RMS Empress of Australia (ship, 1919)
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The RMS Empress of Australia (I) was an ocean liner originally built in Germany , which was in service for the Canadian shipping company Canadian Pacific Steamship Company from 1922 .
From the beginning of the Second World War until it was scrapped in 1952, it served as an Allied troop transport.
Emergence
The steam turbine ship was built at the AG Vulcan Stettin shipyard in Bredow near Stettin (now Poland ) for HAPAG and was launched on December 20, 1913 as Admiral von Tirpitz . It was named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz . In February 1914 the name of the ship was shortened to Tirpitz . The ship was to be commissioned at the end of 1914 and become the shipping company's new flagship on the South America route, but the outbreak of World War I prevented its completion.
In 1916, Kaiser Wilhelm II instructed that the ship should be completed as a royal yacht . But nothing came of these plans either. After the end of the war, in March 1919, the ship was awarded by the Reparation Commission Great Britain as war reparation and sailed as a prize from Hamburg to Kingston upon Hull on November 1, 1919 . In Great Britain the ship came under the management of the shipping company P&O , which used it as a troop transport .
Canadian Pacific
On July 25, 1921, the Tirpitz was bought by the Canadian shipping company Canadian Pacific Steamship Company and renamed the Empress of China . However, since Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, who had also recently been taken over by Canadian Pacific, had also been renamed Empress of China , the Tirpitz was named Empress of Australia in August 1921 . The Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm was renamed the Empress of India in the same month .
The Empress of Australia was overhauled and fully equipped at John Brown & Company in Clydebank . After completion, the 187.4 meter long and 12.8 meter wide steamer was equipped with two steam turbines from Fairfield Shipbuilders , which developed 16,000 hp and could accelerate the ship to 16.5 knots. The passenger capacity was 400 passengers in first class, 150 in tourist class and 635 in third class. On July 28, 1922, the Empress of Australia ran on its first civilian voyage from Clydebank via Panama to Vancouver . It was then used on the route from Vancouver to Japan and Hong Kong .
After some time, the shipping company was dissatisfied with the performance of the ship and after 20 crossings on the Pacific decided to have new machines installed. The Empress of Australia arrived in Glasgow on September 9, 1926 , where two Parsons steam turbines and six new double-ended steam boilers were installed. The engine output was now 20,440 hp and the top speed increased to 19.5 knots. The conversion took several months and cost more than half a million pounds sterling . During the subsequent test drive, the Empress of Australia reached a top speed of 20.34 knots. In addition, the three-class system was abandoned in the course of the renovations. The passenger accommodations were redesigned in such a way that from now on 1,500 travelers could be accommodated in a single price range in luxurious cabins. The dining room was designed in the Regency style, the lounge with dance floor in the Empire style and the writing room in the Louis XVI style .
The Empress of Australia was later put on the North Atlantic route and set off on her first voyage from Southampton to Québec on June 25, 1927 . Among the passengers were Prince Edward VIII , Prince George, 1st Duke of Kent and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin . She operated this new route together with the Empress of Scotland and the Empress of France . From 1928 onwards, the Empress of Australia also made cruises and circumnavigations of the world out of season.
In 1938 the ship was overhauled at Harland & Wolff in Belfast . It resumed regular service in early 1939. After three Atlantic crossings, the Empress of Australia was selected as the royal yacht for King George VI. and to serve Queen Elizabeth during a state visit to Canada. She left Portsmouth on May 6, 1939 and arrived in Québec eleven days later. For the return trip in June, the royal couple took the Empress of Britain .
Great Kantō earthquakes
During the Great Kanto earthquake on September 1, 1923, the Empress of Australia was in the port of Yokohama and was ready to cast off when it was surprised a few minutes before 12 noon by the quake with a magnitude of 7.9 on the moment-magnitude scale . It rolled heavily from side to side and the docks partially collapsed under the feet of fleeing onlookers. The quake lasted only a few minutes, but caused enormous damage on the main island of Honshu, killing over 140,000.
A smaller ship, the Lyons Maru , detached itself from its anchorage and rammed the Empress of Australia , which was overcrowded with passengers, at the stern . Ropes and ladders were lowered from the side of the ship so that people trapped in the destroyed and burning docks could climb aboard. Passengers and crew worked together on the fire hoses to prevent sparks falling on the ship from starting a fire. Due to a damaged propeller, the ship was initially unable to sail.
Three days after the quake, the Yamashiro , an Imperial Japanese Navy battleship, arrived in Yokohama. Yamashiro divers inspected the propeller and removed a tangled cable. The machines were tested and it was found that the Empress of Australia had not suffered any major damage. At the request of the British consul , however, the ship remained on site and was used to provide help with reconstruction and to accommodate survivors of the quake. On September 12, 1923, the ship finally left Yokohama. Captain Samuel Robinson has received several awards for his work, including the Order of the British Empire and the Lloyd's Silver Medal.
Troop transport
After the outbreak of World War II , the Empress of Australia was sent to Southampton, where it was converted into a troop ship, painted gray and equipped with a 76 mm cannon. In its new purpose, it could carry 5,000 people. She was in this service for a total of 13 years.
On September 28, 1939, she ran her first troop cargo to Ceylon and Bombay . She then drove to Halifax , where she joined a large convoy that brought Canadian soldiers to Europe. The Empress of Australia survived the war unscathed. It was only damaged once when it collided with the Ormonde (14,853 GRT) of the Orient Line during the Africa campaign in January 1943 . On her last voyage in wartime, she carried former prisoners of war and refugees from Hong Kong. In later years it was used in other wars, including the Korean War .
In 1946 her anchor chain got tangled with that of the freighter Debrett when both ships were anchored near Liverpool . Seven tugs were needed to separate the two ships from each other again. In December of the same year, the troop accommodation on board was adapted to the times of peace and made a little more comfortable. The ship retained the gray paint from wartime until the end. Until 1951, the ship was used as a troop transport. In the following year the Empress of Australia was sold for demolition after her 70th troop voyage.
In May 1952 she was employed by Thomas W. Ward Shipbreakers Ltd. scrapped in Inverkeithing . Parts of the oak-paneled and ship furniture are now in the visitor center of Whiskey - Distillery Glenfarclas in Scotland Ballindalloch .