EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA   (ex DE GRASSE )

Built by Cammell Laird (Shipbuilders & Engineers) at Birkenhead in 1924. Yard No: 886

Official Number: 185887    Signal Letters: G Q M Q

Gross Tonnage: 19,379,  Nett: 10,296.    Length: 552·0ft,  Breadth: 71·1ft.

Owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. (Canadian Pacific Steamships – Managers)

4 steam turbines, single-reduction gearing to twin screws.

            Canadian Pacific purchased the De Grasse from the French Line in 1952 and renamed her Empress of Australia. She was intended as a stop-gap replacement for the burnt-out Empress of Canada. The Canada had been fully booked for the forthcoming coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and the purchase of the De Grasse (renamed Empress of Australia on 24^th April 1953) enabled these bookings to be honoured, although the cost was high.

            The De Grasse was completed by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in 1924. She had been laid down as the Suffren for the French Line on 23^rd March 1920, but was launched as the De Grasse on 23^rd February 1924. Due to long interruptions to the building work, cancellation of the contract was considered at one stage. Because of ongoing industrial unrest at Cammell Laird, the new ship was towed to St Nazaire to be completed. Her first trans-Atlantic service was between Le Havre and New York , commencing on 21^st August 1924. Between November 1924 and January 1925 she was taken in hand by Penhöet and was given a complete overhaul of her engines and boilers, and later the De Grasse proved to be one of the most reliable cabin liners on the North Atlantic , and was used extensively for cruising.

            Between September and October 1934, and again from June to September 1935, the De Grasse made a number of voyages between Marseille and New York . On 29^th May 1937 she opened a new service from Le Havre to New York and Boston , via Southampton and Cobh .

During the invasion and occupation of France in the early days of the Second World War, the De Grasse was taken over by the Germans and was used as an accommodation ship in the Gironde, near Bordeaux . She remained under German requisition until 4^th June 1942 when she was returned to the French to become a training ship for merchant service apprentices. The De Grasse was not to escape the ravages of war, however, for during the German withdrawal on 30^th August 1944 she was sunk by depth charges exploded by a passing ‘E’-boat in shallow water. A year later the De Grasse was salved and put in the hands of the Chantiers et Ateliers Saint-Nazaire-Penhöet for complete reconditioning. In the course of this refit her interior was entirely rebuilt and her two original funnels were replaced by one of generous proportions in an effort to modernize her appearance.

On 12^th July 1947 the De Grasse returned in her new guise to the Le Havre - New York service and had the distinction of re-opening the trans-Atlantic service of the Cie Générale Transatlantique. In 1951 she was transferred to the Le Havre-Southampton-West Indies service, being retained on that route until being handed over to Canadian Pacific at Le Havre on 28^th March 1953. She sailed for Liverpool on the same day.

The De Grasse arrived at Liverpool on 30^th March and she sailed from the Mersey on her first voyage as the Empress of Australia on 28^th April 1953, bound for Quebec and Montreal . One feature of her refit was the shortening of her masts by 25ft to permit her to pass under the Quebec Bridge and the Jacques Cartier Bridge .

The ship’s career for Canadian Pacific was largely uneventful although she did experience one or two passages involving heavy weather damage. One such occasion brought about a bad leak in the stern gland, and a diver had to assist in its repacking whilst the vessel lay afloat at Montreal .

Towards the end of 1955 the Empress of Australia was chartered for troop movements between Canada and Europe and it became clear that she would not be returning to Canadian Pacific’s trans-Atlantic services on completion of the charter. On 12^th December 1955 she arrived at Liverpool and shortly afterwards sailed to the Gareloch to be laid up pending disposal.

When the Empress of Australia was advertised for sale it was stated that she had accommodation for 220 first-class passengers and 444 tourist-class passengers, as well as having a deadweight capacity of 6,566 tons. She was purchased on 16^th February 1956 by Sicula Oceanica S.p.A. of Palermo , a subsidiary of Fratelli Grimaldi of Naples . Taking delivery of the ship on the Clyde, her new owners renamed her Venezuela and placed her on the Naples – La Guaira, Venezuela , service. On 17^th March 1962 she ran aground off Cannes and a month later was refloated but was assessed as being beyond economic repair. On 16^th  August 1962 the Venezuela was sold for demolition at La Spezia .