RMS Empress of Asia (1912)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Empress of Asia
Career
Name: Empress of Asia
Owner: Canadian Pacific Steamships
Port of Registry: Flag of Canada Canada
Builder: Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering, Govan, Scotland
Launched: 23 November 1912
Completed: June 1913
Fate: Sunk by Japanese aircraft off Sultan Shoal on February 5, 1942.
General characteristics
Type: ocean liner
Tonnage: 16,909 g, 8,883 n
Length: 570.2 ft
Beam: 68.2 ft
Propulsion: Quadruple screw, 4 x steam turbines by Builder, 3, 750 nhp
Speed: 19 knots
Capacity: 1,180 passengers

RMS Empress of Asia was an ocean liner built in 1912-1913[1] by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships. This Empress was distinguished by the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) prefix in front of her name because the British government and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) had decades earlier reached agreement on a contract for subsidized mail service between Britain and Hong Kong via Canada. When not carrying mail, the ship would have been identified as SS Empress of Britain.[2]

As well as being a passenger liner in peacetime, this Empress served as an armed merchant cruiser and a troopship in wartime. The SS Empress of Asia was sunk by Japanese aircraft while on its way to Singapore from Bombay during World War II.

Contents

[edit] History

The SS Empress of Asia was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan near Glasgow in Scotland[3] She was launched in 1912; and she completed her maiden voyage in 1913.

In May 1914, Captain Samuel Robinson pushed the RMS Empress of Asia and her crew in setting a new world's record for both a single day's steaming (473 nautical miles) and for crossing the Pacific (nine days, two hours, and fifteen minutes).[4]

[edit] World War I

During the First World War, the Empress was converted into an auxiliary cruiser at Hong Kong. She was armed with eight 4.7 inch guns and Royal Navy officers took command. Among her peacetime crew only those in the Royal Naval Reserve were retained.

She was deployed in Asia and the Middle East; and later, she served as a troop carrier in the Atlantic. In 1919, the Empress of Asia returned to Vancouver carrying the 72nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF); and the men disembarked from the ship at the CPR pier.[5]

[edit] Between the wars

Amongst the celebrities who sailed in the Empress of Asia was Bertrand Russell. The writer traveled from Yokohama to Vancouver in the late summer of 1921.[6] Physicist Neils Bohr made the trans-Pacific crossing in April 1924 aboard the Empress.[7]

The Empress of Asia and the Empress of Canada evacuated civilians from Shanghai in 1937 during the Sino-Japanese War.

[edit] World War II

The Empress of Asia on fire and sinking after being attacked by Japanese aircraft en route to Singapore.
The Empress of Asia on fire and sinking after being attacked by Japanese aircraft en route to Singapore.

The Empress was requisitioned by the Admiralty in January 1941 and sailed for Liverpool vis Panama and the Clyde for refitting as a troopship. For armament She received a 6 inch gun, a 3 inch gun HA, 6 20 mm Oerlikons, 8 Hotchkiss, Bofors guns, 4 PAC rockets and depth charges.[8]

Her first task was to take soldiers of the Green Howards to Suez via the Cape of Good Hope to participate in the North Africa Campaign. From there she took Italian prisoners of war to Durban.

In September 1941, the Empress sailed with the first convoy from North America to England which was escorted by ships of the U.S. Navy.[9]

The final voyage of the Empress began in November 1941, when she sailed from Liverpool carrying troops and supplies bound for Africa, Bombay and Singapore.

She was one of five CPR ships that were taking men and materiel to reinforce Singapore in the face of the Japanese advance. On 5 February 1942, the SS Empress of Asia was attacked by Japanese aircraft outside Singapore, their bombs setting her on fire. Escort vessels HMAS Wollongong, HMS Dana, HMIS Sutlej and the sloop HMAS Yarra stood by to take off the troops and crew. A total of 1,804 survivors were taken off, there were only 16 deaths but all the military equipment was lost. [10].

Leonard H. Johnson was chief mate of the Empress of Asia when she went down. He took charge of 40 other young survivors and led his crew-mates safely to Freemantle, Australia. The journey involved sailing on three inter-island steamers to Sumatra, hiking over 100 miles across the island to catch a ferry to Java, and then a voyage from Batavia to Australia aboard a flat-bottomed river boat with Johnson serving as navigator. He was honored with the OBE for his exploits.[11]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The disambiguation date used in this article's title is not the year in which the hull is launched, but rather the year of the vessel's sea trial or maiden voyage.
  2. ^ Ship List: Description of Empress of Britain
  3. ^ Johnston, Ian. "Govan Shipyard" in Ships Monthly. June 1985.
  4. ^ Hammer, Joshua. (2006). Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II, p. 60.
  5. ^ City of Victoria Archives: "72nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders, C.E.F. disembarking from the "Empress of Asia" at the C.P.R. pier." Matthews Collection, 1919.
  6. ^ Russell, Bertrand. (2000). Uncertain Paths to Freedom: Russia and China, 1919-22, p. 542.
  7. ^ Bohr, Neils Henrik. (1996). Foundations of Quantum Physics II (1933-1958): Collected Works, p. 502.
  8. ^ Empress of Asia: Empress of Asia, requisition -- accessed 6 May 2008
  9. ^ Morrison, Samuel Eliot. (2001). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, p. 86.
  10. ^ Allied Merchant Navy of WWII: Role of CPR ships
  11. ^ Bamberger, Werner. "Empress of Canada's Skipper Ending 43-Year Career at Sea; Johnston Sails for England -- Began as Deck Cadet With Canadian Pacific in '22," New York Times. April 1, 1965.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Languages