View source for SS Princess Marguerite

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= 
|Ship caption= ''Princess Marguerite''
}}
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|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Canada|1921}}
|Ship name= ''Princess Marguerite''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[John Brown & Company|John Brown & Co.]], [[Clydebank]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=29 November 1924
|Ship owner=[[Canadian Pacific Railway]]
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=1925
|Ship decommissioned=1941 (as a ferry)
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=1942 (as a troopship)
|Ship renamed=
|Ship fate=Torpedoed
|Ship notes=
}}
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|Ship class= 
|Ship type= 
|Ship tonnage={{GRT|5875}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|369|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship beam={{convert|60|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=[[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbine]]; twin [[Propeller (marine)|screw]]
}}
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|Ship speed={{convert|22.5|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
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{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[File:Princess Marguerite II in Victoria Harbour BC Canada.jpg|250px]]
|Ship caption=''Princess Marguerite II''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Canada|1921}} {{shipboxflag|Canada}}
|Ship name= ''Princess Marguerite II''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=Fairfield Shipbuilders and Engineers Company Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=
|Ship owner=*[[Canadian Pacific Railway]],
*BC Steamship Company (1975) Ltd.
|Ship acquired=1948
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=1948
|Ship out of service=1989
|Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|5284900}}
|Ship renamed=
|Ship fate=Scrapped
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
}}
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|Ship class= 
|Ship tonnage={{convert|5911|t|LT|abbr=on}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|373|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship beam={{convert|56|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*[[turbo-electric transmission]];
*twin screw
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship capacity=2,000
|Ship speed={{convert|23|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship crew=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= 
|Ship caption= MV ''Princess Marguerite III''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Canada}}
|Ship name= ''Princess Marguerite III''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Victoria Machinery Depot]], [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=September 1965
|Ship owner=[[BC Ferries]]
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|6510148}}
*{{MMSI Number|316001246}}
*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: VCVV
|Ship renamed=*''Royal Victorian''
*''Queen of Burnaby''
|Ship fate=
|Ship status=In service
|Ship notes=
}}
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|Ship class= {{sclass2|Burnaby|ferry}}
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|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|426|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship height=
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power= 
|Ship propulsion= [[Marine propulsion#Reciprocating diesel engines|Diesel]]; twin screw
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship capacity=650 passengers, 192 cars
|Ship speed=
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|}

'''''Princess Marguerite''''', '''''Princess Marguerite II''''', and '''''Princess Marguerite III''''' was a series of Canadian coastal passenger vessels that operated along the west coast of [[British Columbia]] and into [[Puget Sound]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington state]] almost continuously from 1925 to 1999. Known locally as “the ''Maggie''”,<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19890918&id=ydE9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=B4cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7037,2735142 Seattle Steam Ferry Lands in Retirement, The Bulletin, September 18, 1989]. Retrieved 2013-01-09</ref> they saw the longest service of any vessel that carried passengers and freight between [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], [[Vancouver]], and [[Seattle]].<ref>[http://www.hallmarksociety.ca/Harbeck/61.htm Hallmark Society, #61 CPR Steamships]. Retrieved 2013-01-07 {{Dead link |date=October 2017}}</ref> The vessels were owned and operated by a series of companies, primarily [[CP Rail|Canadian Pacific Railway Company]] (CPSS)<ref>[http://www.benjidog.co.uk/allen/Lines/Canadian%20Pacific%20Line.html The Allen Collection: Canadian Pacific Line]. Retrieved 2013-01-06  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223070856/http://www.benjidog.co.uk/allen/Lines/Canadian%20Pacific%20Line.html |date=2012-12-23 }}</ref> and British Columbia Steamships Corporation. The first two were part of the CPR "[[Princess fleet]]," which was composed of ships having names which began with the title "Princess".<ref>Turner, Robert D. P.65</ref> These were named after Marguerite Kathleen Shaughnessy, who was not a princess but was the daughter of [[Thomas Shaughnessy, 1st Baron Shaughnessy|Baron Thomas Shaughnessy]], then chairman of the board of CPSS's parent, the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] (CPR).

