This elegant steam turbine powered quintet of passenger liners, Lady Nelson, Lady Rodney, Lady Drake, Lady Somers and Lady Hawkins, were known as ‘The Lovely Ladies’ on their route from Canada to a dozen warm, tropical, sun drenched ports in the Caribbean. They were completed in 1928/29 for Canadian National Steamships (West Indies) Ltd. and resulted from a trade agreement between Canada and the British Colonies in the Caribbean of 1925 for improved passenger and cargo services. A similar trade treaty of five years earlier for services between Canada and Jamaica had run into serious problems as the ships allocated to it were too small, slow and inadequate. The 1920 treaty called for sailings every three weeks to Nassau, Jamaica and Belize (British Honduras) with a call added at Bermuda in 1922. The Canadian Government Merchant Marine (CGMM) provided three ships of around 3,000 grt with accommodation for 28 passengers, while Royal Mail Line of London had a five year contract to carry the mail, passengers and cargo from Canada to the eastern Caribbean islands as far down as Georgetown in British Guiana.

Cargoes from Canada consisted of flour, animal feed, fish, potatoes, apples, lumber, building materials and manufactured goods, while northbound cargo consisted of bauxite, sugar, molasses, rum, cocoa, citrus fruit, spices, bananas, soft fruits and vegetables. This subsidised service by the Canadian Government was also committed to by the colonies of Bahamas, Jamaica and British Honduras also agreeing to contribute 15% of any loss incurred by the project. The CGMM had been formed on 30th December 1918 for Canada to create her own merchant marine and was operated by the newly formed Canadian National Railway (CNR) of 6th June 1919. A large fleet of 63 standard design cargo ships were built during 1918/21 for the CGMM, all with ‘Canadian’ prefixes to their names with the smaller Canadian Fisher, Canadian Forrester and Canadian Voyageur allocated to the Caribbean services. However, this trio and the Royal Mail Line vessels could not adequately provide the service, and the 1920 treaty was renegotiated with its objectives clearly outlined :-

(1) A fortnightly freight, passenger and mail service to be provided from Halifax all year round and from St. Lawrence ports in the summer, to the eastern Caribbean islands as far south as Georgetown in British Guiana.

(2) A similar service to Bermuda, Nassau and Jamaica from Halifax all year round and Montreal in the summer months.

(3) A further feeder service between Jamaica and Belize (British Honduras).

(4) Five passenger and cargo-liners of 8,000 grt were to be provided with a service speed of 15 knots, with 328,000 cubic feet of space for general cargo and 14,500 cubic feet of refrigerated space for two of the quintet on the western service, and 270,000 cubic feet of general cargo and 13,000 cubic feet of refrigerated cargo for the trio on the eastern service.

It would take three to four years for the quintet to be completed, in the meantime Canadian Pathfinder and Canadian Skirmisher of 6,200 grt completed in 1921 would provide a temporary passenger and freight service with the similar Canadian Transporter operating in freight only mode. Two more ships were temporarily employed on the eastern service with the smaller Canadian Sapper of 1,763 grt renamed Connector for the feeder service between Belize and Jamaica, a service she would perform until 1946. The tender for the construction of the new ‘Lady Boats’ was won by the Cammell, Laird & Co. Ltd. yard at Birkenhead, with Lady Nelson sailing on her maiden voyage first on 14th December 1928 on the eastern service followed by Lady Hawkins and Lady Drake at fortnightly intervals, with Lady Rodney and Lady Somers ready in April 1929 for the western service. The reason for the choice of wives of these British admirals is that all of the British naval commanders had close connections with the West Indies during their careers, and a large portrait of each Admiral hung near the First Class Lounge for the ship named after their wife.

