When Canadian Pacific Steamship Empress of Asia arrived in Halifax in September 1941, the ship was in such sorry state that armed forces personnel refused to board. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old coal burner turned troopship joined Convoy HX. 150, the first Atlantic convoy with American warships as escorts.
In early 1942, Japanese bombers destroyed the ship off Singapore. Soldiers and crew died in the attack, while survivors faced harrowing escapes or years of prisoners of war.
Author Dan Black will explain how one ship built for peace, served in two World Wars, and intersected the lives of passengers and crew through a tumultuous period of world history.
Dan Black is former editor of Legion Magazine and author or co-author of three previous books, including Harry Livingstone’s Forgotten Men: Canadians and the Chinese Labour Corps in the First World War. He has been featured twice on Canada’s Active History
podcast, a Juno Beach Centre podcast, TVO and CBC. In addition to Legion Magazine, articles have appeared in Canada’s History Magazine, the Toronto Star, BiblioAsia Magazine in Singapore, the Times Colonist newspaper in Victoria, B.C., and Esprit de Corps Magazine.
As part of our Tuesday community nights at the museum, we offer free admission from 5 pm – 8 pm. We also encourage donations to Feed Nova Scotia to help curb food insecurity in Halifax, together!