==SS ''Princess Marguerite''==
The first ''Maggie'' was constructed at Clydebank near [[Glasgow, Scotland]] in 1924 for the CPR's British Columbia Coast Service. She was a class of vessel the CPR called "miniature luxury liners." On March 25, 1925, ''Princess Marguerite'' departed Scotland on her maiden voyage to Victoria British Columbia and for the next 16 years sailed the Triangle Route between Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle. In 1939 [[King George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] sailed from Vancouver to Victoria on board the ''Maggie''.<ref>[http://royaltybc.com/category/queen-mother-elizabeth/feed/ Royalty BC, The 1939 Tour Visiting B.C.]. Retrieved 2013-01-06  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317110152/http://royaltybc.com/category/queen-mother-elizabeth/feed/ |date=2014-03-17 }}</ref><ref>[http://bnatopics.org/hhlibrary/newsletters/mm/mm-2001-11-n152.pdf Canadian Military Mail Study Group, page 579]. Retrieved 2013-01-13</ref>
 
In September 1941, the [[British Admiralty]] requisitioned ''Princess Marguerite'' for use in the [[World War II|Second World War]]. After being refitted in [[Esquimalt, British Columbia|Esquimalt]], she sailed to [[Hawaii]], Australia, the [[Dutch East Indies]], and across the Indian Ocean en route to the Mediterranean, where she served as a [[troopship]].<ref>[http://www.seawaves.com/newsletters/TDIH/august/17Aug.txt Seawaves Today in History, August 17, 2007]. Retrieved 2013-01-07  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106190118/http://www.seawaves.com/newsletters/TDIH/august/17Aug.txt |date=January 6, 2009 }}</ref><ref>[http://bnatopics.org/hhlibrary/newsletters/mm/mm-2001-11-n152.pdf Canadian Military Mail Study Group, page 579]. Retrieved 2013-01-13</ref> On August 17, 1942, while en route in a convoy from [[Port Said, Egypt]] to [[Cyprus]] with 125 crewmen and 998 British soldiers on board, ''Princess Marguerite'' was hit by two [[torpedo]]es fired by the German submarine {{GS|U-83|1940|2}}, sinking the vessel with a loss of between 50 and 60 soldiers and crewmembers.<ref>[http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/2058.html U-boat allies]. Retrieved 2013-01-08</ref> News of the sinking was withheld from the public until January 22, 1945.

==TEV ''Princess Marguerite II''==
The second ''Maggie'', along with [[sister ship]] TEV ''[[Princess Patricia II]]'', was built with turbo-electric propulsion in Scotland as a replacement for her predecessor to serve the Triangle Route. Service was restricted to the Victoria to Seattle route after the new [[BC Ferry Corporation]] began providing service between Greater Victoria and Vancouver in 1960. The harbour-to-harbour overnight service offered by the ''Maggie'' was not competitive with the much shorter and more frequent sailings being operated by BC Ferries on their shorter route. After the 1950s only day service was offered by this vessel.<ref>[http://cruiselinehistory.com/ss-princess-margurite-from-seattle-to-victoria-1960s/ Cruising The Past, ''S.S. PRINCESS MARGURITE from Seattle to Victoria – 1960s…'']. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref>

The ship included special features found on the more grand ocean liners, including a grand staircase, ballroom, formal dining room, cocktail lounge, spacious and comfortable lounges, wide promenade decks, and private staterooms. She could accommodate 2,000 passengers and up to 60 vehicles on her car deck.<ref>[http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=7478 Historylink Princess Marguerite I, II, and III – Three Historic Vessels Essay 7478]. Retrieved 2013-01-10</ref>

