

Just above Montreal, Empress of Scotland passes the statue of Madeleine de Verchères at the river town of Verchères. Credit: The Sphere 7 June 1952.

Coming into Montreal harbour on 20 May 1952, a flag-dressed Empress of Scotland passes under the Jacques Cartier Bridge. Credit: The Sphere 7 June 1952.

Dramatic photo of Empress of Scotland as she passes under the Jacques Cartier Bridge, Montreal. Credit: The Gazette, 21 May 1952.

Empress of Scotland coming into the Port of Montreal. 

The Empress approaching Shed 8, Montreal. 

Empress of Scotland alongside Shed 8, Montreal. Credit: Montreal Star, 21 May 1952.

Three mighty blasts from the Empress of Scotland's booming whistle as she swept beneath Jacques Cartier Bridge last night echoed the end of a thrill-packed, history making run from Quebec to Montreal. 

The arrival of the 26,300-ton Canadian Pacific liner, largest ship ever to enter the port, marked the end of six months of planning that went into the vessel's safe passage on the snakelike 159-mile route from Quebec. 

Happiest man on the ship as she nudged into her berth at the foot of St. Lawrence boulevard was Capt. C.E. Duggan, veteran British mariner, who never left the bridge on her 10-hour run to this port. 

Neither he nor his pilot, Albert Gauthier, thought for a minute that the ship wouldn't make it. But it had never been done by a ship of this size and many marine men were doubtful if it could be accomplished safely.

In her wake, the Scotland left six doused Sorel citizens who were swept into the river by massive waves sent over the dock by the ship.

The onlookers, about 50 of them, crowded every inch of the narrow pier. When they saw the wave coming they turned and ran for the shore. Some made it but the mass of water trapped others who were bowled over like nine-pins. They were pulled out uninjured.

The trip up river left almost 700 passengers breathless as the big liner swept under bridges, beneath high tension lines and power cables missing some of them by five feet. They gasped, then cheered as the big ship approached the barriers then cleared them, to move on majestically.

Almost from Quebec thousands lined the shore cheering the Empress of Scotland. She answered with a  blast on her big whistle.

At no time was the liner in any danger of ground or leaving the channel, Pilot Gauthier said.

'It was just like any other voyage, except it hadn't been made in a ship this size before,' he said.

Perhaps the biggest thrill came just west of Quebec when the Empress of Scotland approached the barrier that forced her owners to shorten her masts by 45 feet.

Just ahead, gleaming in the brilliant sunlight, was the Quebec Bridge. As the ship approached, travelling at a good clip, passengers assembled on the deck stood tense while the ship's bos'n, high in the forward mast, looked up to see the tip clear the span.

His wave to say that the ship made it, brought a cheer from the passengers. The big hurdle had been passed successfully. From then on the passengers sat back to enjoy their history-making trip, confident the end of the excitement was over. 

But not for the navigating officers on the bridge. There was still the channel between Sorel and Montreal where it winds between the islands in the narrowest part of the river.

But the Empress, with a slight reduction in speed, swept on to receive a noisy welcome from citizens who lined the docks in Montreal and many miles to the east.

Ships in port echoed the welcome and the cruiser H.M.S. Sheffield sent her welcome message out by blinker system. It was one of the great welcomes ever accorded a ship entering port.

Capt. J.P. Dufour, port harbor master, welcomed Captain Duggan and the crew on behalf of the National Harbors Board.

George Britton, bos'n on the liner, summer up the crew's feeling when he remarked: 'We were in some tough and strange places during the war, but I didn't think she'd make it up here.'

The Montreal Star, 21 May 1952

On her first sailing from Montreal, Empress of Scotland carried the first shipment of Canadian beef for Britain since 1948.  Credit: The Brantford Expositor, 28 May 1952.

Empress of Scotland sails from Montreal for the first time, 23 May 1952.

At noon on 23 May 1952, Empress of Scotland sailed from Montreal for Liverpool, "four tugboats performed the intricate navigational feat of easing the big ship out of her narrow berth and manoeuvering her into the equally narrow channel, with only a few feet of leeway. The Empress, cheered by hundreds at her colorful departure, is expected to dock her nine more times this season." (Gazette, 24 May 1952).  In addition to 604 passengers, she took out the first shipment of frozen Canadian beef (600,000 pounds) sent to Britain since 1948.  At Greenock on the 29th, she landed a record of almost 300 passengers, the most since the ship began calling there.  She and Britannic docked together at Liverpool the following day. 

Owing to a "minor mechanical fault," Empress of Scotland's sailing from Liverpool on 2 June 1952 was put forward a day, resulting in the cancellation of her planned Greenock call on the 3rd. Passengers were transferred from Glasgow to Liverpool by special train instead. 

Empress of Scotland being swung off from Liverpool Landing Stage. For seven years, she and Cunard White Star's Britannic were the largest regular callers at the Mersey port. Credit: Flickr, Ron Ramstew

The renown Italian tenor Benjamino Gigli was among the 575 sailing in Empress of Scotland from Liverpool on 4 June 1952 bound for Montreal where he would give two performances before continuing to Toronto, Ottawa and Quebec. Also aboard was famous British landscape artist Leonard Richmond.  

In June 1952, Empress of Scotland's now annual long West Indies cruise from the U.K. was announced, the longer 32-day voyage commencing from Liverpool on 16 December and from Southampton two days later. 

On 21 June 1952 it was announced that Capt. C.E. Duggan was appointed an A.D.C. R.N.R. to Queen Elizabeth.

Credit: Ottawa Citizen, 25 July 1952.

En route to the centenary celebrations of Elgin County, Ontario, the Earl and Countess of Elgin, were among the 160 embarking at Greenock on 16 July 1952, the county having been named after his grandfather in 1852 when he was Governor-General of Canada. In the Straits of Belle Isle, Empress of Scotland passed 20 mammoth ice bergs but upon arrival at Montreal on the 22nd, the thermometer read 90 degrees.  On her forth sailing from Montreal on the 25th, the liner took out 505 passengers, landing 200 passengers at Greenock on the 30th.  The Scottish call continued to be well patronised, with 250 disembarking on 21 August aboard the British Railways steamer Jeanie Deans. 

Empress of Scotland, 25 August 1952. Credit: Flickr, member hopelapp.

In an experiment, the sailing of Empress of Scotland from Montreal was put back to daylight on 5 September 1952 with passengers embarking the previous evening which permitted them to enjoy the passage between Montreal and Quebec in daylight as well as accommodate the preferences of pilots taking her down river before nighttime especially during the lower summer tides. The NATO joint operation "Mainbrace," a fleet exercise, closed Tail of the Bank and Gourock to merchant ships. Consequently, the inbound Empress  had to anchor off the Cowal shore during her call on 11 September, her  220 landing passengers aboard the steamer Jeanie Deans had a splendid view of the armada stretching from Tail of the Bank to the Cloch lighthouse.

Advertisement for Empress of Scotland's winter 1953 cruise programme from New York. Credit: Ottawa Citizen, 16 October 1952. 

In October 1952, Canadian Pacific announced details for Empress of Scotland's West Indies cruises from New York, encompassing two 17-day trips departing 30 January and 7 March 1953 to St. Thomas, Port of Spain, Puerto Cabello, Curacao, Cristobal and Havana and a 15-day one sailing 18 February visiting Kingston, Puerto Cabello, Curacao, Cristobal and Havana and offering "the perfect combination of exotic ports of call and refreshing cruise life at sea."

On her last outward call for the season at Greenock on 29 October 1952, Empress of Scotland embarked 180 passengers, and arrived at Montreal the evening of 5 November.  When she departed at daybreak on the 8th (her passengers embarking the previous evening), the Gazette reported that "her successful navigation of the tricky Montreal-Quebec channel is expected by waterfront observers to result in more and biggest passengers liners calling at Montreal from next year on.  It has previously been considered dangerous for the bigger ships to attempt the 138-mile river journey but the big ship has only to complete this final outward sailing to wind up a season without mishap."

Early today Capt. C.E. Duggan blew a three-blast farewell on Empress of Scotland's booming whistles and wrote finis to a history making season for the big liner. 

Largest ship to enter this port, the white-hulled Empress of Scotland completed her 1952 schedule without mishap, a feat that few believed could be accomplished because of her massive beam.

Under a leaden sky Captain Duggan backed his ship into the stream, nosing her big bow to the east and last run out of the river for this year was on.

Two little harbor tugs, dwarfed by the massive liner, added their little toots to her booming blasts. The bow and stern lines dropped from the aiding tugs and the liner and her crew severed their connections with the port for 1952. 

