CP Ships

Early era (1881–1915)

In the early 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) negotiated with the Government of the United Kingdom to establish a trans-Pacific steamship routes between Vancouver and the Far East. The trans-Pacific services of Canadian Pacific were begun by Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, the Canadian-American builder of the railroad network in 1887. In that year, Sir William chartered three vessels from Cunard Line; the SS Abyssinia, the SS Parthia, and the SS Batavia—as a beginning of the CP fleet. The agency for chartering and managing the ships was secured by Adamson, Bell and Company for the first three years. When the new shipping line had shown to be profitable, Canadian Pacific decided not to renew the contract with Adamson, Bell and Company and to run the line itself.

In 1891, CPR adopted a new name — the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company (CPSC). The CPSC became one of the many shipping companies operating in and out of Liverpool. The company expanded as people emigrating from Europe to North America provided a larger number of passengers and the company also started holiday cruises. As with other shipping companies, CPSC had larger ships built to cope with the demand.

In the late 19th century, CPR initiated an ocean-going service between the port of Vancouver, British Columbia and Hong Kong, with calls at Japan and China, and later at Manila, Philippine Islands and Honolulu, Hawaii. This service provided a link for CPR's transcontinental railroad passenger and freight services. Passengers could travel from England to Eastern Canada, travel across the railway to Vancouver, and on to Asian destinations. During 1887, temporary steamship service was initiated on a Vancouver-Yokohama-Hong Kong route. From 1887 through 1941, the Canadian Pacific Railway provided steamship service between Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and Hong Kong with calls at Japan and China, and later at Manila, Philippine Islands and Honolulu, Hawaii. Three ships were built at Barrow-in-Furness in England, and the three sailed together towards Vancouver in 1890, with initial voyages projected for January 15, February 15, and March 15 of the new year. An 11-foot scale model of the ship was put on display in Canadian Pacific's New York offices. In an effort to lure American Chinese passengers to sail with CPR from North America to Shanghai and Hong Kong, prominent members of the Chinese community in New York were invited to examine the scale model and its amenities.

In 1915, CP changed the name of its shipping business to Canadian Pacific Steamships Ocean Services Ltd.

In 1891, CPR and the British government reached agreement on a contract for subsidized mail service between Britain and Hong Kong via Canada. The route began to be serviced by three specially designed Empress liners—the RMS Empress of China, the RMS Empress of India and the RMS Empress of Japan. Each of these "Empress" steamships sailed regularly in the period from 1891 through 1912. In that year, the Empress of China struck a reef near Tokyo, and she was subsequently towed to Yokohama where she was scrapped. Empress of India would continue in service through 1914. The RMS Empress of Japan sailed regularly from 1891 through 1922. These three ships and the others which comprised the "Empress fleet" carried mail, passengers, and freight speedily across the Pacific for over half a century.

In 1903, the company took over the ships and services of the Beaver Line and began operating ships on the Atlantic between Halifax, Nova Scotia and the United Kingdom. In 1906, two vessels were built in Scotland: the RMS Empress of Scotland and SS Empress of Ireland. These two vessels had a full capacity of 1,530 passengers. There were accommodations for 310 first class, 470 second class passengers, 500 third class and 250 steerage passengers. The CP transported many immigrants from Europe to Canada, primarily from Great Britain and Scandinavia.

CP acquired the successful Allan Line, and expanded to become a major international cargo carrier and operators of luxury passenger liners such as Empress of Britain and Empress of Canada.

Sinking of the Empress of Ireland

In 1914, Empress of Ireland sank after a collision with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad in the St. Lawrence River. In just 14 minutes after the collision, this accident claimed 1,012 lives making it the deadliest maritime disaster in Canadian history. Empress of Ireland was heading down the channel near Pointe-au-Père, Quebec in heavy fog. At 02:00 Storstad crashed in the side. Storstad, though damaged did not sink. Empress of Ireland took severe damage to her starboard side and began to list and take on water. Some passengers managed to get into lifeboats quickly. The ship began to list too far, and additional life rafts were not able to be launched. The ship rolled to its side 10 minutes after the collision. Four minutes later the ship had sunk. Only 465 survivors were rescued. A board of inquiry found Storstad responsible for the sinking.

World War I (1914–1918)

Canadian Pacific was an important contributor to the Merchant Navy (United Kingdom) in World War I. Like other shipping companies, Canadian Pacific provided ships to carry troops in both World Wars. CP lost 18 ships in the war.

In World War I, some ships were refitted as Armed merchantmen or auxiliary minelayers. These were operated by the British Royal Navy, not CP Ships. For example, the RMS Princess Irene and the RMS Princess Margaret were requisitioned at the point of completion by the Royal Navy for war service. They were manned by Navy, not CP. Neither ship was delivered to CP – Princess Irene exploded in 1915 and Princess Margaret was purchased by the Admiralty after the war.