The design of the quintet called for five very similar passenger liners in appearance, on dimensions of 438 feet length, sixty feet beam and draft of 24 feet. In reality, the trio on the eastern inter island service differed greatly from the pair on the distinct western service to Nassau and Jamaica. Lady Nelson, Lady Hawkins and Lady Drake on the eastern service had accommodation for 130 passengers in first class, 32 in second class, 56 in third class and 120 deck passengers, while Lady Somers and Lady Rodney had accommodation for only 130 first class passengers and carried no deck passengers on the shorter western service. The two groups differed in cargo carrying capacity as the pair on the western service had to carry large amounts of bananas northwards from Jamaica. The cost of the trio on the eastern service was $1.5 million each, while Lady Rodney and Lady Somers on the western service cost $1.7 million each giving a total outlay for the Canadian

Government of $8.1 million when shipyard ‘extras’ had been added. The trio on the eastern service called at 21 ports during their month long voyages, with a considerable amount of inter island traffic, and this was the reason for their cheaper grades of accommodation. All of the quintet had well decks forward with four derricks on the foremast to work the forward two holds, and a smaller well deck aft with four derricks on the mainmast to work the two aft holds. They were twin screw vessels with white hulls and red boot topping, and were powered by two sets of Parsons single reduction geared turbines taking steam from four oil fired single ended boilers to give a service speed of 15 knots.

Public Rooms Of The ‘Lady Boats’

Boat Deck was uppermost in the ‘midships accommodation block and had six lifeboats, the officers’ and engineers’ cabins, with first class passengers given promenade space around the colourful blue, white and red funnels and ventilators and skylights. Promenade Deck below had the first class Lounge forward with the 1st class Smoke Room to the rear of this and the first class Garden Lounge at the extreme end of this spacious deck with also plenty of space for promenading. The first class cabins for 130 passengers were on Bridge Deck and Upper Deck below, with the first class Entrance Hall forward on Bridge Deck with the hospital, doctor and barber at its extreme end but just forward of the second class promenade space. Two very large and well appointed passenger suites were provided port and starboard at the forward end of Bridge Deck, the Ambassador and Governor Suites, primarily for the visiting Governor Generals of Canada and the Caribbean islands but were also used for VIPs and others who wished to pay a higher premium on their tickets. On the Upper Deck below Bridge Deck was the first class Dining Room forward, and moving aft the kitchens and pantries for both the first and second class Dining Rooms, the second class Dining Room, and the second class Lounge and Smoke Room aft on the starboard side. The cabin accommodation for second and third class passengers was on the decks below Upper Deck

The quintet were especially constructed for tropical service, their spacious outside cabins were mechanically ventilated but not air conditioned, the latter feature not being common until the early 1950s. The cabins were beautifully decorated with comfortable twin beds and modern furniture. The first class Lounge was complete with two pianos, gorgeous carpets, fine woods and a well stocked bar running the full width of the ship. The first class Smoke Room had mahogany tables and elegant sofas and chairs, and was entered through two glass doors with exquisite decoration to the sides and above the doors. The first class Dining Room was in mock Tudor style with a high, domed ceiling and alcoves with extra lighting at the upper levels of the walls. The first class Garden Lounge had rear facing windows with beautiful cane tables and chairs, and paintings of country gardens and orangeries on the walls. The Purser’s office and first class Entrance Hall on Bridge Deck had long comfortable dark coloured sofas, with clear and helpful signs on the floors and carpets and with the name of the particular ‘Lady Boat’ on which the passengers had just embarked.

Caribbean Service Of The ‘Lady Boats’

Lady Somers and Lady Rodney sailed from Piers 27 and 8 at Halifax all year round and Montreal in summer to Bermuda, which provided Canadians with an excellent short cruise and a one day stay in Bermuda and return voyage on another ‘Lady Boat’ for a princely $95. There was a special reduction of $10 for honeymooners, and for those with deeper pockets longer cruises could be made to Nassau and Kingston (Jamaica). However, the western Caribbean service carried only 2,682 passengers during its first full year of operation, but the two sisters were often full when it came to cargo. Two million stems of bananas and 120,000 cases of oranges and grapefruit were carried during their first full year of operation. The trio of ‘Lady Boats’ on the eastern service south to British Guiana fared differently, carrying 22,373 passengers in their first year with passage provided for many groups including island children travelling to boarding school, family vacations and business trips. Many Government officials were carried, and irrespective of status, all received the typical Caribbean welcome of calypso bands and gaily uniformed dockside officials and noisy receptions.

The eastern service of Lady Nelson, Lady Drake and Lady Hawkins visited 21 ports in the Caribbean during their month long voyages, the service operating fortnightly. The island calls were St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada and Port of Spain at Trinidad, which provided the bulk of general cargo on this eastern service. A two day passage was then made down to Georgetown in British Guiana, at the mouth of Essequibo and Demarara rivers, to load sugar. A rotation northwards through the same ten Caribbean ports brought the total of port calls to 21 each voyage. All of the Leeward and Windward islands had a different political and historical significance of their own, with cargo usually worked from open anchorages into lighters. This was a very slow process, and on one island cars were transported by the hair raising method of using two tightly strapped together canoes, with their nearside and offside wheels resting in one or other of the canoes.