In 1974 Canadian Pacific Steamships halted passenger service entirely. The following year the government of British Columbia purchased the vessel, the Victoria terminal, and {{convert|8.7|acre}} of Victoria’s Inner Harbour for $2.47 million. A $500,000 renovation was undertaken on the vessel at [[Burrard Dry Dock]], which included repainting the vessel white with stylized Union Jacks on the two funnels and the stern, converting the second car deck to a lounge for 200 passengers, refurbishing the dining salon, and modernizing other passenger amenities to current standards of comfort. The Crown-owned British Columbia Steamship Company (1975) Limited was created to restore the daily passenger and automobile service between Victoria and Seattle to feed Victoria’s tourist industry. The vessel’s typical schedule had a morning departure from Seattle and a late afternoon return to Seattle. Her inaugural voyage under the new ownership carried Premier [[Dave Barrett]] of British Columbia, Governor [[Daniel J. Evans|Dan Evans]] of Washington, and 1,000 other passengers.

In 1979 the vessel was officially retired. In the summer of 1980 the BC Ferries {{MV|Queen of Prince Rupert}} was renamed ''Victoria Princess'' and repainted with a Union Jack livery in keeping with the theme of the previous ''Maggie''. In response to public response to this more utilitarian vessel, she was returned to BC Ferries and the ''Maggie'' was refurbished and returned to service for the 1981 summer season. In 1988 BCSC was sold for $6 million to the B.C. [[Stena Line]], a subsidiary of the Swedish ferry operator. (In 1987 Stena purchased from BC Ferries ''Vancouver Island Princess'', formerly the CPR's {{MV|Princess of Vancouver|1955|6}}, and ran her in tandem with ''Princess Marguerite''.)
 
In 1989 ''Princess Marguerite'', by then the last of the coastal steamers, was withdrawn from service. As scrap she was valued at $750,000.<ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19911208&slug=1321779 Seattle Times, December 9, 1991]. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref> In 1990 BC Stena Line went out of business.<ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19901213&slug=1109290 ''Princess Marguerite Headed To England To Become Floating Hotel'', Seattle Times, December 12, 1990]. Retrieved 2012-01-06</ref> In 1990 it was reported that the British Columbia government gave approval for the sale of ''Princess Marguerite'' to the Mykris Hotels Group of [[Bristol]], England, pending court release of a claim by the Canadian Merchant Service Guild for unpaid severance pay for former ship's officers.<ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19901216&slug=1109827 ''Princess Marguerite Headed To England?'', Seattle Times, December 16, 1990]. Retrieved 2013-01-07</ref> The vessel was transported to [[Singapore]] where she was purchased by UK-based Sea Containers. In 1992 she was converted to a Singapore-based gambling ship.<ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920826&slug=1509502 Princess Marguerite May Sail Here Again, Seattle Times, August 26, 1992]. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref> In 1997 she was scrapped at [[Alang]], India.

==MV ''Princess Marguerite III''==
The third ''Maggie'' was a former BC Ferries vessel renamed to restore a ''Princess Marguerite'' to the Victoria-Seattle route. The vessel began her service life as [[Burnaby-class ferry|MV ''Queen of Burnaby'']] for [[BC Ferries]], for whom it was constructed in 1965. Beginning in 1994 Victoria Lines Ltd., a separate BC crown corporation, transferred her to the Seattle-Victoria route and operated the vessel under the name MV ''Royal Victorian'', offering once-daily service.<ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970219&slug=2524732 ''Firm Plans To Sail Marguerite 3 To B.C''., Seattle Times, February 19, 1997]. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref> In 1997 [[Clipper Navigation]] of Seattle took over the service under a $120,000 per year lease-purchase agreement from Victoria Lines, and operated the vessel with the historical ''Maggie'' name. She operated with a capacity of 200 vehicles and 1,070 passengers. To boost revenue, an on-board casino was installed but only open while in Canadian territorial waters. In 1999 the service was discontinued entirely and the vessel was returned to BC Ferries who has since operated her under her original name.<ref>[http://www.bcferries.com/onboard-experiences/fleet/profile-queen_of_burnaby.html BC Ferries fleet profile]. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref><ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19980412&slug=2744614 Posh Cabins, Fast Boats and Slow Customs Lines, Seattle Times, April 12, 1998]. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref><ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970219&slug=2524732 ''Firm Plans To Sail Marguerite 3 To B.C''., Seattle Times, February 19, 1997]. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref>

