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RMS Empress of Russia
RMS Empress of Russia was a steam turbine ocean liner built in 1912–13 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific steamships (CP). She regularly worked the trans-Pacific route between Canada and the Far East.
Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company built the ship at Govan near Glasgow in Scotland. Empress of Russia was launched on 28 August 1912 and completed in March 1913.
She left Liverpool on 1 April 1913 on her maiden voyage via Suez to Hong Kong and Vancouver. Thereafter, she regularly sailed back and forth along the Hong Kong – Shanghai – Nagasaki – Kobe – Yokohama – Vancouver route. In 1913 she broke the record for the fastest trans-Pacific crossing which was formerly held by RMS Empress of Japan; but her sister ship, RMS Empress of Asia broke that record in May 1914, crossing the Pacific in nine days, two hours, and fifteen minutes. The popularity of the short route from Vancouver to the Orient was so great that these two additional CP Empress ocean liners were necessary.
The 16,810 GRT vessel had a length of 570 feet (173.7 m), and her beam was 68 feet (20.7 m). She had three funnels and two masts. Her four steam turbines drove four screws, giving her a cruising speed of 19 knots (35 km/h). The ocean liner provided accommodation for 284 first-class passengers and for 100 second class passengers. There was also room for up to 800 steerage-class passengers. This was the first liner to have a straight stern like a warship; and the advantages of this type of stern were revealed in terms of speed, vibration, steering and seagoing qualities.
Empress of Russia's UK official number was 135197 and until 1933 her code letters were JBSQ. In 1934 her code letters were superseded by the call sign VGKW.
Empress of Russia was requisitioned by the British Admiralty twice during the First World War. Initially, the ship was refitted as an armed merchant cruiser at Hong Kong; she was attached to a squadron blockading German merchant shipping in Philippine waters and retained her Chinese crew, but took on French sailors to man her guns. Later, she was transferred to the Indian Ocean.
In November 1914, the highlight of this Indian Ocean tour of duty followed from a rendezvous at sea with the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney. In what was called the Battle of Cocos, Sydney had engaged the German cruiser SMS Emden, forcing the raider to beach herself on North Keeling Island to avoid sinking. Some 230 Emden survivors were transferred from Sydney to Empress of Russia for transport to Colombo. At this point, Empress of Russia was sailing in a convoy of troop ships carrying 30,000 ANZACs from Albany, Australia to Suez and Europe.
On April 30, 1915, Empress of Russia sailed from Hong Kong to the Red Sea, where she served until October 1915.
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RMS Empress of Russia
RMS Empress of Russia was a steam turbine ocean liner built in 1912–13 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific steamships (CP). She regularly worked the trans-Pacific route between Canada and the Far East.
Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company built the ship at Govan near Glasgow in Scotland. Empress of Russia was launched on 28 August 1912 and completed in March 1913.
She left Liverpool on 1 April 1913 on her maiden voyage via Suez to Hong Kong and Vancouver. Thereafter, she regularly sailed back and forth along the Hong Kong – Shanghai – Nagasaki – Kobe – Yokohama – Vancouver route. In 1913 she broke the record for the fastest trans-Pacific crossing which was formerly held by RMS Empress of Japan; but her sister ship, RMS Empress of Asia broke that record in May 1914, crossing the Pacific in nine days, two hours, and fifteen minutes. The popularity of the short route from Vancouver to the Orient was so great that these two additional CP Empress ocean liners were necessary.
The 16,810 GRT vessel had a length of 570 feet (173.7 m), and her beam was 68 feet (20.7 m). She had three funnels and two masts. Her four steam turbines drove four screws, giving her a cruising speed of 19 knots (35 km/h). The ocean liner provided accommodation for 284 first-class passengers and for 100 second class passengers. There was also room for up to 800 steerage-class passengers. This was the first liner to have a straight stern like a warship; and the advantages of this type of stern were revealed in terms of speed, vibration, steering and seagoing qualities.
Empress of Russia's UK official number was 135197 and until 1933 her code letters were JBSQ. In 1934 her code letters were superseded by the call sign VGKW.
Empress of Russia was requisitioned by the British Admiralty twice during the First World War. Initially, the ship was refitted as an armed merchant cruiser at Hong Kong; she was attached to a squadron blockading German merchant shipping in Philippine waters and retained her Chinese crew, but took on French sailors to man her guns. Later, she was transferred to the Indian Ocean.
In November 1914, the highlight of this Indian Ocean tour of duty followed from a rendezvous at sea with the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney. In what was called the Battle of Cocos, Sydney had engaged the German cruiser SMS Emden, forcing the raider to beach herself on North Keeling Island to avoid sinking. Some 230 Emden survivors were transferred from Sydney to Empress of Russia for transport to Colombo. At this point, Empress of Russia was sailing in a convoy of troop ships carrying 30,000 ANZACs from Albany, Australia to Suez and Europe.
On April 30, 1915, Empress of Russia sailed from Hong Kong to the Red Sea, where she served until October 1915.