HMT Empress of Britain

HMT Empress of Britain

History
Name	HMT Empress of Britain
Owner	Canadian Pacific Railway Company, Liverpool
Builder	Fairfield Shipping & Engineering Co, Clydebank
Yard number	442
Launched	11 Nov 1905
Completed	1906
In service	1906
Out of service	1930
Fate	Broken up July 1930
General characteristics
Type	Ocean Liner
Tonnage	14,189 tons
Length	548.8 ft
Beam	65.7 ft
Depth	36.7 ft
Propulsion	twin screw
Speed	18 knots (33.34 km/h)

Remarks

Built for the transatlantic trade between Europe and Canada. Less than two weeks after disaster struck the RMS Titanic in the North Atlantic, Empress of Britain also struck an iceberg on 26 April 1912; but the reported damage was only slight On 27 Jul 1912 she collided with and sank the SS Helvetia off Cape Magdaleine in the estuary of the St Lawrence River.

On 16 Aug 1914 she was requisitioned for conversion into an Armed Merchant Cruiser known as HMS Empress of Britain, remaining so until she was paid off on 11 May 1915 when she reverted to civilian status and was converted into a troopship. On 12 Dec 1915 she collided with and sank a Greek steamer in the Straits of Gibraltar. As a troopship she carried more than 110,000 troops to the Dardanelles, Egypt and India.

At the conclussion of hostilities she was converted to be an oil-burner and on 23 Mar 1919 returned to normal Passenger Service. In August 1919 she was rebuilt by Fairfield's with her gross tonnage now 15,646. With the change of ownership name to Canadian Pacific Railway Company - Canadian Steamships Ltd in 1924, she was renamed SS Montroyal, ableto carry 600 cabin passengers and 800 x 3rd class passengers. Finally on 17 Jun 1930 she was sold for breaking to the Stavanger Shipbreaking Co.,

Soldiers carried

Mudros to Alexandria 5 - 7 January 1916

• George Sidney Cook
• Charles Maul Glover
• † Fritz Robert Jaentsch
• † Herbert Frank O'Neill
• John Harold Rupert Smith

Mudros to Alexandria 18 - 21 January 1916

• John Alexander Spilsbury