Inter-war period (1919–1938)

CP purchased eleven new steamships to replace its losses during the war. New ships included RMS Empress of Australia, RMS Empress of Britain, SS Duchess of Richmond (RMS Empress of Canada), SS Duchess of Bedford (RMS Empress of France) and SS Duchess of York. The company continued to carry passengers, freight and mail across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The company also built a fleet of "Beaver Ships", Cargo liners, for fast freight service in the 1920s which were some of the most advanced steam freighters of their time Beaverford, Beaverdale, Beaverburn, Beaverhill and Beaverbrae.

Royal visit to Canada

In 1939, the CP Ship RMS Empress of Australia transported King George VI and his royal consort, Queen Elizabeth from London, England to Quebec City for the 1939 royal tour of Canada. This was the first ever visit by the monarch to a dominion. The King chose to visit Canada using a Canadian luxury liner rather than an established English royal yacht. Empress of Australia was considered to be a royal yacht after her use by the King.

World War II (1939–1945)

In World War II, the CP fleet carried over a million tons of cargo and a million troops and civilians during the Second World War. One CP ship, the freighter SS Beaverford made the most notable military action in the company's history in 1940 as part of Convoy HX 84 when she engaged the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer for five hours before sinking with all hands, a sacrifice that allowed most of convoy HX 84 to escape. The Company lost twelve vessels due to enemy action which is a larger loss than any Western company. Empress of Britain was the largest ship lost to enemy action during the Battle of the Atlantic. Losses also included all of its fleet of "Beaver ship" cargo liners. Company ships participated in both the Battle of the Atlantic and the Battle of the Pacific. Despite their extensive and dangerous war service, the CP mariners, part of the Merchant Navy, were denied veterans' benefits by the Canadian Government until 1988.

Post-war period (1945–2005)

From 1956 to 1961, the company acquired its last three steam passenger ships Empress of Britain, Empress of England and Empress of Canada. Competition from airlines forced CP to retire these ships in the 1970s. The company looked towards bulk and tanker fleets as replacements for its steamships.

In 1971, the company changed its name to CP Ships Ltd. and container ships were added as Intermodal freight transport became popular. Intermodal transportation integrated well with CP's rail assets. In 1972, CP Ships regular transatlantic passenger service from the Port of Liverpool finished with the sale of Empress of Canada.

In 1984, CP Ships entered a joint venture with Compagnie Maritime Belge called Canada Maritime to secure North Atlantic container traffic for its rail facilities at the Port of Montreal. This "new" company prospered and the fortunes of CP Ships revived in the early 1990s. In 1993 Canadian Pacific bought out its partner and merged it with CP Ships. The next decade saw the company grow through acquisition. In April 1995 CP Ships purchased the Cast Group out of a bankruptcy proceeding, and subsequently bought Lykes Lines in July 1997 also out of bankruptcy, Contship Containerlines in October 1997 at a profitable level, Australia-New Zealand Direct Line in December 1998 also being profitable, Ivaran Lines in May 1998 (unprofitable), TMM Lines (unprofitable, 50% in January 1999, rest 50% in January 2000), in August 2000 Christensen Canadian African Lines (CCAL) at small profitability and Italia Line in August 2002 at breakeven business results. By 2001 it was the seventh largest carrier in the world, and dominated the North Atlantic. When it was spun off into a separate company it represented 8% of Canadian Pacific's revenues and was a source for a large portion of CPR's rail traffic — much originating from CP Ships' Montreal Gateway Terminals.

Sale

On August 21, 2005, German conglomerate TUI AG offered to acquire CP Ships Limited for €1.7 billion (US$2.0 billion) in cash, and merge it with TUI's Hapag-Lloyd division.

On October 19, 2005, CP Ships and TUI AG jointly announced that 89.1% of CP Ships shareholders had accepted Ship Acquisition Inc.'s August 30 offer for $21.50 USD per share on October 25, 2005.

In 2011, the company name Canadian Pacific Steamships was abandoned. In 2012, the clothing company, Eyecon Enterprises Inc. (of Ontario, Canada) applied for, and was granted the Canadian Pacific Steamships trademark name along with the "three square" checkered flag graphic logo. In 2013, Canadian Pacific Steamships Limited was incorporated in Ontario, Canada and based out of Newmarket, Ontario.

Civilian

There are several notable civilian events in the CP fleet.

World War I

CP ships served in the Merchant Navy (United Kingdom) in World War I.

World War II

CP ships served in the Canadian Merchant Navy in World War II. Twelve ships were lost to direct enemy action. Two additional ships were lost to accidents.

Notable captains

Corporate timeline