Empress of Britain

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THE EMPRESS OF BRITAIN Since her maiden voyage in 1931, the "Empress of Britain" has established an unrivalled claim to the title of The Merchant Empress of the Seven Seas. Not only does this Canadian Pacific flagship ply every summer on an established route between England, France and Canada -- she is the largest and fastest of all ships in service between two ports of the British Empire-but her winter cruises have also taken her to every Dominion of that far-flung Empire. She covers an average of 100,000 miles each year, and has attained a grand aggregate mileage of 800,000 since her launching. She holds the record land-to-land Atlantic passage of three days one hour and thirty minutes (from Bishop's Rock to Belle Isle).

The "Empress of Britain" has also visited many foreign countries, and her 42,348-ton white-painted hull, three buff-coloured funnels, and red and white house-flag, have appeared in the harbours of numerous Crown Colonies, as well as Protectorates and countries under Mandate. The great ports of Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa have played host to this attractive Empress and to her Round the World Cruise passengers. On cruises she has also visited, among other British Possessions : Bermuda, Bahamas, Burma, Ceylon, Fiji, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Jamaica, the Malay States, Palestine, St. Helena, Straits Settlements and Trinidad.

On her present voyage, under Royal Charter, having the honour to convey Their Gracious Majesties, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the "Empress of Britain" will show the Flag in British territory visited by her for the first time. On the day following the departure from Halifax, the anchor is dropped off the port of St. John's, Newfoundland, where no merchant ship of her size, has ever been seen. Like other ships on the Canadian Atlantic route, the Empress. herself has frequently passed within sight of the island which is Great Britain's oldest Colony. On the occasion of the Imperial Conference at Ottawa in 1932, the Empress conveyed to Canada the United Kingdom Delegates, including Lord Baldwin, and the present Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlain. During the course of the Conference, new speed records were made in the exchange of mail between Ottawa and London due to the high speed of the Empress and high-powered planes.

The "Empress of Britain" was launched at Clydebank, Glasgow, on June 11, 1930, by His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales. The event was notable, since for the first time such a ceremony was recorded by wireless round the world. At that time, the big white Empress was the largest ship built in Great Britain since the Great War; she was the first liner to be built with ship-to-shore wireless telephone equipment; the first to have a championship-sized tennis court on deck; and in space per passenger she led, and still leads, all transatlantic liners. Such space per passenger is a unique feature. In all three classes of accommodation, her staterooms are so unusually large that, together with the 16 public rooms, there are actually 36 tons of ship for each passenger when a capacity list is carried, a guarantee of comfort which is especially appreciated by world cruise passengers whose staterooms are their homes for several months.

The construction of the Empress occupied two and a half years, from the laying of her first keel-plate on November 28, 1928, until her first trip down the River Clyde on April 5, 1931. She was built at the Clydebank yards of John Brown & Company. With an overall length of 760 1/2 feet, breadth of 97 1/2 feet, and depth from the sun-deck of 100 1/2feet, the Empress has a straight stem and cruiser stern, and is schooner-rigged fore and aft. Her ten decks include a Sun-Deck, Sports Deck, Promenade Deck and much open deck space for Tourist and Third Class passengers. Technically, the ship is a masterpiece of the art of the British Marine Engineer and the British Naval Architect. Her propelling machinery received the highest technical praise at the time of her sea trials. She is the world's most economical steamship for fuel consumption per shaft horsepower hour.

New theories of high-pressure and high-temperature steam practice, developed by Mr. John Johnson, Engineering Consultant of the Canadian Pacific Steamships, achieved for the Empress unique engineering distinction. The liner is propelled by four screws, each driven by an independent set of single- reduction geared turbines of Parsons type, developing normally 62,500 shaft horse- power to attain a sea-speed of 24 knots. An overload power of 66,500 S.H.P. can be developed to increase her speed when necessary in order to maintain schedules. Steam superheated to 725 degrees Fahrenheit is supplied to the turbines by eight Yarrow type and one Johnson boiler, and the whole plant is contained in two separate engine rooms. Two-thirds of the power is developed by the main turbines in the forward room, driving the inboard propellers. On cruises, when less speed is required than on Atlantic Service, the two outboard propellers are removed, and the ship is driven solely by the main turbines and the inboard screws.

In the decoration of the "Empress of Britain," particularly in the Public Rooms, the underlying thought was the provision of variety and interest consistent with good taste. This was achieved by securing the co-operation of such eminent artists as Frank Brangwyn, RA., Sir John Lavery, R.A., Edmund Dulac, Sir Charles Allom and W. Heath Robinson. Each of the main Public Rooms is the work of one of these artists, reflecting his conception of its purpose in artistic interpretation, from the dignity and comfort of the Mayfair Lounge to the whimsical humour of the Knickerbocker Bar and the Children's Playroom, both the work of Mr. Heath Robinson.