Montreal Star, 8 November 1952

The long awaited newbuilding programme for Canadian Pacific Atlantic fleet finally commenced with the announcement on 19 November 1952 of a £5 mn. order with Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Govan, for a 22,500-grt, 21-knot vessel accommodating 150 First and 900 Tourist Class passengers.  It was anticipated her keel would be laid late in 1953 with completion in early 1956.

Canadian Pacific announced their 1953 trans-Atlantic programme on 17 December.  This featured 35 calls at Montreal and Quebec by Empress of Scotland, Empress of Canada and Empress of France with the first arrival of the year by the Canada on 14 April, then the Scotland on the 21st and the France on the 28th. A record year was anticipated with the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the British Industries Fair at London and Birmingham 27 April-8 May.  

Advertisement for Empress of Scotland's long Southern Cruise to the Caribbean for December 1952-January 1953. Credit: Western Mail, 14 November 1952.

Empress of Scotland sailed on her "Southern Cruise to the Caribbean" from Liverpool 16 December 1952 and Southampton and Cherbourg on 18th, missing the planned call at Casablanca en route owing to anti French riots in the city. She returned to Southampton 19 January 1953. 

In 1952, Empress of Scotland completed nine round voyages to Montreal, one crossing to Halifax and New York and one from New York carrying 11,019 passengers (5,419 First and 5,580 Tourist), three West Indies cruises from New York and one West Indies cruise from the U.K. 

Cover of C.P.'s 1953 West Indies Cruises brochure. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

1953

Empress of Scotland sailed from Southampton 21 January 1953, slightly delayed by fog, for Halifax and New York.  On her first and only call there for the year, she docked at Halifax on the 27th where she landed 333 passengers and another 27 at New York two days later.  Among those disembarking at Halifax were three officers and 50 men of the 27th Canadian Brigade returning from Germany on leave.

Empress of Scotland at New York. Credit: eBay auction photo.

The loss of a fine ship is a tragedy at any time, but the burning of the Empress of Canada, formerly the Duchess of Richmond, at Liverpool is a particularly hard blow. It has almost completed the wiping out of Canada's fleet of ocean liners.

The Gazette, 4 February 1953

Canadian Pacific which had already suffered the most wartime losses of any line proportional to their fleet as well as the loss by fire of Empress of Russia just after victory had been won, had more bad luck when Empress of Canada was gutted by fire and capsized in Gladstone Dock, Liverpool on 25 January 1953.  Of Canadian Pacific's pre-war fleet of 13 Empresses, Duchesses and Monts, only two… Empress of Scotland and Empress of France… now remained. Worse, Empress of Canada like her consorts, was already almost fully booked for the early trans-Atlantic season owing to the Coronation, leaving Canadian Pacific in urgent need of a replacement.  On 16 February C.P. announced purchase of the Cie. Gle. Transatlantique's De Grasse which, after  a  hasty refit including the shortening of her masts to enable her to sail up to Montreal and renamed Empress of Australia sailed from Liverpool on 28 April for Montreal.

When Empress of Scotland returned to New York on 25 March 1953 at the end of her third and final West Indies cruise, Capt. Duggin recounted the rescue of two women yachtsmen and a male crew member who were found clinging to the keel of their upturned boat off St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.  Two others aboard drowned when their 18-ft. sailboat capsized in a wind gust and the survivors, exhausted and soaked, were taken aboard the liner and treated for exposure and shock. 

The attractive cover for Empress of Scotland's New York to Liverpool crossing at the conclusion of her West Indies cruise programme. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Following her West Indies cruises, Empress of Scotland sailed from New York  to Liverpool 28 March 1953 on a "Easter & Pre Coronation" special trans-Atlantic crossing which attracted 514 fares. 

Opening her 1953 trans-Atlantic season, Empress of Scotland sailed from Liverpool on 16 April with famous author Nicholas Monsarrat (The Cruel Sea) and his wife among those aboard, arriving at Montreal on the 22nd.  The ship embarked 150 passengers, mostly immigrants, at her first call at Greenock, making for 564 aboard. Her first eastbound crossing of the season, from Montreal on the 24th, had among the 504 passengers,  Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery.

Late season ice caused Empress of Scotland to change her route across the Atlantic from Montreal on 24 April 1953, adding some 300 miles to the crossing, and she was 12 hours late dropping anchor at the Tail of the Bank at 9:00 p.m. on the 30th, 1953, landing some 250 passengers there before continuing to Liverpool. 

Empress of Scotland sailed from Liverpool on 5 May, numbering among her 551 passengers the Northern Ireland football squad bound for a seven-week tour of Canada and the United States.   She docked at Montreal at 9:00 p.m. on the 12th. 

Bearing one of the most impressive passenger lists in Montreal history the proud Canadian Pacific flagship Empress of Scotland left here yesterday in a driving rain for England and Coronation. Only two cabins were vacant in the 26,000-ton liner as it weighed anchor with a full load of high-ranking government political and business officials… The departing scene at dockside was brightened as yellow, green and red streamers thrown from the vessel line the side of the pier.

The Gazette, 16 May 1953

The eastbound sailing on 15 May 1953 was heavily booked (560 passengers) with those bound for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June  including most of the official Canadian delegation, "the sailing marked the biggest departure of important government, business and church officials ever to sail from Montreal. As they boarded the ship the government delegation made up of members of both political parties, stepped into a Hollywood-like setting. Blazing light set up for movie cameras, flashing bulbs from newspapers, made the passengers blink as they walked up the rain-swept gangway. Driving rain kept the passengers inside the big ship but it failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the Coronation-bound delegation,"  (Montreal Star, 15 May 1953). Only the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Louis St. Laurent, was missing and sailed a few days later from New York in Queen Elizabeth. Also aboard was Alan C. McDonald, Managing Director of Canadian Pacific Steamships who told reporters on arrival at Liverpool on the 22nd that he hoped to place an order for a second 22,500-ton liner before returning to Canada in July. 

Sixty Canadian boys and girls from Canadian schools who had been visiting Britain for six weeks  under the auspices of the Commonwealth Youth Movement of Canada were among those embarking in Empress of Scotland at Greenock on 8 July 1953. 

Empress of Scotland and Batory (on a charter cruise from Le Havre) anchored in the Tail of the Bank, Greenock, August 1953. Credit: shipspotting.com

Inaugurating a new special named boat train from St. Enoch Station Glasgow to Princes Pier, Glasgow, the Empress Voyager departed on 9 September 1953 with 200 passengers for Empress of Scotland's sailing from Greenock to Canada. Henceforth all special trains for Empress of Scotland would carry special Empress Voyager boards on the sides of the carriages. 

On 15 October 1953, Empress of Scotland's winter cruise programme announced: three trips from New York, two 17-day cruises (to St. Thomas, St. Lucia, La Guaira, Curacao, Cristobal and Havana) starting  29 January 1954 and 9 March and one 18-day (to St. Thomas, Port of Spain, La Guaira, Curacao, Cristobal, Kingston and Havana) beginning 17 February. 

Departing Montreal on her final crossing of the season on 30 October 1953 with 509 passengers, Empress of Scotland's Chief Engineer James Thomson was making his last voyage before retirement after a 40-year career with C.P. Among those aboard was British actor Stanley Holloway and his wife returning after a tour in North America in which he appeared on stage and on television in Montreal, Toronto and New York. The ship collected an additional passenger in the Belle Isle passage when a large white polar owl alighted and set up residence on the fantail, fed tid-bits by the chef and not flying away until vessel was off the coast of Northern Ireland. 

Empress of Scotland arriving at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 23 December 1953. Credit: shipsnostalgia.com, member trenor. 

Another view of Empress of Scotland coming into Santa Cruz de Tenerife on her Winter Sunshine Cruise from the U.K. Credit: shipsnostalgia.com, member trenor. 

On 15 December 1953 Empress of Scotland sailed on Canadian Pacific's most audacious cruise since the glory interwar years when she departed Liverpool (and Southampton and Cherbourg two days later) for Tenerife, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Madeira, Lisbon and Cherbourg.  The 32-day, 11,386-mile voyage cost £240 to £600 person and was fully booked to the 425-passenger limit, 100 embarking at Liverpool. 

In 1953, Empress of Scotland completed 10 round voyages to Montreal, one crossing to Halifax and New York and one crossing from New York carrying 11,944 passengers (5,701 First and 6,243 Tourist), three West Indies cruises from New York and one West Indies cruise from the U.K.