Initially on the western service, the entire refrigerated space of Lady Somers and Lady Rodney was reserved for the use of the Jamaica Banana Producers Association. However, with the help of British capital, the association was able to form their own shipping line and buy second hand ships in 1929, and build three new ships during 1931/34 for the Jamaica Banana Producers Steamship Co. Ltd. Consequently, the ‘Lady Boats’ then carried fruit cargoes to Canada for United Fruit of Boston and Standard Fruit of New Orleans. The usual five day call at Kingston would occasionally not provide enough fruit cargo, and was followed by coastal calls at Port Morant, Port Antonio and Montego Bay to complete the cargo, with time made up by the powerful steam turbines of the pair of sisters on the northward passage.

Passengers travelled on the ‘Lady Boats’ to visit relatives on different islands or on holiday in the relaxed atmosphere and elegance of the ships, and also for their liquor licences. Prohibition in America meant a boom in ‘booze cruises’ from New York, and many Americans travelled north to Halifax to board the ‘Lady Boats’ for their Caribbean vacations. Passenger income thus made up part of the shortfall of cargo income when banana or sugar cargoes were at their lowest. However, the ‘Lady Boats’ were never profitable during the inter-war years, their operating losses being met by the Canadian Government. It was during the first war years when they were travelling with full cargoes that they made a profit, the first being in 1941 of $593,216. The ‘Lady Boats’ were kept running in peace time because they provided a reliable, regular service between Canada and the Caribbean that far outweighed the financial ‘bottom line’. Prominent passengers during the inter war years were visiting Governor Generals of Canada or the islands, as well as Gerardo Machado y Morales, the fifth President of Cuba, who had become unpopular because of his dictatorial style and was forced to flee his country in 1933, sailing on Lady Rodney after a special call at Havana on 12th August. He was escorted, surrounded and protected at all times by private guards and Cuban police, the officers of Lady Rodney rarely catching a glimpse of him.

At Trinidad in 1935, the Deep Water Harbour Scheme dredged the offshore area along the western area of the town, and the Port of Spain deep water port came into operation in 1939. Thus, Port of Spain joined Bermuda, Nassau, Kingston and Castries on St. Lucia in providing wharves for the calls by the ‘Lady Boats’. The eastern service trio had also benefited at Port of Spain by a big increase in banana shipments in the mid 1930s due to Panama disease having become rife on the Jamaican plantations. Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent also benefitted, and United Fruit of Boston approached Canadian National Line with a view to enlarging the refrigeration space on the eastern trio of ‘Lady Boats’. Once it became clear that a sufficiently large supply of bananas would be forthcoming, the entire ‘tween decks in numbers 2 and 3 holds on Lady Nelson, Lady Drake and Lady Hawkins were fully insulated by carpenters, and the provision of refrigerated machinery was authorized. Trinidad also provided much other cargo for the ‘Lady Boats’ including by products from its extensive oilfields, sugar, cocoa, citrus fruits and coconuts.

Georgetown in British Guiana lies below sea level on the east bank of the Demerara river and was reached after two days of sailing from Trinidad. The big problem here was the shallow water with the ‘Lady Boats’ entering or sailing only at high tide, and they could only load to half draft. On a spring tide more sugar could be loaded than on a neap tide but there was always the possibility of touching the soft brown mud of the bed of the river on the way out. In general, the three day stay here was good for passengers staying in the good hotels with cooling drinks and ventilators to reduce the oppressive heat, but not so good for the officers and crews of the ‘Lady Boats’ working to load the ships. It was only when the ships were back at sea with pleasant cooling sea breezes and the knowledge of the psychological boost that they were once more heading northwards to home that they felt happy.

