HMS ''Empress'' was a

seaplane carrier A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

of the

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 ...

(RN) that served 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 ...

. Converted from the Cross- Channel

packet ship Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

''Empress'', the ship's aircraft conducted

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of i ...

, observation and bombing missions in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

and Eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. During the last year of the war, she conducted anti-submarine patrols in the Mediterranean. ''Empress'' was returned to her owners in 1919 and was then sold to a French company in 1923. She was scrapped in 1933.

Description

''Empress'' had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draught of .Layman, p. 38 She displaced Friedman, p. 364 and was rated at . Each of the ship's three sets of direct-drive steam turbines drove one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. The ship's six

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s generated enough steam to produce from the turbines. The ship had a designed speed of , but she made a speed of during her

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s with .Friedman, p. 30 ''Empress'' carried of coal, enough to give her a range of at .

Service

Built as a fast packet for the South East and Chatham Railway Co., ''Empress'' was requisitioned for service during the First World War by the Admiralty on 11 August 1914, and was commissioned on 25 August. During that month, the ship transported equipment for the Eastchurch Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service to

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, Belgium. Beginning on 30 August, she was converted by

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century ...

to carry and operate three

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

s. One aircraft was stowed forward and two aft, housed in canvas

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s, and handled with newly fitted cargo booms. During her career with the RN, the ship operated Fairey Hamble Baby, Short Admiralty Type 74, Short Type 184, Sopwith Schneider and

Baby An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

floatplanes. Two or three quick-firing (QF) two-pounder guns also were fitted at this time. Upon completion of the modifications on 30 September, ''Empress'' was assigned to the Harwich Force along with and .Layman, pp. 38, 40 On Christmas Day 1914, nine aircraft from all three ships took part in the Cuxhaven Raid on hangars housing

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

airships. Seven of the nine seaplanes successfully took off for the attack, but they inflicted little damage. Only three of the aircraft returned to be recovered, but the crews of the other three ditched safely and were recovered by a British submarine and the Dutch trawler ''Marta van Hattem''. From 9 May to 18 July 1915, the ship was modified by

Cunard Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...

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 populat ...

with a permanent, four-aircraft, hangar in the rear superstructure and a pair of cranes were mounted at the rear of the hangar to hoist the seaplanes in and out of the water. The 2-pounders were apparently removed during this refit and four QF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns,"Cwt" is the abbreviation for

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...

, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. each with 130 rounds, and two Vickers QF 3-pounder anti-aircraft guns, each with 65 rounds, were fitted.Friedman, p. 32 ''Empress'' was transferred afterwards to Queenstown for the rest of the year, before moving to the Mediterranean. She arrived there in January 1916 and was assigned to the

East Indies and Egypt Seaplane Squadron The East Indies and Egypt Seaplane Squadron was a formation of seaplane carriers of the British Royal Navy. It was the Royal Navy's first carrier squadron from 1916 to 1918. History The East Indies and Egypt Seaplane Squadron was formed in Januar ...

with the carriers , , and . The squadron was under the command of the General Officer Commanding, Egypt and its primary duty was watch and to attack Turkish positions and movements in southern Palestine and the Sinai in early 1916. In April, ''Empress'' was detached from the squadron to support operations off the Aegean coast of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, where her aircraft observed for several naval bombardments.Friedman, p. 43 After a refit at Genoa, the ship rejoined the squadron and supported operations off the Syrian and Palestinian coasts until November. In January 1918, she was assigned anti-submarine duties, first at Port Said and later at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. She was returned to her owners in November 1919 and was sold to the Société Anoynyme de Gérance et d'Armament of France in 1923. On 12 January 1926, ''Empress'' collided with the British schooner in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

and sank her. ''Empress'' was scrapped in France in 1933.Layman, p. 40

Notes

Footnotes

References

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External links

* Transcription of ship's logbooks January 1916 to December 1918 {{DEFAULTSORT:Empress Ships built on the River Clyde 1907 ships Ships of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Seaplane carriers of the Royal Navy World War I aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom Ships of the Southern Railway (UK) Steamships of France Merchant ships of France Maritime incidents in 1926