Cover of Canadian Pacific's 1954 West Indies Cruises brochure. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

1954

. 

En route from Southampton, Empress of Scotland called at Halifax on 26 January 1954, landing 215 there and another 128  at New York on the 28th.  Her first of three West Indies cruises, 17-days to St. Thomas, St. Lucia, La Guaira, Cuaracao, Cristobal and Havana left two days later. 

Returning from her second cruise on 8 March 1954, Empress of Scotland arrived in the middle of the wildcat strike by East Coast Longshoremen strike and her 369 passengers had to carry their own luggage ashore. 

Striking longshoremen cheer the Meseck tug after it abandoned assisting docking Empress of Scotland on arrival 26 March 1954. Credit: Montreal Star, 27 March 1954. 

Empress of Scotland anchored off Quarantine. Credit: Daily News, 27 March 1954. 

Empress of Scotland anchored off Quarantine where she remained for the night before attempting docking without tugs. Credit: Charlotte News, 27 March 1954. 

Empress of Scotland docked at Pier 95 unaided just after Mauretania sailed, also without tugs. Credit: Daily News, 28 March 1954. 

On her third attempt, Empress of Scotland was successfully docked alongside Pier 95 on 27 March 1954. Credit: Gazette, 29 March 1954.

Empress of Scotland arrived at New York at the end of her final West Indies cruise on 26 March 1954, amid the continued longshoremen strike.  Clearing Quarantine,  two Meseck tugs met her only to have a picket boat with representatives of the striking longshoremen approach them and urge their crews to join the strike.  They did and literally left the big Empress in the lurch. In the windy conditions, Capt. C.E. Duggan decided against attempting an unassisted docking and returned his ship to Quarantine where she anchored until the following morning. Bringing her back into the North River, Capt. Duggan on the third attempt, managed to get his ship safely alongside Pier 95 by 10:00 a.m. although crushing the wooden floats between pier and hull in the process.  The 324 passengers also got to carry their own luggage ashore assisted by stewards. 

Empress of Scotland sailed from New York 29 March 1954, arriving at Liverpool on 5 April with 507 passengers. She then entered Gladstone Dock for overhaul.  There, three days later, the dock presented a unique "reunion" of Canadian Pacific liners, former and current, when H.M.S. Montclare, the former C.P. liner of the same name and now a submarine depot ship, joined Empress of Scotland and Empress of Australia undergoing their overhauls as well as the burnt out Empress of Canada. 

Cover of Canadian Pacific U.K. market brochure, 1954. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

The 1954 St. Lawrence season for C.P. was opened by Empress of Australia from Liverpool on 17 April followed by Empress of Scotland on the 23rd and Empress of France on the 30th, establishing the weekly frequency thereafter with  a total of 32 calls at Montreal for the year until the last on 30 November by Empress of France. Reflecting prevailing travel patterns on the route, Empress of Scotland's Tourist Class capacity was increased by redesignating some First Class cabins at the lower tariffs and providing superior Tourist accommodation.  Indicative of a busy season to come, some 4,000 travellers used the Port of Montreal in the first 7-10 days of the season aboard Empress of Scotland, Laurentian, Columbia, Lismoria, Empress of France and Ascania. 

An immaculate Empress of Scotland underway. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia. 

Starting the 1954 St. Lawrence season, Empress of Scotland left Liverpool on 16 April and called at Greenock on the following day where 167 more passengers embarked.  She would make ten westbound sailings that year and call at Greenock 11 times en route from Canada to Liverpool. 

Ahead of schedule, Empress of Scotland docked at Montreal the morning of 24 April 1954 after making her first nighttime passage up the St. Lawrence from Quebec.  Normally she would have anchored 15 miles upstream from Quebec and proceeded at daylight up the Montreal but she steamed as far as just beyond Three Rivers and at 11:00 p.m. to anchor there and then make the final approach at daybreak, arriving at Pier 8 at 10:00 a.m. "Capt. C.E. Duggan said the ship behaved beautifully on the river voyage and there had been no difficulty. 'It's good to be back in Montreal,' he added." (Montreal Star, 24 April 1954). She disembarked a good list of 612 on her her arrival.

Severe late spring weather delayed Empress of Scotland's first eastbound crossing from Montreal on 27 April 1954 with 587 aboard, cancelling her call at Greenock and  proceeding direct to Liverpool where she docked two hours late on 4 May. Her 250 intending passengers for Scotland were conveyed instead to Glasgow by special train from Liverpool.  

On her second outbound call at Greenock on 9 May 1954, 160 passengers joined Empress of Scotland, with the British Railways steamer Jupiter used as the tender, including four officials and 18 players of the Rangers F.C. en route to a nine-game tour in Canada and the U.S. She arrived at Montreal on the 14th with 615 aboard. 

In an unique event for Montreal,  the two largest vessels ever to use the port… the Dutch aircraft carrier Karel Doorman and Empress of Scotland moved downstream within a few hours of each other on 18 May 1954.  Formerly the Canadian 'carrier Warrior, Karel Doorman was the first to sail, from Laurier Pier, at 8:00 a.m. after a six-day visit to the port followed by Empress of Scotland at noon from Pier 8 with 597 passengers. The Scottish call remained very popular and there were more than 260 passengers landing at Greenock on the 24th. 

The Royal racing yacht Bluebottle being unloaded from Empress of Scotland at Montreal. Insert: left Lt. Commander R.L. Hewitt, R.N., her captain, and right R.C. Stevenson, President Canadian Yachting Association. Credit: Gazette, 5 June 1954. 

The ship's cargo manifest for her Liverpool-Montreal crossing 28 May-4 June 1954 included the 29-ft. racing yacht Bluebottle, owned by H.M. the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and a wedding gift from the Island Sailing Club of Cowes, sent over to compete in the Canadian regattas on Lake St. Louis and Lake Ontario and captained by Lt. Commander R.L. Hewitt, R.N.

Strong winds prevented Empress of Scotland coming alongside Prince's Landing Stage to embark her passengers on 30 July 1954 and instead coaches took them direct to the dock and she sailed that evening. Among the 634 disembarking in Montreal on 7 August  was Major General J.D.B. Smith, CBE, DSO, chairman of the Canadian Joint Staff in London, who had been responsible for the post-war Canadian defense forces on the continent and Britain.  When Empress of Scotland sailed for Liverpool three days later, she had 582 passengers aboard.

Empress of Scotland's 5th season of West Indies cruise for January-March 1955. Credit: Montreal Star, 5 November 1954.

The winter 1954-55 cruise programme was announced on 9 August 1954 comprising three cruises from New York: a 20-day itinerary beginning 20 January followed by a 19-day and 20-day cruise departing 11 February and 4 March respectively.  A new port, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was introduced.

The passenger list of 589 from  Montreal in Empress of Scotland on 31 August 1954, commanded by Capt. S.W. Keay, including the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Chairman of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering, Archbishop Gerald Berry of Halifax, T.H.P. Molson, Chairman of the Board of Molson's Brewery Ltd. and the 16 returning Imperial Cadets. During the voyage, a passenger, 70-year-old Joseph Gill of Port Credit, Ont, died aboard and was buried at sea.  Empress of Scotland arrived at Liverpool on 7 September. 

Saxonia, the first of  Cunard's  new quartet of Canadian liners, begin to rival Empress of Scotland for speed and on 9 September 1954 arrived at Montreal from Liverpool after clocking 6 days 2 hours for the passage but still not besting the Scotland's best mark. 

Thick fog over the St. Lawrence delayed Empress of Scotland's sailing from Montreal on 12 October 1954; originally to have gotten away at daybreak, it was not until 11:00 a.m. that she cast off. 

The most majestic of all Mersey liners and its only "three stacker," Empress of Scotland sails from Liverpool with the Alexandra tugs Egerton and Alfred in attendance. Credit: liverpoolships.org 

A nationwide dock strike resulted in Empress of Scotland sailing from Liverpool on 22 October 1954 for Montreal still with 650 tons of Canadian flour, grain and copper in her holds from her previous crossing.  She arrived at Montreal on the 29th with 598 passenger. Upon return to Liverpool, the liner went into Gladstone Dock where she remained until her next departure for Canada to unload the now accumulated 6,356 tons of cargo from her last two eastbound crossings.   