War Service Of The ‘Lady Boats’

The Canadian crews and Caribbean stewards of the ‘Lady Boats’ were ordered to paint the quintet drab grey from the top of their masts to the waterline within days of the outbreak of war. Voyages continued as before but timed zigzags were introduced every five or ten minutes in order to put any potential torpedoes from U-boats harmlessly out of reach. Blackouts were equally important as a lighted cigarette could be seen from miles away on an empty sea, radio silence was enforced with all movements under naval control and sailing directions only to be opened by Masters after they had left port. The U-boats did not start to plunder the Eastern seaboard of America and Caribbean coastlines for easy targets until the end of 1941. All of the quintet remained on normal service until October 1940, with an unusual task given to Lady Somers in August 1940. She was ordered to convey the Duke of Windsor and his wife, formerly Mrs. Wallis Simpson, from Bermuda to Nassau to take up his new post of Governor of the Bahamas, and thus removing him from any contact with his former European friends in Germany. The couple flew to Hamilton and stayed at a hotel for one week before boarding Lady Somers. A few Bermudian police were present as they embarked to take residence in the elegant and spacious Governor Suite on Lady Somers. A destroyer escort was arranged but the passage proved uneventful with arrival at Nassau on 17th August 1940.

Lady Somers was then requisitioned by the Canadian Government on 3rd October 1940 and bareboat chartered to the British Government for conversion into an auxiliary cruiser at Bermuda. She was fitted with six inch guns and her holds were filled with empty oil drums to increase her buoyancy, and she began her naval career with British naval personnel in the North Atlantic in April 1941. Unfortunately her patrol to intercept enemy and neutral shipping carrying supplies to the enemy was shortlived, for she was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay on 16th July 1940. She was the first of three ‘Lady Boats’ to be lost during the war, with another seriously damaged.

Lady Hawkins left Halifax on 16th January 1942 for Boston and her usual long list of ports in the Caribbean. She was commanded by long serving Capt. H.O. Giffen and after embarking an American construction party to build a new base on Trinidad, some troops and British naval personnel also bound for Trinidad, she set sail on her last voyage from Boston. She proceeded through the Cape Cod Canal and via Martha’s Vineyard and Long Island Sound to the outer southern perimeter of New York harbour, then kept close inshore along the American coastline until she reached Cape Hatteras having left an American escort behind shortly after New York. Radio reports came in from torpedoed ships on their course heading, but nothing occurred until 0200 hours two days later when two shattering torpedo hits from U66 (Cmdr. Zapp) were received in numbers 2 and 3 holds. All lifeboats had already been swung out ready to be lowered, but only 76 survivors made it safely away in one boat, all the while pulling more people from the sea in the inky blackness. Lady Hawkins had gone down very quickly in a matter of minutes taking 250 precious lives with her on 19th January 1942 including Capt. Giffen. After four days drifting in one lifeboat, 71 survivors were picked up by the American ship Coamo and landed a few days later at San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Lady Nelson (Capt. George Welch) sailed from Halifax on 27th February 1942 with passengers and cargo for the Caribbean islands, and fortunately her nervous crew made it safely into Castries harbour on St. Lucia. The crew now thought they were safe behind net protection and her Master climbed into his bunk for a deep sleep after sleeping fitfully fully dressed on a hard settee on the bridge, ready for any emergency. On the evening of 22nd March U-161 (Cmdr. Albrecht Achilles) crept into the harbour on the surface under the cover of darkness and broke through the net protection to fire two torpedoes at Lady Nelson, destroying her stern and causing her to sink on an even keel at her berth. The other torpedo hit Umtata of Bullard, King & Co. Ltd. causing her to sink as well. Fifteen passengers and three crew members from Lady Nelson died in the explosion with others injured from the explosion and the difficulty in reaching the shore. U-161 was quickly reversed down the harbour and made her escape after a daring raid, only a few machine gun bullets hit her from the St. Lucia Police near the Vigie Lighthouse but caused no damage. Lady Nelson was badly damaged with her winches useless, and with great difficulty her cargo was discharged and she was refloated four days later by a salvage vessel. Preparations were made to tow her to Mobile, Alabama for permanent repairs and she left in tow of the tug Edmund J. Moran with a naval escort.

