Canadian Pacific Ships

Overview

Established in the 19th century to carry passengers and freight across the Atlantic and Pacific, this is the story of the development of the company and its ships

In 1873 a company was formed to construct the first railway across Canada, soon branching out into shipping. Ships were chartered from the Cunard Line for service between Vancouver, Yokohama, Shanghai and Hong Kong; they were awarded the mail contract in 1889 for the service across the Pacific; and by 1903, Canadian Pacific purchased Elder Dempster & Company, and sailed from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal. They obtained control of the Atlantic, rail and Pacific routes, and later interest in the Canadian-Australasian Line, becoming ‘the world’s greatest transportation system’, bridging two oceans and linking four continents. Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships until after the Second World War, CP Ships boasted such names as Empress of Britain, Empress of Ireland and Empress of Canada. In later years moving into freight and hotels, in 2005 CP merged with TUI AG. This new history of the shipping side of Canadian Pacific includes a wealth of illustrations and a detailed fleet list.