Whilst leaving Gladstone Dock for Canada on 12 November 1954 for her final St. Lawrence voyage of the season, Empress of Scotland hit the lock wall when caught by a northwest gale-whipped heavy swell and sustained damage to her starboardside with several plated badly scraped and slightly dented. She was jammed against the seawall for nearly an hour after the lines to two of her tugs parted.  When the height of the tide finally decreased, the ship was moved out into the Mersey and anchored for the night with her 260 passengers still aboard. The following morning, the Empress was moved to the Prince's Landing Stage for inspection and emergency repairs, she was able to sail that evening, but the Greenock call had to be cancelled. 

Making her final sailing from Montreal for the season on 24 November 1954 with 414 aboard, as described in the Glasgow Herald, 1 December, Empress of Scotland's call at Greenock where she landed 120 passengers some three hours late, was a rough and eventful one: "The liner arrived at the Tail of the Bank at the height of the south-easterly gale, and had great difficulty in finding an anchorage. To begin with, she moved over towards the Helensburgh side of the firth to get under the less of the Dumbartsonshire hills, by as her anchor was dragging she had to weigh it and clear out. The liner then steamed down-firth as far as Gourock, and when she returned the wind had dropped sufficiently for her anchor to hold."  The British Railways steamer Talisman acted as tender. 

Empress of Scotland in Gladstone Graving Dock for her annual overhaul. Credit: Belfast Telegraph, 14 December 1954.

Upon arrival at Liverpool on 2 December 1954, Empress of Scotland went into Gladstone graving dock for her overhaul, estimated to cost £70,000 and using 1,200 gallons of paint to freshen her exterior.

As reported on 20 December 1954, Empress of Scotland, Empress of France and Empress of Australia carried a post-war record of over 40,000 passengers in 33 voyages that year. 

In 1954, Empress of Scotland completed 11 round voyages to Montreal and one crossing from New York carrying 13,548 passengers (4,677 First and 8,871 Tourist), three West Indies cruises from New York and one South American cruise from the U.K.

Cover of Canadian Pacific's 1955 West Indies cruises brochure. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

1955

Empress of Scotland sailed from Liverpool on 8 January 1955 for Halifax (arriving 14th to land 241 passengers ) and New York where she docked on the 18th with 63 disembarking there. Her first West Indies cruise, 20 days, commenced on the 20th, visiting Haiti, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Venezuela, Curacao, Panama and Jamaica. 

Empress of Scotland in the North River, New York. Credit: flickr, Frigate RN.

Opening her fifth trans-Atlantic season, Empress of Scotland arrived at Montreal on 22 April 1955 with 558 passengers and sailed eastbound "beneath a heavy grey sky" (Montreal Star) on the 26th with 579 aboard. 

It was a year of labour unrest in Britain and a strike by Merseyside tugboat men that began 4 May 1955 held up the Liverpool sailings of both Britannic and Empress of Scotland. The Empress, scheduled to call on the 6th at Greenock, had her Scottish passengers instead travel by train from Glasgow to Liverpool to embark there.  She managed to sail on the 7th without the aid of tugs (the largest ship yet to accomplish that out of Liverpool) under the skillful handling of Capt. R.A. Leicester and arrived at Montreal on the 14th with 585 aboard.

British actor, comedian and singer-songwriter George Formby and his wife Beryl were among those disembarking from Empress of Scotland at Liverpool on 23 May 1955, after a 10-day tour of Canada that earned 16,000 for crippled Canadian boys belonging to Variety Village which instructed them in various trades. 

Empress of Scotland in Gladstone Dock, Liverpool. Credit: Steamship Historical Society of America.

A dock strike in May 1955 saw Empress of Scotland arrive at Liverpool on the 24th and the company's shore staff tasked with unloading passenger baggage at Prince's Landing Stage.  But when she was dispatched later that day to Gladstone Dock there was only one gang available to  unload her 3,500 tons of Canadian wheat and lumber.  She sailed westbound on the 26th with most of it still in her holds. 

The now 25-year-old Empress of Scotland met the newest Canadian route liner, Ivernia, when the inbound C.P. liner dropped anchor at the Tail of the Bank the evening of 13 June 1955 just as the new Cunarder steamed down from John Brown's to begin her trials in the Firth of Clyde. The Empress landed 240 passengers including the returning Huddersfield F.C. back from a five-week Canadian and American tour. 

An "unofficial strike" by stewards in the U.K. in June 1955 which began aboard Ascania 31 May prevented the sailings of Queen Mary, Mauretania, Ascania, Britannic, Saxonia and Scythia as well as the three Empresses. On the 18th, Canadian Pacific announced that Empress of Scotland, to have sailed from Liverpool the previous day, would now depart on the 22nd and that of Empress of Australia scheduled for the 24th was cancelled.  The Scotland managed to sign on a full crew and left Gladstone Dock at noon on the 22nd and embarked her passengers at Prince's Landing Stage and was away by 7:00 p.m. She was the first C.P. westbound liner since the strike began four weeks earlier although Empress of France was dispatched from Liverpool without passengers the previous week. When the  strike was finally settled on the 25th, C.P. announced some alterations to their schedules as their ships were slotted back into their routines with Empress of Scotland departing Liverpool on 9 July instead of the 8th and skipping the stop at Greenock. 

Making her first call in Greenock in six weeks owing to three of them being cancelled during the recent strikes, Empress of Scotland landed 250 passengers from Montreal on 25 July 1955, using the British Railways steamer Jupiter as tender.  On the 29 July the outbound Empress embarked 160 for Canada at Greenock from the British Railways motor vessel Maid of Skelmorlie. On 5 September she landed 224 passengers from Canada at Greenock. 

Credit: The Gazette, 14 October 1955

In early September 1955, C.P. released details of Empress of Scotland's fifth winter cruising season from New York for winter 1956. This comprised, as usual, three departures but now all were 20 days duration, calling at San Juan, St. Thomas, Fort-de-France, La Guaira, Curacao, Cristobal, Kingston, Port-au-Prince and Havana, and departing 18 January 1956, 9 February and 2 March respectively. 

Former Canadian Governor-General Field Marshall Alexander and Lady Alexander with Capt. J.P. Dobson on arrival at Montreal aboard Empress of Scotland. Credit: Montreal Star, 8 October 1955.

Field Marshall Alexander of Tunis and Lady Alexander were among those sailing from Liverpool in Empress of Scotland on 30 September 1955, returning to Canada for a fast paced 14-day tour where he was formerly Governor-General.  They disembarked at Montreal on 7 October. Also aboard was Dr. W. Kaye Lamb, Federal archivist and national librarian and author of the first history of C.P.'s Pacific route. 

Owing to heavy weather in the Atlantic, it was announced on 7 November 1955 that Empress of Scotland would omit her call at Greenock and would proceed direct to Liverpool where she docked on the following day. Her 200 passengers for Scotland would travel by special train to Glasgow.  When she came into Liverpool, she showed the effects of being battered by the heavy seas with 15 ft. of rail in her bows twisted and damaged. Capt. J.B. Dobson said the winds were 60-65 mph and he had to slow the ship and hove-to for six hours on the 5th. "We were quite lucky really. Some ships ahead of us had been forced to heave-to for two days but we missed the force of gale," he told reporters.  

If the storm was not enough of a tempest, there was also a "running fight" between scores of drunk  members of the crew as the ship approached Liverpool and 11 were discharged on the 11th as a consequence.  Another crewman, a steward, was charged with malicious damage after smashed five emergency fire alarms and seven light fittings with a mallet when "ingloriously drunk" after a crew party.  Five crew members were injured in the melee which made for some not very positive press coverage for days afterwards on both sides of the Atlantic. 

I don't think Scotland or the Scots have ever been roused so much over any matter in recent years as by the decision to end direct sailings between Canada and the Firth of Clyde. A regular storm of protest has broken out, and Scotland is really aroused. Newspaper editorials have taken up the matter with gusto. One journal has gone so far as to urge all Scots people living in Canada to 'raise the fiery cross.' It suggest they should bombard members of Parliament, newspaper and radio stations with postcards, letters and telegrams.

Gordon Irving, Montreal Star, 1 December 1955

On 16 November 1955 came the disappointing news to Scotland that Canadian Pacific had decided not to continue the calls at Greenock by Empress of Scotland for the 1956 season.  According to the Glasgow Herald, the cancellation of the call was done "as a means of speeding up their Liverpool to Montreal passenger and freight service, which they hope to operate as an express service" specially with the anticipated introduction of the new Empress of Britain in summer 1956. It was held that the call at the Tail of the Bank "entails considerable delay" and a Canadian Pacific official was quoted: "We have been well served on the Clyde, it is purely a question of speeding up the travelling time between Liverpool and Montreal."  The news, of course, caused great disappointment and indeed resentment throughout Scotland. 