Many thought at her slow speed of towing she would be easily sunk by U-boats, but Lady Nelson arrived at Mobile on 29th May two weeks later to jubilation from her towing party onboard. Canadian National Line now confirmed that she would be converted into a hospital ship with her stern completely repaired and her well decks plated in. Seven months later on 18th February 1943, Lady Nelson went back to sea again with 515 hospital beds and staffed by around one hundred doctors, nurses, and Red Cross workers and a crew of 75 to carry out her normal ship routine. She now had a broad green band around her white hull with three bold Red Crosses on both port and starboard sides with a Red Cross on each side of her funnel and a white flag with another Red Cross flying from the foremast. She picked up her first party of wounded troops at Naples and brought them safely home to Southampton and Avonmouth, despite a bad storm in the Bay of Biscay that sheared off all her liferafts on one side. Canadian troops wounded in Europe were brought back to Halifax to be carefully taken ashore and dispatched to military hospitals across Canada. By the end of hostilities, she had made 31 voyages as a hospital ship bringing home 25,000 wounded troops. After a few more voyages repatriating British prisoners of war from Japan back to the U.K. after they had travelled across the Pacific and by train across Canada, Lady Nelson was released from war service in February, 1946 and refitted for peace time service.

Lady Drake (Capt. Percy Kelly) had steamed in April 1942 from Halifax via Boston to the Caribbean islands and loaded sugar at Demerara. At Trinidad, a large party of British naval ratings were taken onboard, and she arrived at Castries to find Lady Nelson sunk at her berth, and her surplus crew were taken onboard Lady Drake. An American corvette provided escort for part of the way to St. Kitts to top off her cargo with sugar. She sailed independently from Bermuda on 3rd May 1942 bound for Boston but her engines were burning inferior fuel oil taken onboard at Trinidad and caused excessive smoke that could be seen for miles. This was easily spotted by the waiting U-boats and at 2100 hours on 8th May, a torpedo passed harmlessly fifty feet from her stern with a second torpedo exploding near her stern at number three hold. The bulkhead into the engine room ruptured and both number three hold and the engine room filled with water, sealing her fate. Twelve people had been killed by the explosion, but all of the surviving crew and passengers made an orderly escape from the doomed liner in the lifeboats. Sails were hoisted, and a course was set for Bermuda, and fortunately the unmistakable profile of the Cunard liner Queen Mary was seen and she signalled to the boats that she would radio Bermuda with their position on arrival in New York. A patrol plane found them three days later and the United States Navy ship Owl took them onboard three hours later. The survivors were repatriated on her sister Lady Rodney, sailing from Bermuda on 24th May for Halifax for one month’s leave.

Lady Rodney was the only member of the quintet to come through the war unscathed and her war adventures were many after conversion into a troopship began in June 1942. All of her beautiful, luxurious public rooms were stripped of their furniture and double decked steel frame beds installed for 500 troops. The ‘tween decks also became dormitories with extra lifeboats and liferafts fitted on emergency quick release davits. She was ready for service by early 1943 and her role was mainly to transport troops from Halifax (NS), Montreal or Quebec to St. John’s harbour on Newfoundland to maintain and relieve the garrison stationed there. She also made voyages with troops and construction workers to Goose Bay in Labrador where an airfield and base was under construction, and also was detailed to pick up survivors from lifeboats after the Battle of Cape Farewell in May 1943 when 25 U-boats attacked convoy ONS5 and sank twelve ships for the loss of seven of their own number.

In August 1943, Lady Rodney sailed from Bedford Basin at Halifax (NS) with 478 troops to join a large convoy of 58 ships of which twelve were tankers carrying gasoline and fourteen were cargo ships carrying high explosives and ammunition. A thick fog descended after Sable Island and a collision between a tanker and a freighter caused a huge explosion with little left of the tanker and the sea covered with burning gasoline. A day later, the ship ahead of Lady Rodney in her line was torpedoed and sunk, and her survivors were picked up by the convoy rescue ship. Normally, Lady Rodney had an escort as she left the Atlantic convoy to move into St. John’s (NFL). However, no corvettes could be spared this time and Lady Rodney sailed alone until other escorts came out to join the convoy. Lady Rodney (Capt. Neil Roach) made 47 voyages as Convoy Commodore during the war, and carried 59,568 troops to St. John’s (NFL) and Goose Bay (Labrador) with a further seven thousand troops to other destinations until she was decommissioned in November, 1946 after carrying many war brides from the U.K. to Canada during her last nine months of service.