The more important rooms have been given distinctive names, the Main Dining Saloon, for instance, being named the Salle Jacques Cartier, in honour of the discoverer of the St. Lawrence. Capable of accommodating 425 dinner guests, this spacious Saloon consists of a hall of noble proportions around which runs a gallery. At each end of the room are two large decorative panels, while on the port and starboard side are frescoes similar in colour and design. Elsewhere the walls are panelled in natural oak, the furniture being of the same wood. The other main Public Rooms are on the Lounge or Promenade Deck. Forward is the Empress Room, a beautiful ballroom designed by Sir John Lavery. Entirely pillarless, it is 40 feet in fore and aft length and 70 feet wide. In spite of the absence of pillars, there is a large dome which portrays in deep blue and gold a re- presentation of the heavens as they actually appeared on the night of the launching of the Empress. Rose and turquoise-blue draperies, with coral, pearl and diamond effects, add delightful colour to a stage at the aft end of the room.

At the forward end is a cinema-operating room fitted with modern sound-film installation. Passing aft from the Empress Room is The Mall -- two long galleries which merge into the ship's main entrance. The walls are panelled in Aimed oak, with ornamental friezes, and heading the main stairway is a large wall-painting by Maurice Greiffenhagen, R.A., depicting the famous French navigator, Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec, welcoming his wife to the site of that Ancient City. Decoration of the writing-room, aft of The Mall on the starboard side, is in free Georgian style, with walnut-panelled walls, fluted oak pilasters, a fireplace of Roman stone, and bold carvings in pear wood reminiscent of the period.

On the port side opening from The Mall is the American or Knickerbocker Bar, where Mr. Heath Robinson has decorated the walls, above sycamore panelling, and also the ceiling, with a whimsical panorama of "The Legend of the Cocktail Bird." Inspired by the ancient Temple of Minerva, the Mayfair Lounge, the ship's central salon, has a brilliant central setting bordered by restful vistas and large-windowed bays. Rich grained walnut is used in the panelling, and special green Scagliola marble in the many graceful columns and pilasters that rise to the ceiling. A handsome dome of amber glass in panels surmounts the centre of the room, each panel having a golden sun-ray centre, while on the intersecting panels are set the signs of the Zodiac in bas relief. Canadian themes are depicted in illuminated hemispheres at either end of the dome, and Canadian emblems appear in the frieze of the dome itself. On a huge panel at the forward end of the room is a reproduction of a famous Gobelin tapestry commissioned by the Archduchess Marguerite of the Netherlands to illustrate the hunting exploits of the Emperor Maximilian 1, while the rich carpets are reproduced from a Polish design of the 16th Century.

In the Cathay Lounge, or Smoking-Room, created by Edmund Dulac, the Chinese motif appears. Beneath a panelled ceiling of gold leaf, fretted walls panelled in grey ash are incised with diaper enrichments and ornamented in black and red lacquer. In the centre of the room, beneath a four-sided clock which hangs from the ceiling, stands a curiously carved rock-formation reminiscent of Chinese jade. The furniture is specially designed in red and black lacquer ornamented in pale gold and covered with coral coloured material of Chinese design.

Spanish style dominates the pleasant little Card Room. Entered by a door covered with red leather and wrought ironwork, the room has a series of mural arches having the appearance of rough stone, leaded-glass windows, and a carved stone and black and gold tiled fireplace.

In the Olympian Pool, P. A. Staynes, R.O.l., has produced a remarkable effect with fluted turquoise-blue glass and mosaic columns, terrazo, teak, vitrous glass and patterns of different colours. A large turtle of Portland stone stands at the after-end and pours a jet of sea water into the pool, which is brightly illuminated from below. Two self-cleaning filters can handle 40 tons of water each hour. Adjoining the Olympian Pool are two up-to-date gymnasiums, one for adults and the other for juveniles, as well as modern Turkish Baths. The gymnasium equipment includes, besides more or less standard apparatus, camel-riding and a horse-riding machine, and two cycle-racing machines. The Turkish Baths consist of a Laconicum, Calidarium, Tepidarium, Vapor Room, Frigidarium and Massage Room, all with carefully controlled temperatures and air circulation.

A rare shipboard provision for sport lovers is a regulation-sized squash rackets court, "match-standard" and comparable in every respect with other match courts in the British Isles; while on the sports deck a full-sized tennis court, with spectators' galleries and a cafe, offers open air exercise. Such famous international players as William T. Tilden II and Miss Helen Jacobs have kept in practice by play on this court during voyages in the "Empress of Britain."

(From the passenger list of the 1939 royal voyage)

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