The Scottish tourist industry and the Scottish Tourist Board cabled Canadian Pacific's President to urge reconsideration and citing the improvements made to the facilities at Princes Pier to speed the call.  Mr. A.C. MacDonald, Managing Director of Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. had what were described as a "full and frank discussion with the Earl of Rosebery, Chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board and other officials during which it was stressed the decision was purely on economic grounds and that the nonstop service was initially for 1956 only and if unsuccessful, the Clyde call might be resumed. 

"Will ye no come back again?" Empress of Scotland anchored off Greenock.  Credit: dalmadan.com

Ending her St. Lawrence season, Empress of Scotland left Montreal at daybreak on 22 November 1955 with 412 passengers.  Her final call at Greenock on  the 28th landed 172 passengers. "Officials of the Canadian Pacific Company were reluctant to comment on the decision to cancel the Clyde sailings. Capt. J.P. Dobson, who commanded the Empress of Scotland, said it would be a pity if the Empress did not come back to the Clyde, particularly as she carried such a fine Scottish name. Several passengers said that in Montreal particularly there was a good deal of indignation at the decision to cancel the sailings to the Clyde" (Glasgow Herald, 29 November 1955).  

On 29 December 1955 C.P.'s A.C. McDonald reaffirmed that the Greenock call would not continue in 1956 and stated that "By saving 12 hours at Greenock we will be able to spend more time at Liverpool. This extra time will enable us to handle an increased volume of cargo. I can assure you that we will watch the position carefully month by month and that at the end of the a year the position will again be reviewed."

In 1955, Empress of Scotland completed 12 round voyages to Montreal carrying 13,175 passengers (4,480 First and 8,695 Tourist) and three West Indies cruises.

Cover of Canadian Pacific's 1956 West Indies Cruises brochure. Artwork by the famous Oswald T. Pennington. Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

1956

FROM THE SMOG TO SUNSHINE 

The grimy atmosphere of a Merseyside smog was spoiling the finishing touches to the gleaming white paint on the hull of the 26,000-ton Canadian Pacific flagship Empress of Scotland in Gladstone Dock. Liverpool but her crew were undismayed. For in less than a fortnight they will be basking in the warm sunshine of the Spanish Main. They will be on the first of three sun-seeking cruises which will keep the Empress away from Liverpool until next April. The Empress has just completed an annual overhaul costing about £80,000 which included the installation luxurious fittings for the comfort of the rich passengers who will pay upwards of 500 dollars each for the pleasure of spending twenty days cruising round the West Indies and South America. 

The Empress is due to sail from Liverpool on a normal service voyage to Halifax. Nova Scotia. Then she will on to New York to pick up the cruise passengers She has been repainted inside and out and alterations have been made to cabin arrangements to provide super luxury accommodation for a maximum of 400 people on each of the cruises, the first of which starts on January 18. Among other Installations "for cruise purposes only" arc open-air swimming bath on the boat deck, in addition to the liner’s existing indoor pool and the loading of two motor launches to enable passengers go ashore where there are no harbour facilities for large liners. 

Aberdeen Evening Express, 7 January 1956

Empress of Scotland's positioning crossing from Liverpool to New York, sailing on 7 January 1956 was well-subscribed, landing 247 passengers at Halifax on the 13th and another 122 at New York the follow day. "The Canadian Pacific flagship Empress of Scotland inched into her Hudson river berth at 8,55 a.m. today, quickly disembarked more than 100 passengers and then set about preparing for the sailing of the first of her three West Indies and South America winter cruises. The liner leaves here at 11 p.m. today.  The 26,000-ton Empress of Scotland arrived from Liverpool, via Halifax, where she disembarked 227 passengers bound for Canadian points. As the vessel steamed slowly up the Hudson, she received deep-toned salutes from a variety of trans-Atlantic passenger ships including the giant Queen Mary." (The Gazette, 18 January 1956).

Credit: Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 January 1956. 

On the first of her three 20-day cruises, Empress of Scotland sailing on 18 January 1956 called at San Juan, St. Thomas, Fort-de-France, La Guaira, Curacao, Kingston, Port-au-Prince and Havana.  The second cruise, of the same length, beginning 9 February substituted Port of Spain for Fort-de-France whilst the third, on 2 March, called at Bridgetown instead of Fort-de-France. 

Empress of Scotland on one of her West Indies cruises. Credit: The Cruise People.com

Canadian Pacific announced their 1956 St. Lawrence passenger schedule on 15 February, beginning with Empress of France arriving at Montreal on 13 April followed by Empress of Scotland on the 20th and the big event of the year… the maiden arrival of the new Empress of Britain on the 26th.

Departing New York after her cruising season on 24 March 1956 with 337 passengers and embarking another 51 at Halifax two days later, Empress of Scotland was drydocked in Liverpool on arrival.

Empress of of Scotland made her first arrival of the season at Montreal on 20 April 1956, carrying a good list of 514 passengers but not measuring up to her new fleetmate, Empress of Britain, the first new Canadian Pacific liner in a quarter of a century, which landed 1,034 on her maiden arrival six days later. Empress of Scotland remained the largest ship in the fleet and to serve Montreal but the 25,516 grt Empress of Britain with her emphasis on Tourist Class (894 berths) rather than First (160 beds) far better reflected prevailing market conditions on the Canadian run. 

So it was that as she approached 26 years in service, that Canadian Pacific actively planned a replacement for Empress of Scotland which would be both larger than Empress of Britain/England and be suitable, too, on her well-established winter cruise trade. The shipping correspondent of the Financial Times reported on 9 May 1956 that "Canadian Pacific it is believed has already invited tenders from U.K. shipyard to build a new passenger liner bigger than the 26,000 tons Empresses of Britain and of England… The new ship would replace the Empress of Scotland which will reach retirement age in about  five years." A.C. MacDonald of Canadian Pacific said on the 7th that "a sister ship to the Empress of Britain might be ordered this year to replace the Empress of Scotland which is 26 years old."

Two Alexandra Towing Co. tugs swing the majestic Empress of Scotland off Prince's Landing Stage, Liverpool. Credit: Flickr, Ron Ramstew

Impervious to plans to usurp her as the grandest liner on the Canadian run, Empress of Scotland cleared Montreal on 15 May 1956, numbering among her 537 passengers, the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Chairman of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., the Countess of Elgin and the Ladies Elgin, of the company that delivered her almost exactly 26 years previously.  

On her first crossing via the Strait of Belle Isle that season, Empress of Scotland, arrived at Montreal on 21 June 1956 commanded by Capt. W.R. Thorburn.  On her eastbound crossing beginning the 26th, among those aboard was the 12-man Canadian Army cadet team bound for the Bisley shooting competition. On this crossing she passed the inbound Empress of Britain off Anticosti Island  as recounted in a letter to the Vancouver News-Herald of 4 July 1956 by passenger Lady Margaret Helen Bruce: "Suddenly, on the starboard side, passed the Empress of Britain as pretty as a picture. We gave them three blasts from the middle of our three tall funnels, and she gave us four bass ones in greeting from her stubby little funnel. We gave her one more in farewell, and as she sailed away she gave one deep one that sounded like a sigh. And now, at last, the sun is shining from a cloudless sky, shadowed only slightly from our own funnels. We are heading towards Cape Ray."

Empress of Scotland at Liverpool, 1956. Credit: Alastair Sutherland via Shipsnostalgia.com

Gale force winds, with gust more than 50 mph, prevented Empress of Scotland, already late owing to the weather, from leaving Prince's Landing Stage and entering Gladstone Dock when she finished landing her 535 passengers on 13 August 1956. Coming alongside the stage, she was caught by a sudden gust of wind and driven hard again a barge, damaging her paintwork and cracking two buffers under the no. 5 landing bridge to the stage. She finally docked the following day for cargo unloading. 

In August 1956, Canadian Pacific announced Empress of Scotland's winter cruise programme from New York which was expanded to four West Indies cruises: two 14-day itineraries departing 15 January and 14 March 1957 to San Juan, La Guaira, Willemstad, Cristobal and Havana and two 19-day ones beginning 31 January and 21 February to San Juan, St. Thomas, Port of Spain, La Guaira. Willemstad, Cristobal, Kingston, Port-au-Prince and Havana. On the 21 February cruise, Fort-de-France replaced Port of Spain. 