Last Years Of The ‘Lady Boats’

Lady Nelson and Lady Rodney underwent long refits to return them to their service on the eastern route to the Caribbean islands towards the end of 1947. The loss of three valuable ‘Lady Boats’ meant that Canadian National Line were forced to purchase five war built standard ‘Park’ types of 4,900 dwt and fit them with ‘tween decks to supplement the service. A passenger and cargo service on the western Caribbean route was begun with three new vessels of 6,700 grt built in Canadian yards at a cost of $1.25 million each and named Canadian Cruiser, Canadian Challenger and Canadian Constructor, which were also used at times on the eastern route. The ‘Lady Boats’ now used Saint John (NB) as a discharging port for their sugar cargoes for the Atlantic Sugar Refinery as well as Halifax (NS). Lady Nelson suffered a loss of 500 tonnes of her sugar cargo when she tied up at Montreal on one voyage in summer 1949 due to a fire. The standard procedure when smoke was spotted coming from a hold was to dowse the hold with steam while the hatches were still closed. However, the shore fire brigades had other ideas and opened the hatches to pour mountains of water in the hold. This made matters worse, and it was only the arrival of CNL Marine Superintendent, Capt. Duncan MacLeod, that saved the ship from capsizing by ordering the firemen off the ship, with the crew dowsing the flames by using carbon dioxide bottles and immediately closing the hatches again tightly.

Changes to available cargo occurred in post-war years with the call at Nevis omitted and competition from the rising Saguenay Shipping Ltd. lifting full cargoes of bauxite from British Guiana northwards at cheaper freight rates. Barbados decided that molasses would now be shipped in tankers at cheaper rates than CNL could offer by carrying it in casks. Sugar and other types of Caribbean produce were sought to fill the gaps, but other factors affected the CNL Caribbean services. These included sharp increases in crew costs and the cost of loading and unloading cargoes in the Caribbean coupled with the fall due to inflation of the value of the Canadian and Caribbean island governments subsidies. These had remained at the 1925 treaty levels, and the free carriage of mail under the agreement had to be renegotiated to an annual payment of $43,000 to cover the handling of 460 tonnes of mail in 1951. By 1952, regular flights from Canada to the Caribbean were introduced and passenger numbers dropped off heavily almost immediately. Thus, it was with sadness that CNL announced that the two remaining ‘Lady Boats’ would be withdrawn from service in October 1952 and laid up and offered for sale.

The Khedivial Mail Line of Egypt purchased both Lady Nelson and Lady Rodney for $750,000 to include all of their fine mahogany furniture, silver, linen, fittings and accessories. They sailed from Halifax harbour, home of CNL, on 13th February 1953 flying the Egyptian flag under the names of Gumhuryat Misr and Mecca respectively. The pair were refitted at Alexandria during 1953, with the former Lady Nelson then making six Transatlantic voyages during 1954 before being used on an east to west Mediterranean passenger service, while the former Lady Rodney ran between North African ports, Egypt and Jeddah. Pilgrims to Mecca and the huge amount of construction work underway at Jeddah maintained this trade until the former Lady Rodney was in collision on 5th May 1965 with Fremantle Star of Blue Star Line in the Gulf of Suez. She was badly damaged and was laid up at Port Said, and then scuttled to block the Suez Canal from Israeli use at the start of the Arab/Israeli conflict in June 1967. The former Lady Nelson had been renamed Alwadi in 1959 and was used on routes to Bombay and Karachi until sold for demolition in 1976 after being laid up at Alexandria since December 1965 after striking a submerged object. Mecca, ex Lady Rodney, was raised by American salvage teams working to clear the Suez Canal after the end of the war in July 1974. She was cut up into large pieces of scrap and dumped on the side of the Canal to be carried away for recycling. The 900 tonne stern section of the former Lady Rodney was left upside down on the banks of the Canal until it was the last visible evidence of this former beautiful ‘Lady Boat’.

Canadian National Line (CNL) was forced into liquidation in 1958 after a long running strike by the Canadian Seafarers Union linked to the Canadian Railway Employees Union could not be resolved. Canadian National Railways (CNR), owners of CNL, could not afford the big increase in wages demanded by the unions and decided the best option was to sell off the last eight ships of CNL to Cuban owners after they had been laid up in Halifax harbour for nine months. Canadian Cruiser built in 1946 with accommodation for twelve First Class and 75 deck passengers and able to carry 7,500 tonnes of cargo led the last eight ships of CNL out of Halifax harbour flying the Cuban flag.