Hello lentionne
Thanks for asking an interesting question!
I didn't find any troop ships leaving from New York in 1940, but your
idea of Halifax as the port of embarkation should work nicely.
Most of the ships used for troop transport from Halifax belonged to
the Canadian Pacific Line. Their "Duchess of..." series was used on
the transatlantic route from Halifax to Liverpool. The only
non-Canadian Pacific ship I have found which definitely did the
Halifax to Liverpool run in 1940 is The Georgic, owned by the White
Star Line. There may have been Canadian Pacific ships docking in
England at Southampton in 1940, as they did at the end of 1939. There
are also references to Cunard's Aquitania which imply that it was used
on this route in the earlier part of 1940.
THE GEORGIC
A Liverpool ship: "Between July and September 1940 she made a trooping
voyage [....] to Halifax, N.S., collecting Canadian troops after
landing the evacuees she carried on the westbound voyage. From
September 1940 until January 1941 the Georgic was employed on a
trooping voyage from Liverpool and Glasgow to the Middle East via the
Cape, and afterwards trooped from Liverpool to New York and Halifax,
and back to the Clyde."
Forgotten Liners of Liverpool
http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/lnrs3.htm
CANADIAN PACIFIC SHIPS
"My sister during January of 1940, sailed on the "Duchess of York"
from West St. John, N.B via Halifax to Liverpool. The liner had a
Naval escort as far as Halifax, then sailed unescorted
Halifax-Liverpool."
"A number of CP's Trans-Pacific liners called at Halifax for eastbound
troop movements to the UK., such liners as the 26,500 ton "Empress of
Scotland"..."
Port Of Halifax Pier #21 and the Canadian Pacific Connection
http://www.trainweb.org/canadianrailways/articles/PortOfHalifaxPier21AndTheCPR.htm
"Canadian Pacific liners were busy as troop ships in and out of
Halifax, Trans-Atlantic liners like the CP flagship the 42,500 ton
"Empress of Britain" (2nd) only to be lost by enemy action in 1940 off
the Irish Coast, the 23,000 ton "Empress of Australia", the four
"Duchess" liners-"Duchess of Atholl", "Duchess of Bedford", "Duchess
of Richmond", and "Duchess of York" the odd CP "Mont" class liner.
Trans-Pacific "Empresses" at times were trooping on the Atlantic in
and out of Halifax[.....]CP was still operating a limited
Trans-Atlantic service out of Saint John, N.B. with the odd "Duchess"
liner until about 1941."
Former Canadian Pacific Railway Passenger Services to Montreal Via
State of Maine-Saint John-Halifax
http://www.trainweb.org/canadianrailways/articles/FormerCPRPassengerServicesToMontreal02.htm
The Duchess of Atholl's "regular run was Liverpool - Canada".
http://www.rmstitanichistory.com/atholl/atholl.html
Sge "sailed the Liverpool - Canada route and in 1939 was requisitioned
as a troopship."
http://www.lostliners.com/Canadian_Pacific/duchess_atholl.html
The Duchess of Atholl and Duchess of Bedford were commissioned as
troop ships in 1939, with the Duchess of York and Duchess of Richmond
commissioned in 1940.
Canadian Pacific Line
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/cp.html
"At the outbreak of World War 2, the CP flagship "Empress of Britain"
after her arrival from Southampton in Quebec City had its eastbound
return trip to Southampton, to await further orders from the Admiralty
[and then] received orders to sail for Halifax, N.S.
Around December 10, the CP Empress of Britain, CP Empress of
Australia, CP Duchess of Bedford sailed in a large Atlantic convoy out
of Halifax for Britain with the First Canadian Dvision.
My Brother-in-Law sailed on the Empress of Britain and always remarked
the liner was all set up for cruising-not for military traffic. The
only change to the ship-was repainting over its white superstructure
at Quebec to battleship grey.
Speaking of the "Empress of Australia", the liner steamed from
Colombo, Ceylon in Southeast Asia to Halifax to join the large
eastbound convoy to Britain.
A couple of Canadian Pacific's "Duchess" liners were still holding
down the Trans-Atlantic service for a couple of years, out of Montreal
during the St. Lawrence season and West St. John during the late
fall-winter and spring months to Liverpool, England."
Port Of Halifax Pier #21 and the Canadian Pacific Connection
http://www.trainweb.org/canadianrailways/articles/PortOfHalifaxPier21AndTheCPR.htm
Of the Duchess series: "Because their design caused them to roll, the
ships were lovingly dubbed "the drunken duchesses".
The Role of the CPR Ships in World War II
http://members.tripod.com/~merchantships/cprships1.html
THE AQUITANIA
"The Aquitania was [..] requisitioned as a troop ship in November 21,
1939. First she transported Canadian troops, then she underwent a
refit in United States and was armed with six inch guns in 1940."
http://www.ocean-liners.com/ships/Aquitania.asp
This page confirms the Aquitania transporting troops from Canadia
across the Atlantic, saying the ship could accommodate 7,700 troops.
http://www.britannic.de/Ocean%20Liner/Aquitania/aquitania.html
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Timeline for 1940
http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/ww2hist/ww21940.htm
American troop ships from 1941 onwards
http://www.armed-guard.com/ag96.html
Thank-you for an interesting research question. I enjoyed working on
it and hope you'll find the information useful.
Please don't hesitate to ask if anything needs further explanation or
if any links don't work properly. Just 'request clarification' and
I'll do my best to help.
Good luck with the novel!
Regards - Leli
search strategy:
various failed searches plus:
troops OR "troop ships" halifax england OR liverpool 1940 OR wwii
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=troops+OR+%22troop+ships%22+halifax+england+OR+liverpool+1940+OR+wwii&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
also searches using names of the ships above, Brooklyn, New York,
Southampton, "Queen Elizabeth", "Queen Mary"
and checking information at The Ships List site:
http://www.theshipslist.com/index.html |
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