Canadian Pacific announced on 18 September 1956 that Empress of Scotland would resume calling at Greenock in both directions, every three weeks, beginning in the 1957 season with the first westbound call on 13 April and 29 April eastbound with 11 calls in each direction total.  For 1957, C.P. would have 12,000 more berths when the new Empress of England entered service with a total of 44 sailings in each direction compared to 38 in 1956. Empress of Scotland would be the only ship to call at Greenock. 

Approaching Liverpool on 21 September 1956, Joseph Cooper, aged 51, and the chief butcher of Empress of Scotland, disappeared overboard and presumed drowned. The ship was pitching and rolling heavily at the time and was 300 miles from land. There was no effort to effect a search as four hours had passed before it was determined he was missing. 

On 5 October 1956, C.P. Managing Director J.R.Y. Johnston announced, upon sailing for Montreal in Empress of Britain, that the company "are contemplating replacing the Empress of Scotland and before the end of the year tenders are to be sought by the company for the building of a new 32,000-ton luxury liner."  He said the company had decided to "build the liner for the North Atlantic run and for cruising."  The new ship would, by far, the company's largest liner. It was also announced that Empress of Scotland would again call at Greenock during the 1957 season.

Sailing from Montreal on 26 October 1956 with 584 passengers, very rough weather was encountered across, delaying the Empress's   arrival  at Liverpool from 5 November 1956 to the following day.  

Her final westbound arrival for the season saw Empress of Scotland come into Montreal on 16 November 1956 with 486 passengers.  She sailed eastbound four days later with 246 aboard, including 19 Russians on their way back to the U.S.S.R., some of them having lived in Canada for 27 years. "Names were politely refused, and one reason given for their return was that 'conditions in Russia will probably be better than in Canada." (Belfast News-Letter, 27 November 1956). After arrival at Liverpool on the 26th, she went into  drydock for overhaul.

On 5 December 1956 Canadian Pacific released results from the just completed St. Lawrence season showing a record of 44,289 passengers carried in and out of Montreal on 66 crossings in the three Empresses, surpassing the 34,767 carried in 1953 on the same number of sailings.  In 1957, the line's capacity would swell by 11,594 berths with the addition of the new Empress of England sailing on her maiden voyage 18 April.  There would be 88 crossings beginning 12 April with Empress of Britain followed by Empress of Scotland on 19 April. 

In 1956, Empress of Scotland completed 12 round voyages carrying 12,122 passengers (3,956 First and 8,139 Tourist Class) and three West Indies cruises. 

Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.

1957

There still remains to be replaced the well known Empress of Scotland which is presently in North Atlantic and cruise service and which will reach retirement age in about five years. Active consideration is being given to construction for this purpose of a third new ship, which will probably be of greater tonnage than either the Britain or the England and the design and appointments suited to cruise requirements as well as North Atlantic service.

Star-Phoenix, 2 January 1957

Returning to New York from a West Indies cruise on 19 February 1957 during a strike, Empress of Scotland, for the second in her career, had to dock without the aid of tugs.

The Empress of Scotland docked Tuesday afternoon unaided by tugboats and with supervisory personnel handling the dock lines.

It was a masterly display of seamanship as the 26,400-ton Empress nosed into Pier 95. Under the command of Capt. C. L. Deh the Empress of Scotland was returning from a cruise to the West Indies and South America. She carried some 400 passengers.

As the great ship turned to enter the slip, one of the ship's boats was smartly lowered and a light line was rowed to the jetty. Pulled in by the supervisory personnel acting as longshoremen, a heavy cable soon followed, and as the ship edged her way around the bollard at the outer end of the pier another line was put ashore. In little more time that it would have taken had tugs been available, the White Empress was safely in her berth at the north side of the jetty. 

Canadian Pacific office workers acted as luggage handlers for the returning cruise passenger was cleared off the dock less than three hours after the gangplank went ashore.

The Ottawa Citizen, 21 February 1957.

Empress of Scotland sailing from New York.

On 14 March 1957 Empress of Scotland sailed from New York on the last of her four West Indies cruises, the 14-day itinerary visiting San Juan, La Guaira, Willemstad, Cristobal and Havana.  On the 30th, she sailed from New York with 459 passengers for Liverpool.  

Credit: Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

Beginning her St. Lawrence season, Empress of Scotland, commanded by Capt. S.W. Keay, O.B.E., left Liverpool on 12 April 1957 and resumed the call at Greenock call the following day.  She arrived at Montreal on the 20th with 501 passengers.

Empress of Scotland's first sailing from Montreal, on 23 April 1957 had 352 aboard. That year featured an exceptional amount of ice and much later into the season.  A day late, Empress of Scotland arrived at Liverpool on 1 May after encountering a "mountainous ice-belt" south of Newfoundland,the third day out.   "It stretched as far as you could see, we crawled past it at about three know from ten in the morning till six at night," a passenger told the Liverpool Echo. The closest the ship got to the ice was three and half miles and some of the floes were twice as high as the top of her masts and spread some 30 miles with seals seen on it.  She had called at Greenock on the 30th and landed 200 passengers there before proceeding to Liverpool. 

The Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Scotland made a fine sight as she sailed out of the Clyde bound for Canada the other day. The sun was shining brightly on the sparkling waters of the Firth, and lots of day trippers on both sides of the estuary were there to see her off.  The liner has just resumed her Clyde-to-Canada service, a great boon to Scots here and abroad.

Montreal Star, 9 May 1957

With a heavy cargo, there was no way to make up the delay and Empress of Scotland sailed for Montreal on 4 May 1957, a day late, calling at Greenock on the 5th where 200 embarked via the steamer Talisman, making for a total of 483 aboard, and arriving at Montreal on the 11th. On her return sailing on the 20th, the ship skipped her call at Greenock and passengers taken to Liverpool from Glasgow as she would have called at Greenock too late in the evening and this got her back on schedule as well.

Canadian Pacific announced in London on 3 July 1957 their order for the long anticipated third Empress  with Vickers-Armstrong.   "As the new liner is regarded as an ultimate replacement of the Empress of Scotland, and that ship was built by the Fairfield Company in 1930 as Empress of Japan, there were high hopes that the contract would go to Govan," (Glasgow Herald, 4 July 1957).

Empress of Scotland's 16 July 1957 sailing from Montreal  was the first that season to be routed via Belle Isle, far later than usual owing to the lingering ice in the area.  Of her 568 passengers, 250 landed at Greenock on the 22nd. 

With four Empresses in service, Montreal offered a busy scene on 6 August 1957 when Empress of Scotland sailed at noon with 441 passengers and three hours later Empress of France arrived with 649 aboard. She sailed on the 8th and the new Empress of England arrived an hour or so later.  

Too Grand & Glorious? Empress of Scotland's matchless Canadian Pacific career on two oceans approached its end in autumn 1957. Credit: https://www.jigidi.com/

Alas, the Four Empress Heyday proved fleeting and lasted less than six months. Although it always been anticipated that Empress of Scotland would last until replaced by the third new Empress around 1961, her end instead came barely five month after the contract was signed. Although still in fine condition and as reliable as ever, the grand old Empress was ultimately too grand for a Canadian run whose market had become more Tourist and immigrant oriented and much of the First Class trade the first lost to air competition.  From 1955 onwards, the ship's expansive First Class accommodation was less than half booked whilst the smaller Tourist section had very high load factors. 

                       First Class       Tourist Class

1955     4,480                8,695 

1956     3,956                8,139

 1957     3,285                8,566  

For the cold logic of economy has caught up with the Scotland's gracious life at sea. The very spaciousness of her cabins and the quality of her service boosted operating costs too close to diminished revenues. 

Montreal Star, 15 August 1957

The older Empress of France with the same 1:3 ratio of First Class to Tourist Class as the new Empress of Britain and Empress of England had better load factors and was more economical to operate. Moreover, Empress of Scotland was being overtaken by more modern and de luxe ships on the New York West Indies trade and her size and draught constrained her port of calls. Thus, the hard decision was taken to dispose of the vessel when she could still attract a buyer for further trading and there is every likelihood prospective purchasers had already made overtures that influenced her premature withdrawal. 

On 17 August 1957 a spokesman for Canadian Pacific said that Empress of Scotland's "future employment is under consideration and it had been decided, her owners had nothing to say. He added that the ship had been taken off the sailing list for next year, and this had naturally given rise to speculation about what was to happen to her." (Belfast Telegraph, 27 August 1957). The Liverpool Echo on the same day noted: "The Empress of Scotland-- the ship has been in service for 27 years-- is still in excellent condition, which lends support to the theory that she may be sold. It is considered in some quartered that is it is no longer economic to run her all the year round, because she is not suitable for docking in the selected Canadian Pacific winter ports. The fact that she carries only 650 passengers against the 1,000 carried by her sister ships Empress of Britain and Empress of England is another factor against her economic running." Plans were to spend $3 mn. to refit and redecorate Empress of France to retain her instead until the third new ship was completed.

