1902 as Queen Alexandra
Built: Denny Bros, Dumbarton
Length: 270' Beam: 32' Depth: 6.5 Tonnage: 1158
The noted turbine steamship Queen Alexandra, a River Clyde excursion vessel with a speed of 21.6 knots was purchased in 1911 by the Canadian Pacific Railway to augment its fleet of British Columbia Coastal steamships. After undergoing alterations for her new service, accomplished at the yards of her builders, Denny bros. of Dumbarton under the supervision of Assistant Port Engineer James Alexander, she was placed on the Vancouver-Nanaimo run early in 1912, providing two-hour service, never equaled by any other vessel. Converted to oil fuel, she proved even faster than before, being capable of a top speed of better than 22 knots. Renamed Princess Patricia, she made her maiden voyage on the Pacific in command of Captain Cyril D. Neroutsos. Upon the arrival of this, the first turbine steamship to enter Northwest coastal service at Nanaimo, the citizens of the community presented her with a handsome silver plate, suitably inscribed. Gordon Newell, "Maritime events of 1911," H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle: Superior Publishing Company, 1966., p. 190.
The Canadian Pacific Railway's B. C. Coast Service steamship Princess Patricia, built at Dumbarton in 1902 as the pioneer turbine steamer Queen Alexandra, was sold for scrap at Vancouver. After being dismantled and her machinery removed, the hull was beached and burned in July 1937 at Albert Head near Victoria. Gordon Newell, "Maritime events of 1937," H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest., p. 458.
BACK