White Empresses

And other Canadian Pacific Liners of the 1920s & 30s

by William H. Miller

Canadian Pacific Steamships was a worldwide travel network that included great passenger ships. Their highpoint for that arm might have been in the 1920s and 1930s. First, they had a superb trans-Pacific service, Vancouver to and from the Orient, with four splendid ships providing twice-monthly service. It all hinted of far-off, exotic travel – grand salons, midnight sailings from Shanghai and an Asiatic steerage below decks.

On the Atlantic, Canadian Pacific provided a fine service, largely between Liverpool and St Lawrence, to Quebec City and Montreal. This culminated with the debut, in 1931, of one of the finest liners of the 20th century: the giant Empress of Britain. An exquisite ship both inside and out, she made luxurious world cruises in winter.

Some were scrapped prematurely or became casualties of war; others were restored and reactivated for Canadian Pacific liner services in the late 1940s and into the 1950.