The Gazette reported on 14 August 1957 that Empress of Scotland "is understood to be going to Italian buyers. While Canadian Pacific Steamships declined to comment, it was learned authoritatively she would enter South American trade, possibly with a former running mate, the Empress of Australia, now the Venezuela." Almost immediately Canadian newspapers waxed eloquent and poignant tributes for the last of the great White Empresses:

The Empress of Scotland is to leave Canadian Pacific's trans-Atlantic service before year's end, and Vancouver-- which still thinks of her as the Empress of Japan-- will feel a nostalgic pang.

In hindsight, the white Empresses shuttling in and out of the harbor seem perhaps the clearest symbol of the between-wars world when life, for all the depression, was a simpler and a far surer thing.

They trailed a whiff of the Orient in through the Narrows; silk in their holds for the special trains waiting at dockside and passengers with stories to tell that were fresher then, in a world unjaded by television. They brought the first news pictures of the Japanese earthquake; they were a chain between continents in a way that ships no longer are in the air age. 

The Province, 10 September 1957

On 23 September 1957 Canadian Pacific announced that Empress of Scotland had been placed in the hands of C.W. Kellock & Co. Ltd. for sale. 

Per her previously released schedule, Empress of Scotland's last crossing would be from Montreal on 19 November, arriving in Liverpool on the 26th. "What happens to her then has yet to be decided, but she may berth in Gladstone Dock or go to anchorage somewhere in the Clyde," reported the Gazette.

Meanwhile, the ship carried on. A fierce Atlantic hurricane (which sank the German sail training ship Pamir)  delayed Empress of Scotland from Montreal on 17 September 1957 with 457 aboard which was due to call at Greenock on the 23rd and she instead sailed direct to Liverpool.  Empress of Scotland had to anchor 16 miles out of Liverpool to wait for the conditions to improve before she could dock. 

On 8 November 1957, Empress of Scotland (Capt. S.W. Keay, O.B.E.) sailed from Liverpool on her last voyage. Following her call at Greenock the following day, she had 47 First and 378 Tourist Class passengers aboard, the low numbers and disproportion between First and Tourist showing all too vividly the reason for her withdrawal. Two passengers aboard had voyaged in her as  Empress of Japan; Mrs. Mary Shearer in  1937 and Miss Antoinette Stephen in November 1938. Among her crew, three had served aboard since 1943: Boatswain George Britton, 47, Donkeyman Paddy McGrail, 51, and Quartermaster John O'Leary, 57, one of telling a reporter of their affection for "their" Empress: "She's a fine old lady and it's a pity to see her go. She's been our second home and never let us down." As reported in the Gazette, Empress of Scotland passed the outbound Empress of Britain in the Gulf of St. Lawrence: 

Somewhere in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the outbound flagship of the Canadian Pacific fleet, the 25,500-ton Empress of Britain, departed from accepted tradition by giving the Scotland the traditional three-blast salute accorded to vessels on special occasions.

Normally, this salute is delivered by junior members of the fleet to the flagship. Officers aboard the Scotland reported, however the Empress of Britain turned on her light and floodlit her single funnel as she passed in the night.

Photographed from aboard Carinthia, outbound from Montreal on her third voyage, 15 November 1957, Empress of Scotland coming up River nearing the end of her last westbound crossing. Credit: flickr,  kriz41.

"To the toots of tugs and bells of big ships," Empress of Scotland arrived at Montreal for the last time on 15 November 1957, docking at Pier 8. When she was alongside, her Staff Captain,  R.D.P. Gillett, addressed the departing passengers over the loudspeaker, 'We will not be able to greet you aboard the Empress of Scotland ever again. Au revoir, Good luck."

Credit: Montreal Star, 16 November 1957.

The last true Empress of a passing era in steamship travel pays her final respects to Canada's biggest port and her North American terminal for the last five years this weekend

On Tuesday, Canadian Pacific's 26,313-ton Empress of Scotland, blue-riband holder on the Pacific for 26 years, the pioneer of big ship traffic into Montreal and a notable example of luxury at sea, will head for a berth in Gare Loch not far from the Clyde shipyard where she was born. 

It is uncertain what will happen to the vessel which started her career as the Empress of Japan.

One thing, however, seems certain. Though she may burn a lot of fuel for the number of passengers she carries, it is generally conceded by the crew and passengers alike that she is in too healthy a condition to go to a breaker's yard.

The spaciousness of the Empress of Scotland is something to be admired. The very design of the vessel recalls a different age in steamship travel. Her wide, open decks brings back memories of great number of hardy ocean travellers wrapped in blankets like so many cocoons in contrast to the current trend to isolate the passenger from the sea with huge glassed in promenades. 

As the Empress of Scotland moved upriver yesterday for what will probably be the last time, her master for the last nine months, Capt. S.W. Keay, expressed regret at her being  withdrawn from service. 

The Gazette, 16 November 1957

R.M.S. Empress of Scotland coming alongside Pier 8, Montreal, on her final arrival, 15 November 1957. Credit: Henri Rémillard photograph, biblioteque national du Quebec

Credit: Henri Rémillard photograph, biblioteque national du Quebec

Farewell To An Empress

Tomorrow the Empress of Scotland, of the Canadian Pacific Steamships, leaves the port of Montreal. It is unlikely that she will ever return. And many will say farewell to her with much feeling.

For the Empress of Scotland was one of those ships that give their passengers a sense of happiness and well-being. Those who crossed the ocean in her always seemed to have a special feeling for the ship every after. 

The Gazette, 18 November 1957

Credit: Montreal Star, 16 November 1957.

The stately, three-funnelled liner Empress of Scotland is in Montreal harbor for the last time.

After nearly 28 years' service in peace and war, her owners, Canadian Pacific Steamships, have found her no longer economical to operate. She will sail Tuesday on her final run to Liverpool and afterwards go to a lonely anchorage on the Clyde to be sold or scrapped. 

Veteran crew members, hardened to the sea, commented wistfully: 'They'll never build another like her-- she's the last of the good ones."

The Montreal Star, 16 November 1957

Empress of Scotland arrives at Liverpool for the last time, 26 November 1957. Credit: Flickr Steve Besford Foster.

With 394 (25 First Class and 369 Tourist Class) passengers aboard, Empress of Scotland sailed at 11:00 a.m. from Pier 8, Montreal, on 19 November 1957, going out with Empress of France.  She made her final call at Greenock on the 25th, her forever farewell to her native Scotland, and docked at Liverpool without fanfare on a gloomy, chilly morning on the 26th.

Through a chill November mist the 26,000-tons liner Empress slipped quietly up the Mersey this morning to tie up at Princes Landing Stage for the last time as a Canadian Pacific passenger liner. 

The 28-years-old liner, which is up for sale, was completing her 187th crossing (including cruises) from Montreal to Liverpool since she was refitted in 1950. Later to-day she was moving into Gladstone Dock where she will remain until further notice. It is understood she is staying there so that prospective customers will be able to inspect her. 

The sombreness of the morning was reflected in the attitude of both the passengers and crew to the completion et the last voyage. In the first class dining room. as in other of the ship. it was a case of getting breakfast over as quickly as possible so that the leave taking could be speedily completed.

Captain S. W. Keay, master of the Empress for the last twenty months, was a sad man as he breakfasted alone. 'I have  only been with the ship a comparatively short time." he said. "but occasions such as these are always sad., Members of the crew have been' sailing on this run for many years and everyone is feeling the parting very much to-day. Though we will be with the ship for a while yet as she lies in dock. this is the real end of her passenger liner life.' The Empress of Scotland is admired, and everyone who had served on her must be proud of her today. 

Two hundred and thirteen passengers were on board the ship when she tied up this morning, another 381 having disembarked at Greenock. Last night there was farewell Party to the ship. but one of the crew said: "It was the quietest party I have ever seen on a ship. Everyone seemed too sad to make merry. 

Liverpool Echo,  26 November 1957

Empress of Scotland alongside Prince's Landing Stage after her last voyage. Credit: Liverpool Echo, 27 November 1957. 

Credit: Liverpool Echo, 27 November 1957.

