Calgarian, sister ship of
Alsatian,
was the last ship built for the Allan Line. A product of Fairfield Ship
Building and Engineering of Glasgow, she was launched in April 1913,
and made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Canada on 8 May 1914.
(The sources cited below give differing information as to the Canadian
end of Calgarian's maiden voyage: Haws says it was Montréal, with a call
at Québec; Bonsor says Québec; Kludas says St. John; and Williams says
St. John's, with a call at Halifax.)
Calgarian's commercial career lasted only four months. World War I
began in August 1914 and on 15 September Calgarian was taken over as an
armed merchant cruiser. She served as an AMC for the rest of her life,
although on some occasions she transported troops and passengers across
the Atlantic.
Officially transferred to Canadian Pacific on in July 1917, when
Canadian Pacific completed its acquisition of Allan, Calgarian never
sailed commercially for her new owner. She was torpedoed and sunk off
Rathlin Island by U-19 on 1 March 1918, with 49 deaths.
Sources: Haws' Merchant Fleets; Bonsor's North Atlantic Seaway; Kludas'
Great Passenger Ships of the World; Williams' Wartime Disasters at Sea.
