The Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Service, also known as the British Columbia Coast Steamships (BCCS), was a division of
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
(CPR), which began operating Pacific coastal shipping routes in the late 19th century. The development of coastal passenger and cargo shipping routes extended from British Columbia to Alaska and to Seattle, Washington in the United States.
CPR overview
In 1884, CPR began purchasing sailing ships as part of a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
supply service on the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
. Over time, CPR became a railroad company with widely organized water transportation auxiliaries including the
Canadian Pacific Railway Upper Lake Service (Great Lakes), the trans-Pacific service, the British Columbia Coast Service, the
British Columbia Lake and River Service, the trans-Atlantic service, and the Ferry service. In the 20th century, the company evolved into a transcontinental railroad which operated two transoceanic services which connected Canada with Europe and with Asia. The range of CPR services were aspects of an integrated plan.
[Smith, Joseph Russell. (1908). ]
British Columbia Coast Steamships
In 1901, CPR purchased the
Canadian Pacific Navigation Company and began to expand its fleet, its routes, its infrastructure and its integrated rail service and trans-Pacific connections.
Many of CPR's coastal ships came to be called "pocket liners" because they offered amenities like a great
ocean liner
An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for 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). The ...
, but on a smaller scale. The names of these vessels began with the title "Princess"; and the
Princess fleet developed as an
eponym
An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
in the first half of the 20th century.
In 1913, 10 of the 12 Princess ships in the coastal fleet had been built to the orders of
James William Troup, who was superintendent of CPR's Pacific coastal division. Troup's leadership marked the growth of BCCS until his retirement in 1928.
[Hacking, Norman ''et al.'' (1974). ''The Princess Story—A Century and a Half of West Coast Shipping,'' pp. 185-186.]
Among the highlights of Princess fleet's service was in 1915 when the
30th Battalion of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...
(CEF) embarked from Victoria, British Columbia sailing to the War in Europe.
See also
*
CP Ships
CP Ships was a large Canadian shipping company established in the 19th century. From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships. Many immigrants travelled on CP ships fr ...
Notes
References
* Fournier, Leslie Thomas. (1935). ''Railway Nationalization in Canada: the Problem of the Canadian National Railways.'' Toronto: Macmillan
OCLC 424018532* Hacking, Norman R. (1995). ''Prince Ships of Northern B.C.: Ships of the Grand Trunk Pacific and Canadian National Railways.'' Surrey, British Columbia: Heritage House.
OCLC 31778600* __________ and W. Kaye Lamb. (1974). ''The Princess Story: a century and a half of West Coast shipping.'' Vancouver : Mitchell Press
OCLC 2973754* Musk, George. (1981)
''Canadian Pacific: The Story of the Famous Shipping Line.'' Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada.
OCLC 7540915* Turner, Robert D. (1974). ''The Pacific Princesses: an illustrated history of Canadian Pacific Railway's Princess fleet on the Northwest Coast.'' Winlaw, British Columbia: Sono Nis Press
OCLC 254451187* __________. (1987). ''West of the Great Divide : an Illustrated History of the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia, 1880-1986.'' Victoria, British Columbia: Sono Nis Press.
OCLC 16019694{{Steamboats British Columbia
Canadian Pacific Railway
Ships of CP Ships