RMS Empress of India (1891)
- Loyalty (1915 )
The RMS Empress of India (I ) was a 1891 put into operation in ocean steamers of the Canadian Pacific Line, passengers, mail and cargo transported on the Pacific route between Canada and Asia. The ship was sold in 1914 and scrapped in 1923.
History
The Empress of India and her two sister ships Empress of China and Empress of Japan, which were put into service all three in 1891, were the first ships of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company Railway, which was in 1884 entered the shipping business. After the company had used until then only chartered ships, there were in 1890 three new buildings at the shipyard Naval Construction & Armament Company in Barrow-in -Furness in order.
Background was a new contract concluded between the Canadian Pacific Railway and the British government, which provided for the subsidized transportation of mail between the UK and Hong Kong via Canada. To this end, three new ocean liners were commissioned in the UK, which should use this service. These three ships were the basis for the success of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the merchant navy. All three had yacht -like contours and a white hull, which made them look very elegant. They were the first ships on the Pacific, which were equipped with twin screw and reciprocating machines.
The 5905 gross registered tons (GRT ) large steamship ran as the second of the three sisters on 30 August 1890 by the stack. It was christened by Lady Louise Egerton on the name RMS Empress of India. The ship had a clipper bow, two funnels, three masts and two propellers. On board there was room for 50 passengers of the First, 150 Second and 400 third class. The two triple expansion steam engine contributed 10,000 PSi and were able to ship up to 16 knots speed.
On 8 February 1891, the Empress of India was in Liverpool on her maiden voyage from after Suez, Hong Kong and Vancouver. Then she used the route Hong Kong -Shanghai -Nagasaki Kobe -Yokohama - Vancouver. During this time the steamer had to be repeatedly put under quarantine when it turned out that there had been among the passengers to smallpox infection. On August 17, 1903, seemed to Hong Kong to a collision between the Empress of India with the 15 year old Chinese cruiser Huang Tai (2110 t), which declined thereafter. The Empress of India, which itself was damaged, took on the crew of the destroyer. On December 7, 1914 she was sold to the Maharaja of Gwalior and converted into a hospital ship for Indian troops. On January 15, 1915, the ship was renamed to Loyalty. In March 1919 it was sold to the Scindia Steam Navigation Company in Bombay and in February 1923, the sale followed the crash in Bombay.