Empress of India departing Vancouver.
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History | |
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Name |
|
Owner |
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Port of registry |
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Builder | Naval Construction & Armaments Co, Barrow-in-Furness |
Laid down | 1890 |
Launched | 30 August 1890 by Lady Louisa Egerton |
Maiden voyage | 8 February 1891 |
Fate | Scrapped in 1923 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ocean liner |
Tonnage | 5,905 tons |
Length | 455.7 ft |
Beam | 51.2 ft |
Propulsion | Twin propellers |
Speed | 16 knots |
Capacity | As originally configured: 120 first class, 50 second class and 600 steerage |
RMS Empress of India was an ocean liner built in 1890-1891[1] by Naval Construction & Armaments Co, Barrow-in-Furness, England for Canadian Pacific Steamships.[2] This ship would be the first of two CP vessels to be named Empress of India,[3] and on 28 April 1891, she was the first of many ships named Empress arriving at Vancouver harbor.[4]
Empress of India regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route between the west coast of Canada and the Far East until she was sold to the Maharajah of Gwalior in 1914 and renamed in 1915.[5]
In 1891, Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the British government reached agreement on a contract for subsidized mail service between Britain and Hong Kong via Canada; and the route began to be serviced by three specially designed ocean liners. Each of these three vessels was given an Imperial name.[6]
Empress of India and her two running mates—RMS Empress of China and RMS Empress of Japan—created a flexible foundation for the CPR trans-Pacific fleet which would ply this route for the next half century.[5]