The SS ''Princess Louise'' was a 331-foot steamship, named in honor of

Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar; 20 February 1867 – 4 January 1931) was the third child and eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom; she was a younger sister o ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's granddaughter.Milios, Melissa (August 17, 2009)
"Floating Princess Louise restaurant met a watery end"
''The Daily Breeze''. The ship was part 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 ...

's "Princess" fleet, the coastal counterparts to CPR's "Empress" fleet of passenger liners which sailed on trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic routes. The ships of the British Columbia Coast Steamships came to be called "pocket liners" because they offered on smaller vessels the superior class of service, splendid amenities and luxurious decor equal to great

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 ...

Design and construction

''Princess Louise'' was built in 1921, North Vancouver, B.C., for the tourist service to Alaska run by British Columbia Coast Steamships (BCCS). She was considered to be a luxury cruise ship of the era.

Operations

For BCCS, ''Princess Louise'' carried passengers on the 1,750-mile round-trip voyage between Vancouver and Alaska until she was removed from service in 1964.

Transfer of ownership

Purchased by Jerry Sutton, ''Princess Louise'' was moved to a permanent berth on

Terminal Island Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...

in Los Angeles Harbor. She opened for business on September 25, 1966, as the largest

floating restaurant A floating restaurant is a vessel, usually a large steel barge or hulk, used as a restaurant on water. The ''Jumbo Kingdom'', formerly located at Aberdeen in Hong Kong, was at one time the world's largest floating restaurant, until it sank at s ...

in America, and was initially successful, drawing in nearly 2,000 guests per day. In 1979, she was towed to a new location at Berth 94 in San Pedro. By 1984, the restaurant was losing money, and was sold to Marion Perkov, who failed to save the business and filed for bankruptcy four years later. The SS ''Princess Louise'' forever closed her restaurant doors on January 15, 1989. The Bank of San Pedro seized the vessel, and had her repaired and made ready for resale, when on October 30, 1989, the ship capsized at her berth.Stolberg, Sheryl; Lacey, Marc (October 31, 1989)
"The Party's Over for the Princess Louise"
''Los Angeles Times''.

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

, the ship's insurers, suspected foul play, and refused to distribute the insured value to the beneficiaries.

Fate

It was finally decided that ''Princess Louise'' would be sunk in 500 feet of water near Catalina Island as an

artificial reef An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing. Many re ...

. However, while being towed toward Catalina on the morning of June 20, 1990, the ship took on water and sank prematurely in 900 feet of water.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Louise (1921) Steamships of Canada Canadian Pacific Railway Ships built in British Columbia 1921 ships Steamboats of Washington (state) Passenger ships of Canada Ships of CP Ships