Builders: Ailsa Shipbuilding Company Troon 1940
Propulsion type: Twin screw geared turbines by Harland & Wolff
Owners: P & A Campbell Ltd
Service dates: 1940 - 1951
Tonnage: Gross 1781
Comments:
Empress Queen was Campbell's first twin screw turbine and represented a major change in design for the company. She was a good looking and powerful ship and was designed for the cross channel trade to France. In the event she was not to enter pleasure services until 1947, after seeing war service as Queen Eagle. Even after the Second World War she was not to visit the French ports, due to the restrictions still in force, and she was tried in a number of other roles. She was really too big for some of the smaller piers and she had difficulty in the River Avon, where she needed the assistance of tugs to help her navigate the river. She left the Avon almost immediately and started service from Brighton in July 1947. She was later tried out of Torquay (to Guernsey), but in 1955 after a period of being laid up, Campbell's decided to sell her abroad. When the cross channel trade was resumed it was too late for her as she was operating out of Piraeus as "Philippos", and cross channel trips were undertaken by Glen Gower. This picture comes from a series of three pictures of her I have from a family album and has on the reverse "1958 Newhaven", although this must be incorrect as she is recorded as being in Greece at that time. The pictures are more likely to have been taken in 1947/1950 when she was operating on the South Coast.