HMT Empress of Britain
From Our Contribution
Contents
Remarks
Built for the transatlantic trade between Europe and Canada. Less than two weeks after disaster struck the RMS Titanic in the North Atlantic, Empress of Britain also struck an iceberg on 26 April 1912; but the reported damage was only slight On 27 Jul 1912 she collided with and sank the SS Helvetia off Cape Magdaleine.
On 16 Aug 1914 she was requisitioned for conversion into an Armed Merchant Cruiser known as HMS Empress of Britain, remaining so until she was paid off on 11 May 1915 when she reverted to civilian status and was converted into a troopship. On 12 Dec 1915 she collided with and sank a Greek steamer in the Straits of Gibraltar.
At the conclussion of hostilities she was converted to be an oi- burner and on 23 Mar 1919 returned to normal Passenger Service. In August 1919 she was rebuilt by Fairfield's with her gross tonnage now 15,646. With the change of ownership name to Canadian Pacific Railway Company - Canadian Steamships Ltd in 1924, she was renamed SS Montroyal. Finally on 17 Jun 1930 she was sold for breaking to the Stavanger Shipbreaking Co.,
Soldiers carried
Mudros to Alexandria 5 - 7 January 1916
- George Sidney Cook
- Charles Maul Glover
- † Fritz Robert Jaentsch
- † Herbert Frank O'Neill
- John Harold Rupert Smith