Forgotten about the Empress of Canada - good reminder would love to see some more pics

Empress of Canada 1961.

That's the 'new' Epress of Canada which made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Canada on 24th April 1961. The one that caught fire in the No 1 branch of Gladston Dock on 25th January 1953 was built as the Duchess of Richmond in 1928, and became the second Empress of Canada following a re-fit in 1947.

As a young lad I went for a few runs on the Overhead, just to get a good view of the blackend hulk of the Empress of Canada in Glastone (I think) Dock. From memory, she lay on her side for ages before she was righted.

It took more than a year to re-float the Empress, she was finally winched upright, after removal of masts and funnels, in March 1954 and re-floated in May of the same year. She was then towed to Genoa for breaking up.

Here you go Pinz.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=31694

Brilliant ! Thanks Bert/upton.

Seem to remember watching the 'Empresses' in and out of the river as a child. We used to call them the 'banana boats'.

I'm curious why she keeled over, or was she purposely scuttled to reduce risk of the fire spreading around the dock?

From memory (scratch scratch) she keeled over due to massive amount of water poured into her to try and get to the seat of the fire. I don't think the fire was put out until she went glug-glug into the dock!

Ta

Full story HERE

Wow, that's comprehensive, good find

My Uncle served on the Empress of Canada, he was adrift for 3 days in a lifeboat before being picked up, he was found to be to young to serve !. when he reached the required age he then served in malaya.

That would be the first Empress of Canada.

copied from elsewhere.
RMS Empress of Canada (1922), a 21,517-ton 653-foot (199 m) ship built in Glasgow, Scotland; Vancouver-based ship served the Far East; served as troopship in World War II; torpedoed and sunk off Africa by an Italian submarine in 1943; 392 of 1,800 aboard perished
RMS Empress of Canada (1928), originally the Duchess of Richmond; served as troopship in World War II; renamed Empress of Canada in 1947; caught fire and capsized in Liverpool in 1953; scrapped the following year
RMS Empress of Canada (1961), transatlantic liner providing service between Canada and the United Kingdom during the summer and cruising from New York City to the Caribbean in the winter; made 121 Atlantic crossings before being sold to Carnival Cruise Lines in 1971; later Mardi Gras, and Apollo

From a postcard - the 1928 Empress of Canada in happier times, seen with what must be a very young Royal Iris.
The Empress capsized in 1953 and the Iris was introduced in 1951 - which narrows down the date of the postcard a bit.

I wonder what the vessel ahead of the Empress was? She has a classic look to her. An old Cunarder ? An I.O.M. steamer astern of the Empress.

They don't make them like that any more. Just slab sided floating blocks of flats. Sad.

Wondered that too, Pinz - could be the Scythia or Samaria?
See Clicky...

Speaking of Cunarder's - remindes me of the old joke:

Lady 1 - "My Husband works for Cunard"
Lady 2 - "Oh, really? My Husband works fairly hard too"

A great link. Thanks. The way some of the great liners were fitted out - amazing. Opulence and some...