5p SS EMPRESS OF FRANCE
Called at Tristan 28 February 1928 and was the first ship to visit for 11 months. 54 letters and 3 packages were landed. The ship was on its way from Buenos Aires to Cape Town. It landed stores and gifts from USA, Canada and Great Britain. 19 tons of stores arrived, sent by the Tristan da Cunha fund, and 8 mail bags were landed. The stores were dispatched by 3 of the ships boats but then transferred onto island boats which were better suited for landing in the surf. Initially launched as the SS Alsatian she was re-named in 1919.
Tristan da Cunha press release
Built as a passenger-cargo vessel under yard No 509 by William Beardmore & Company Ltd., Dalmuir for the Allan Line Steamship Company Ltd (Allan Bros & Company Ltd. managers), Glasgow.
22 March 1913 launched as the ALSATIAN.
Tonnage 18,486 gross, 10,792 net, dim. 182.88 x (bpp 174.15) x 22.06 x 12.71m.
Powered by four steam turbines, 21,400 shp, four shafts, speed 18 knots.
Passenger accommodation for 287 first, 504 second and 808 third class.
December 1914 completed. She was the first North Atlantic liner with a cruiser stern.
17 January 1914 maiden voyage from Liverpool to Halifax and Saint John.
After only seven Atlantic voyages she was requisitioned on 07 August 1914 as an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC) by the British Government.
Armament 8 – 4.7 inch guns. Crew 67 officers and 480 men.
19 August 1914 employed in the Norther Patrol after she joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron based in Scape Flow.
08 September 1914 rescued the crew of the OCEANIC which went ashore on Foula Island, Shetland.
December 1914 after she was rearmed with 8 – 6 inch and 2 – 6 pdr. AA guns she became the flagship of Admiral De Chair of the 10th Cruiser Squadron.
1915 She spent that year 262 days at sea, steaming 71,500 miles and burning 40,287 tons of coal.
During the war she steamed 266,740 miles, consumed 170,570 tons of coal, she intercepted 15,000 ships and escorted convoys to and from America.
September 1916 she underwent a refit at Liverpool which was completed on 14 September 1916.
July 1917 the Allan Line was taken over by the Canadian Pacific Steamship, Glasgow ALSATIAN still managed by the Allan Line.
May 1918 collided with the AUSONIA when entering the Mersey for coaling.
December 1918 paid off in Liverpool but remained under British Admiralty control.
February 1919 returned to her builders for a refit.
04 April 1919 renamed in EMPRESS OF FRANCE still managed by Allan Line.
26 September 1919 sailed from Liverpool under her new name to Canada.
1924 Was she converted from coal to oil firing by her builder. Accommodation reduced to 331 first, 384 second and 352 third class passengers.
1929 Transferred to Canadian Pacific Railway (and managed Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd.) Glasgow, used in the liner service across the North Atlantic but also she made World, Mediterranean, South America and South Africa cruises.
1928 Used for almost a year in the Pacific service before returning to the North Atlantic service.
28 September 1931 laid up at the Clyde.
20 October 1934 sold to W.H. Arnott Young & Co. and she was broken up on the yard where she was built in Dalmuir.
24 November 1934 arrived at Dalmuir.
Tristan da Cunha 2015 5p sg?, scott?
Liberia 2015 $30 sg?, scott? (as ALSATIAN.)
Source: http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz. Canadian Pacific by George Musk. North Atlantic Seaway volume 3 by N.R.P Bonsor. Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878 -1945 by Osborne& Spong & Grover.