SS Duchess of Richmond was an ocean liner

Ocean liner

An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...

 built in 1928 for Canadian Pacific Steamships by John Brown & Company

John Brown & Company

John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a pre-eminent Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm, responsible for building many notable and world-famous ships, such as the , the , the , the , the , and the...

 in Clydebank

Clydebank

Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...

, Scotland. In 1947 she was renamed SS Empress of Canada. The ship was distinguished by the Royal Mail Ship

Royal Mail Ship

Royal Mail Ship , usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract by Royal Mail...

 (RMS) prefix in front of her name while in commercial service with Canadian Pacific.

Duchess

The Duchess of Richmond was one of the several "sturdy Canadian Pacific liners which were known as "Drunken Duchesses" for their lively performance in heavy seas." She was built as a sister ship to SS Duchess of York

SS Duchess of York

SS Duchess of York was a 20,021 ton ocean liner operated by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. Built in 1928 in Clydebank by the shipbuilders John Brown & Company, she was originally intended to be named SS Duchess of Cornwall...

, SS Duchess of Bedford and SS Duchess of Atholl.

In March 1929 the 20,022-ton ocean liner began transatlantic summer service from Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 Canada to Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 in the United Kingdom with winter service out of the port of Saint John, New Brunswick

Saint John, New Brunswick

City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...

.

Troopship

During World War II, the Duchess was requisitioned as a troopship. Early in the war, she transported men to the fighting in North Africa, stopping briefly in Algiers to disembark troops on November 14, 1942.

Empress

In 1947 she was refitted as a luxury liner with the new name Empress of Canada and returned to service on her original Canada to England route.

On 25 January 1953 the Empress of Canada caught fire and heeled over against the dock wall at Gladstone Dock

Gladstone Dock

Gladstone Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Bootle. The dock is connected to the Royal Seaforth Dock to the north and what remains of Hornby Dock to the south...

, Liverpool. Re-floated, the following spring she was taken to La Spezia

La Spezia

La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

where she was scrapped.

External links

• A website for the Empress of Canada with photos
• Ship List: , Canadian Pacific's Empress fleet
• Australian War Memorial: Empress of Australia with defensive armament, 1941