Seamen Wept as ‘Perfect Ship’ Went Down

For 60 years, most provincial ferry service was provided by the Canadian Pacific Princess ships which operated on the legendary Triangle service between Victoria, Vancouver and Seattle, and between Nanaimo and Vancouver.

Among the most popular of these vessels was the Clyde-built, 6,000-ton flagship Princess Kathleen which began her coastal career on May 12, 1925.

During the Second World War, she and sister ship Princess Marguerite were requisitioned by the government as troopships. The Marguerite was lost but Kathleen performed yeoman service in hostile seas for four years, steaming 250,000 miles and carrying almost 100,000 military personnel and civilian refugees.

The ‘Katey’ finally returned to her home berth in Victoria’s Inner Harbour at noon Aug. 26, 1946, to undergo major refit and return to passenger service between Victoria and Alaska.

But not for long. On September, 1952 while on the Alaskan route and within five hours of clearing Juneau for Skagway, Capt. Graham Hughes radioed that the liner was aground on Lena Point, in Favorite Channel, 30 miles out of Juneau.

At first it was thought she could be saved. But it wasn't to be so, and when she slipped beneath the waters, members of her crew wept unashamedly.

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PHOTO: Shortly before the end, the Princess Kathleen aground on Lena Point. —BC Archives