RMS ''Empress of Asia'' was an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

built in 1912–1913 by

Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy ...

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

on the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

in Scotland for

Canadian Pacific Steamships CP Ships was a large Canadian shipping company established in the 19th century. From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships. Many immigrants travelled on CP ships fr ...

. As well as being a passenger liner in peacetime, ''Empress of Asia'' served as an armed merchant cruiser and a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

in wartime. She was sunk during World War II by Japanese aircraft while transiting from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

to Singapore.

Service history

''Empress of Asia'' was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan near

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in Scotland She was launched on 23 November 1912, and christened by Mrs. Bosworth, wife of the Vice-President of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

. She completed her maiden voyage in 1913. In May 1914, Captain

Samuel Robinson Samuel Robinson may refer to: * Samuel Robinson (1666–1729), member of Parliament for Cricklade, England * Samuel Robinson (politician) (1738–1813), Vermont political and military leader * Samuel Robinson (industrialist) (1794–1884), English i ...

pushed the RMS ''Empress of Asia'' and her crew in setting a new world's record for both a single day's steaming (473 nautical miles) and for crossing the Pacific (nine days, two hours, and fifteen minutes).

World War I

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, ''Empress of Asia'' was converted into an auxiliary cruiser at Hong Kong. She was armed with eight 4.7-inch (12 cm) guns and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officers assumed command. Among her peacetime crew only those in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

were retained. She was deployed in Asia, in the Middle East and in the Atlantic with Chinese, British Indian and Portuguese Indian (Goan) crew. In late 1914, ''Empress of Asia'' was among the cruisers tasked with hunting the German

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

SMS ''Emden'' in the Indian Ocean east of Ceylon. The ''Empress of Asia'' transported wounded German prisoners from the sunken ''Emden'' to Colombo. On 9 September 1918, ''Empress of Asia'' set sail from Hoboken, NJ bound for Liverpool carrying troops from the 86th Infantry Division's 331st Machine Gun Battalion, 311th Engineer Regiment and 311th Engineer Train. She arrived safely on 21 September 1918. In 1919, ''Empress of Asia'' returned to Vancouver carrying the 72nd Battalion,

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF); and the men disembarked from the ship at the CPR pier.

Inter-war period

Amongst the celebrities who sailed in ''Empress of Asia'' was

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

. The writer traveled from

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in the late summer of 1921. On 11 January 1926, ''Empress of Asia'' rammed the British coastal steamer in the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, China. ''Tung Shing'' sank with the loss of between five and ten lives. ''Empress of Asia'' and '' Empress of Canada'' evacuated civilians from Shanghai in 1937 during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

World War II

RMS Empress of Asia on fire after IJN air attack

''Empress of Asia'' was requisitioned by the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

in January 1941, and sailed for Liverpool via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

to the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

for refitting as a troopship. For armament she received a 6-inch gun, a

3-inch gun A 3-inch gun is a gun with a 3-inch bore. Examples include: * 3-inch M1902 field gun also M1904, M1905 * 3-inch gun M1903 - US coast defense gun, also M1898, M1902 seacoast gun *3"/50 caliber gun - US dual purpose naval gun *3"/23 caliber gun - US ...

HA, 6

20 mm Oerlikon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...

s, 8 Hotchkiss, Bofors guns, 4 PAC rockets and

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s. Her first task was to take soldiers of the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

via the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

to participate in the North Africa Campaign. From there she took Italian prisoners of war to

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. In September 1941, ''Empress of Asia'' sailed with the first convoy from North America to England which was escorted by ships of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. The final voyage of ''Empress of Asia'' began in November 1941, when she sailed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

carrying troops and supplies bound for Africa,

and Singapore. ''Empress of Asia'' was one of five ships that were carrying troops and military

materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...

and supplies to reinforce Singapore in the face of the rapid Japanese advance on the island following their successful conquest of British Malaya by the beginning of 1942. The convoy, designated BM.12, had come under an aerial attack in the

Bangka Strait Bangka Strait is the strait that separates the island of Sumatra from Bangka Island ( id, Pulau Bangka) in the Java Sea, Indonesia. The strait is about long, with a width varying from about to . See also * Japanese cruiser Ashigara * List of st ...

on 4 February 1942 and suffered only minor damage. On 5 February, as the convoy sailed into and entered the western approaches to Singapore, serious fierce attacks were pressed against it by the Japanese military south of the

Sultan Shoal Lighthouse The Sultan Shoal Lighthouse (Chinese: 苏丹浅滩灯塔; ta, சுல்தான் ஷோல் கலங்கரை விளக்கம்) was built in 1895 during the time when the late Commander Charles Quentin Gregan Craufurd (from th ...