==Competitors==
The ''Princess Marguerite'' vessels had almost no direct competition on any leg of the Triangle route for much of their service lives. The ferry services run by the [[Puget Sound Navigation Company|Black Ball Line]] (between Victoria's Inner Harbour and [[Port Angeles, Washington]]), BC Ferries (between [[Swartz Bay, British Columbia|Swartz Bay]] and [[Tsawwassen, British Columbia|Tsawwassen]]), or the [[Washington State Ferries]] (between [[Sidney, British Columbia]] and [[Anacortes, Washington]]) do not serve Seattle or come near the downtown harbours of either Victoria or Vancouver. In the summer of 1985 a private Canadian company operated ''Island Jetfoil'', leased from [[Boeing]], which offered service from Vancouver to Victoria and on to Seattle. The service operated for only six months before it was deemed too expensive to operate.<ref>[http://www.pmmonlinenews.com/2011/08/clipper-vacations-building.html PMM Online, August 30, 2011]. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref> Since 1986 Clipper Navigation of Seattle has operated the ''Victoria Clipper'' series of high speed passenger-only catamarans between Victoria and Seattle.<ref>[http://www.pmmonlinenews.com/2011/08/clipper-vacations-building.html PMM Online, August 30, 2011]. Retrieved 2013-01-06</ref>

==References and bibliography==
{{reflist|30em}}
* Canadian Pacific Railway. (1939). [https://books.google.com/books?id=vbnZAAAAMAAJ&q=SS+Princess+Kathleen&dq=SS+Princess+Kathleen&hl=en&ei=87ktTYPSMIGdlgf5tMCLCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFEQ6AEwCTgU ''Visit of Their Majesties the King & Queen to Canada: Itinerary, May–June, Nineteen hundred thirty-nine.''] [http://www.worldcat.org/title/visit-of-their-majesties-the-king-queen-to-canada-itinerary-may-june-1939-canadian-national-railways-canadian-pacific-railway/oclc/220981354 OCLC 220981354]
* Turner, Robert D. ''West of the Great Divide: an Illustrated History of the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia, 1880–1986,'' p.&nbsp;65. Sono Nis Press 1987 {{ISBN|9780919203518}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAIPVN0TkQI Short film clip of the Princess Marguerite (I) in Georgia Strait in the 1930s]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA3ru8K6xaI 1970s commercial for the Princess Marguerite]
*[http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=7478 Historylink Princess Marguerite I, II, and III – Three Historic Vessels Essay 7478]
*[http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/cp.shtml#coastal The Ships List]
*[http://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/ Interior and exterior photos of Princess Marguerite I and II from BC Archives] 
*[http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR/ships/bccs/history.html Trainweb.org photo of the Princess Marguerite II in CP Steamships livery off of the Victoria waterfront]
*[http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=7478 Historylink.org, BC Archives photos of all 3 ''Princess Marguerite'' vessels]
*[http://www.shipwrecksofegypt.com/images/shippages/princessmarguerite.html Shipwrecks of Egypt, ''Princess Marguerite'']
*[http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/mketran/id/508/rec/1 Photo of SS ''Princess Marguerite II'' and SS ''Princess Patricia'' in Victoria Inner Harbour]
*[http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m256/5955483/Vic_princess.jpg Photo of MS ''Victoria Princess'']

{{Steamboats British Columbia|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Marguerite, SS}}
[[Category:1924 ships]]
[[Category:1948 ships]]
[[Category:1965 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of Canada]]
[[Category:Ships of CP Ships]]
[[Category:Steamships of Canada]]
[[Category:Troopships of Canada]]