A weary looking Empress of Scotland anchored in the Mersey after her final arrival there, before she went into Gladsone Dock for destoring.  Credit: shipsnostalgia.com

Contrary to previous press reports of her going into lay up in Gare Loch pending disposal, on 24 December 1957 it was announced that Empress of Scotland would sail from Liverpool on the 30th for Belfast where she would be drydocked for inspection by prospective buyers.  Instead, she departed on New Years Eve on her short, final voyage voyage under the Canadian Pacific flag. 

In 1957, Empress of Scotland completed 12 round voyages to Montreal carrying 11,848 passengers (3,285 First and 8,566 Tourist Class) and four West Indies cruise from New York.

Empress of Scotland alongside the west wall of Gladstone Dock in December 1957. Credit: shipsnostalgia.com

1958

On New Years Day, the Liverpool Echo reported: "In shipping circles it is generally expected that she will continue on the Trans Atlantic service, though not from Liverpool. A recent rumour is that she is to be bought within the next few days-- subject to examination and dry docking-- by Home Lines, Inc., and that she will be operated by them in connection with the Hamburg Amerika Line (Hapag) of Germany. German engineers are believed to have inspected the ship she was in Gladstone Dock before leaving for Belfast and recently her name has also been linked with the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line, great rivals of Hapag in providing a European/American service.  On 2 January the Birmingham Post reported that a "German shipping group, it understood, plans to buy the 26,313-ton liner, Empress of Scotland… and operate under the German flag on the Hamburg-New York service."

Empress of Scotland coming into Belfast on 3 January 1958. 

Empress of Scotland at Belfast alongside Pendennis Castle fitting-out before entering dry dock.  Credit: shipspotting.com

Empress of Scotland arrived at Belfast on 3 January 1958, but owing to a riggers' dispute, was unable to enter dry dock and was instead berthed alongside the new Union-Castle liner Pendennis Castle at Harland & Wolff's fitting out basin… ironically were she, as Empress of Japan, lay alongside Britannic in May 1930 when both were brand new.  On the 6th Empress of Scotland finally entered the Thompson dry dock. 

Credit: Illustrated London News, 14 January 1958.

On 9 January 1958 it was announced that Empress of Scotland had been sold to the newly founded Hamburg Atlantik Linie (by Vernico Eugenides, adopted son of the late Eugen Eugenides, who started Home Line) for £1 mn. or 12 mn. marks and another £1.5 mn. to be spent on a major renovation in a German yard before starting a new Hamburg-New York service in early June 1959. On the 13th Canadian Pacific reported that the sale had "been completed" but did not disclose the price. 

GREAT LINER AWAITS NEW OWNERS IN CHILLY DRY-DOCK 

"Belfast Telegraph" Reporter.

In January of other years the 26,313-ton  Empress of Scotland, once the flagship of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, had  its gay parties of Americans on  sunny cruises of the West Indies. But to-day the £1,000,000 liner lies in a Belfast dry dock her majestic hull exposed to the cold and frost of an Ulster winter. There she awaits take-over by her new owners, the Hamburg-Atlantic Shipping Line, a German company.

The decks, which buzzed with excitement as the liner made her way through the Caribbean, are silent and deserted. Now and again the silence is disturbed by the sound of a solitary workman's footsteps.

The wooden panelled corridors, once of a hive of activity, are empty and still. In one, a letter box bears a single word to provided an unnecessary explanation, 'Closed.'

With Captain Stanley Walker Keay, master of the ship, I walked down the 'Mall'-- a long and wide furnished corridor leading from the cocktail bar to the first-class dining room and cinema.

Alongside the sides of the Mall, the furnishing were covered with large dust sheets.Tables lay stacked in the dining room. The cutlery cabinets were empty. The scene was similar in the ship's cinema. There, all the seats had been place in the centire of the floor and covered by a solitary huge sheet of cloth.

In the ballroom the bandstand was deserted-- but music relayed over a loudspeaker was filling the room and bringing back memories of the caberets, the dances, the concerts and gay carnivals. The carpet had been rolled off the floor of the first cocktail bar. Its shelves lay vacant.

The tables, chairs and stools were in position-- awaiting the travellers, who will once again frequent the room. The beauty salon, the barber's shop, the doctor's surgery were all in darkness.

On the bridge, Captain Keay, who was born in Dublin and lives in Colchester, surveyed the 'lifeless scene.' For nine months, he has been master of the liner. Now, after 40 years at sea, Captain Keay has completed his last journey in the ship, a journey from Liverpool to the dry dock in Belfast.

Captain Keay, who has also been master of the Empress of Britain and the Empress of France, awaits news of his transfer to another ship. Standing with him is the skeleton crew he brought from Liverpool.

For them, too, it is a time of memories-- memories of the Atlantic run, the West Indies cruises, the pre-war Pacific cruises from Vancouver to the Orient, and the liner's wartime service as a troopship.

Belfast Telegraph, 16 January 1958

At noon on 17 January 1958 Empress of Scotland was handed over to her new owners and the Canadian Pacific houseflag and Red Ensign were lowered. The following day, under the German flag, the renamed Scotland  left Belfast for Hamburg to begin the third and final chapter of a remarkable career.

Thus passed the only liner to hold the distinction of being the largest, finest and fastest on the respective Pacific and Atlantic routes of the same company.  As such, she was surely the greatest embodiment of the Canadian Pacific, spanning two great oceans twixt a mighty continent, and no ship did the red and white chequerboard houseflag more credit in peace and war than this splendid looking vessel-- Forever Empress of Two Oceans. 

R.M.S. EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND

1950-1957 

90 North Atlantic crossings carrying 94,557 passengers 

29 cruises carrying 11,000 (approx.) passengers

Empress of Scotland in the Clyde, the river of her birth, on the eve of her North Atlantic career. Credit: W. Ralston photograph, National Galleries of Scotland.

Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering, Ltd., Govan, yard no. 634

Gross tonnage       26,313 

Length: (o.a.)        660 ft.

              (b.p.)         640 ft.

Beam:                     83 ft. 6 in..

Machinery: twin Parsons single-reduction gear turbines, twin-screw, six Yarrow watertube superheated boilers 425 psi and two Scotch boilers 200 psi and three single-ended coal burning Scotch boilers 180 psi, oil-burning, 33,000  s.h.p.

Speed:                     21 knots service

                                22.23 knots trials

Passengers            4,432 troops 1942-45 

                                2,793 troops/civilians 1946-48

                                458 First Class 250 Tourist Class (1950-53)

                                297 First Class 374 Tourist Class (1954-57)

                                450 one-class (cruises) 1950-56

                                400 one-class (cruises) 1956-57

Officers & Crew     460 

Canadian Pacific, George Musk, 1968

Empress to the Orient, W. Kaye Lamb, 1991

Merchant Fleets: Canadian Pacific, Duncan Haws, 1992

The Pacific Empresses, Robert D. Turner, 1981

The Patient Talks, C.M. Squarey, 1952

Sailing Seven Seas, Peter Pigott, 2010

Aberdeen Press and Journal

Belfast News-Letter

Belfast Telegraph

Brooklyn Eagle

Calgary Herald

Charlotte News

Courier & Advertiser

Daily Herald

Daily News

The Gazette

Glasgow Herald

Illustrated London News

Kingston Whig-Standard

Lancaster Guardian

La Patrie

Liverpool Echo

Montreal Star

Northern Whig

Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Journal

Owen Sound Daily Sun Times

The Province

Red Deer Advocate

The Scotsman

The Sketch

Star-Phoenix

The Sphere

Tamworth Herald

Western Mail

Vancouver News Herald

Vancouver Sun

Vulcan Advocate

Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer

National Galleries of Scotland

U.S. National Archives

Queensland State Library

Scottish Maritime Museum

Sjöhistoriksa Museet

Wallace B. Chung and  Madeline H. Chung Collection, University of British Columbia.  

World Ship Society Photo Library

https://www.angelfire.com/pe2/pjs1/index.html

https://www.british-immigrants-in-montreal.com/

https://www.flickr.com/

https://www.warsailors.com/convoys/index.html

http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/

https://www.dalmadan.com

http://www.liverpoolships.org/

https://www.shipsnostalgia.com

https://www.shipspotting.com

https://www.shippinghistory.com

https://www.theglasgowstory.com

Thanks to Roger Griffiths for his assistance with Empress of Scotland's transport voyage details. 

Additions/Corrections/Contributions welcomed

contact the author at posted_at_sea@hotmail.com

© Peter C. Kohler