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Cruise Ship History: Memories of an Empress – Canadian Pacific’s Big White Ships

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This nostalgic and highly detailed painting by Gordon Bauwens shows the liner anchored off Greenock in 1960.

The family of a serving officer watch from the Esplanade as the liner Empress of Britain, attended by a Clyde puffer, prepares for her imminent transatlantic departure. The turbine steamer Queen Mary II on a day-cruise ‘doon the watter’ from Glasgow, sweeps down the main channel behind. This superb quality ‘Memories of an Empress’ Artist-signed limited edition prints are carefully produced using fade-resistant inks on heavy, acid-free art paper. Each has its numbered Certificate of Authenticity, printed on attractive marbled parchment paper.  Order these wonderful prints by clicking here.

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Empress of Canada

Fondly remembered by many a child of the 1950s and 60s as the ‘big white ships’, Canadian Pacific’s final generation Empress liners were undoubtedly among the most distinctive and finest looking post-war passenger ships built in Britain.

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Single First Class Cabin – Empress of Canada

Empress of Britain was launched by HM The Queen from the Fairfield Shipyard, Glasgow, in June 1955. The 640-foot (197 m) 25,516 grt liner entered service on the UK – Canada transatlantic routes the following year.

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Garden Lounge

Joined by her Tyne-built sisters, Empress of England in 1957 and Empress of Canada in 1961, this handsome trio provided a reliable and regular service from Liverpool and Greenock to Quebec and Montreal.

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Shopping Arcade

Although sold by Canadian Pacific in 1964 due to the ever growing popularity of jet air travel, Empress of Britain was still operating in 2001 as a cruise liner (Topaz), as indeed was her younger sister, Empress of Canada.

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