NY Harbour
by Published on 16th May 2016 05:56 AM
Thu May 12th At sea in the North Atlantic: Link to the Thirties: The 42,000-ton Empress of Britain of Canadian Pacific was one of the great liners of the 1930s and perhaps the entire 20th century. It was one of my great favorites. She was an ocean liner buff's dreamboat: luxurious, mighty and topped by three oversized, "gas tank," corn-colored stacks. With her Art Deco interiors, she was also the epitome of great liner style and design. One of the bars was themed to the history of the cocktail and another done in Chinese Deco. And she was rather unique for her time: spending half the year on the Atlantic, crossing between Southampton and Quebec City (she was too big to proceed to Montreal) and the other half, in winter, on cruises including an annual four-month trip around the world. Empress world cruises were among the ultimate voyages of the 1930s. Today, I met 85-yr old Jack from Liverpool. "My uncle served on the Empress of Britain. He was a first class waiter. He was very proud. On those world cruises, he saw the world: India, China, the Suez & Panama Canals. He'd come home and was the 'star' of the family with tales and presents from faraway places like Bombay and Shanghai and San Francisco. And he was among the staff that sailed aboard the Empress of Britain when it carried King George VI and Queen Elizabeth home from Canada and back to England [June 1939]. That was a big event, the conclusion of an important visit that renewed friendship and stirred goodwill and loyalty with Canada and America. The trip was a big success, including the King & Queen meeting with President Roosevelt, which would be an important friendship in the years ahead, when World War II began and Britain needed American support. My uncle was lined with other crew when Queen Mary, Princess Elizabeth and little Princess Margaret came aboard in Southampton Water to welcome home the King and the Queen. During the War, my uncle served on the Empress of Australia, which was then carrying troops all over the world. Then he left the sea just after the War ended, in 1946. He had about three years ashore, but deeply missed the sea. It was in his blood. He just loved life at sea and, of course, the travel. He joined Cunard in Liverpool and, because of his experience aboard the famous Empress of Britain, he was assigned immediately to the new Caronia. That ship was soon said to be the most luxurious cruise liner in the world and it cruised everywhere. My uncle especially liked the Caronia's long world cruises. He'd be gone for five or six months, leaving England in January and not returning until May or June. He actually died at sea, onboard the Caronia, in 1959, of a sudden heart attack. It seemed somehow fitting: He died while the ship was on one of those long world cruises, in the Red Sea. Fittingly, he was buried at sea."
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