. Nine Japanese dive-bombers focused their airborne assault on the ''Empress of Asia''.Australian War Memorial (AWM)
caption for archive photo (ID No. P00634.001), ''Empress of Asia'' sinks
/ref> The second element of the convoy composed of the ''Empress of Asia'', ''Félix Roussel'' and the ''City of Canterbury'', escorted by and , and sighted vessels in the nearby waters with the ''Empress of Asia'' on fire, burning amidships, approaching Sultan Shoal. The ship anchored off the shoal with its onboard personnel gathered on the bow and the stern. The escort vessels, , and , stood by while HMAS Yarra's captain, Wilfred Harrington, carefully manoeuvered the bow of his ship alongside the flaming and severely-damaged liner's stern and rescued away 1804 survivors. , which had been in the vicinity, picked up 78 more, while the ''Wollongong'' saved the last two persons on the now-sinking ship, its master (captain) and chief-engineer. There were a total of 16 deaths on the ''Empress of Asia'' which resulted from when she was attacked and destroyed. The ship finally sank near the small island of Sultan Shoal (then located in the western harbour-approaches of Singapore, presently between the West Jurong and AlGas Anchorages beside Temasek Fairway) about to the southwest of the western tip of the mainland of Singapore Island. Despite maritime-salvage efforts organized by Robert W. Rankin, all the military equipment and other crucial and vital supplies were lost and declared irrecoverable. Singapore would eventually fall to and come under the rule of Imperial Japan only ten days later (on 15 February 1942), which makes it difficult to speculate about what differences or changes to the outcome of the battle the ''Empress of Asia'' could have made if the ship had not been sunk. It was said that much of the vital military materiel and aid-supplies lost in the sinking of the ship would have been supplied and provided to the badly-equipped Singapore Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Battalion as well as reinforcing and strengthening the rest of the poorly-equipped and ill-supplied British-commanded defending troops, aside from British troops, comprising Australian, Indian and Malayan soldiers. The last convoy of evacuees leaving Singapore included SS ''Sing Kheng Seng'' of the Straits Shipping Company, carrying 45 crewmen from ''Empress of Asia'' along with an unknown number of others. Leonard H. Johnston was chief mate of ''Empress of Asia'' when she went down. He took charge of 40 other young survivors and led his crew-mates safely to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, Australia. The journey involved sailing on three inter-island steamers to

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, hiking over 100 miles across the island to catch a ferry to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, and then a voyage from

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

to Australia aboard a flat-bottomed river boat with Johnston serving as navigator. He was honored with the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his exploits. One of the ship's anchors was salvaged and subsequently put on display at the National Museum of Singapore in September 2015. In April 2010, the shipwreck of the RMS Empress of Asia was found and in the possession for a subject of claim.

References

Bibliography

* Frame, Tom. (2004)
''No Pleasure Cruise: The Story of the Royal Australian Navy.''
Sydney:

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

(paper) * * Hammer, Joshua. (2006)
''Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II.''
New York:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

. (cloth) * Morison, Samuel Eliot. (2001)
''History of United States Naval Operations in World War II.''
Champaign, Illinois:

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...

. * * Russell, Bertrand. (2000)
''Uncertain Paths to Freedom: Russia and China, 1919–22.''
London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

External links

*
Description, RMS ''Empress of Asia'' at theShipsList.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empress of Asia 1912 ships Ships built in Govan Ships of CP Ships Steamships of Canada Ocean liners of Canada World War I Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy World War II shipwrecks in the Strait of Malacca Maritime incidents in 1926 Maritime incidents in February 1942 Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft Troopships of Canada Cruisers of Canada