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The Silk Ship Empress of Russia Arriving in Vancouver

by John MacFarlane 2019

Empress of Russia

The Empress of Russia slips quietly out of the mist to berth in Vancouver Harbour. (Photo from the Robert Hanna collection.)

Robert Hanna picked up some interesting photographs at a flea market sale that depict the Empress of Russia arriving in Vancouver with a shipment of silk from Japan. The Empress of Russia was built in 1912 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. at Govan Scotland UK. She was 570.2’ x 68.2’ x 42.0’ steel–hulled 16810gt 8789rt. She was powered by four screws driven by four steam 3720nhp turbine engines fabricated by the builder. In 1912–1945 she was owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway Co., Montreal QC.

The Empress of Russia carried cargoes of silk from the orient to Vancouver. She was one of several ships that carried these valuable cargoes. Upon arrival the ship was met by a special Canadian Pacific Railway train which received the cargo and then departed for Atlantic coast seaports. These trains had priority over all other traffic on the line.

Empress of Russia

With minutes of the berthing a freight gangway is rigged to facilitate the unloading of the bales of raw silk. (Photo from the Robert Hanna collection.)

The unknown photographer who captured the arrival of the ship took images times over a two hour period. The train was loaded and had departed within one hour and 45 minutes of arrival in port.

Empress of Russia

The bales were handled on hand trucks by stevedores and moved into the customs sheds. (Photo from the Robert Hanna collection.)

Empress of Russia

The big freight sheds on the harbour piers protected cargoes and passengers from weather and theft. (Photo from the Robert Hanna collection.)

Empress of Russia

Cargo was assembled ready for loading into the freight cars. (Photo from the Robert Hanna collection.)

The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the rail cars:

"Silk arriving by Candian Pacific ship in Vancouver was loaded into airtight train cars specially lined with varnished wood, sheathed in paper and sealed so that no damaging moisture or thieves could intrude. Armed guards were the only passengers. Trains of up to 15 cars rushed from Vancouver to Fort William [now Thunder Bay] in 15 hours less than the fastest passenger train. The silk trains had preference over any others on the tracks."

Silk Train

The silk train sits waiting to be loaded. Vancouver has a long tradition of handling high value cargoes – the first was tea and these silk cargoes continued to be handled until the trade was interrupted by the Second World War and the development of air transportation and man–made fibres. (Photo from the Robert Hanna collection.)

Silk Train

Within two hours of the arrival of vessel the train departs toward the east. (Photo from the Robert Hanna collection.)


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John (2019) The Silk Ship Empress of Russia Arriving in Vancouver. Nauticapedia.ca 2019. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Silk_Ships.php

Nauticapedia

Site News: December 21, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,824 vessel histories (with 16,274 images and 13,929 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 45,000 processed so far this year (2024).

The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3996 images).

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