SS Montclare
Canadian Pacific · entered service 1922 · Ship Guide
Overview
SS Montclare was the third of Canadian Pacific's closely related postwar “Mont” liners. John Brown & Co. built her at Clydebank as yard no. 465. She had been laid down under the name Metapedia, but was launched as Montclare on 18 December 1921, completed in August 1922, and departed Liverpool for Quebec and Montreal on her maiden voyage on 18 August.
The previous guide gave yard no. 466 and left her final career vague. Yard no. 465 is supported by Scottish shipbuilding records and fleet references. More importantly, Montclare did not simply disappear into generic wartime “auxiliary service”: she had a long, well-documented Royal Navy career that extended through the British Pacific Fleet, postwar submarine support, and the 1953 Coronation Fleet Review.
Key Facts
Passenger Service
Montclare served the same integrated Canada route system as Montcalm and Montrose. Her large third-class capacity reflects Canadian Pacific's role in immigration and settlement, while cabin-class accommodation served tourists, business travelers, and family traffic.
In 1929 her turbine gearing was modernized. On 22 March 1931 she grounded on Little Cumbrae while bound toward Greenock; she was later refloated and repaired. The incident is useful when dating newspaper photographs and voyage material from that year.
From Liner to HMS Montclare
The Admiralty requisitioned Montclare on 28 August 1939. Converted to an armed merchant cruiser, she entered Royal Navy service under her existing name with pennant F85. In June 1942 the Admiralty purchased the ship outright.
Her role then evolved significantly. By 1944 she had been converted for depot-ship work and recommissioned as a destroyer depot ship. In 1945 she sailed via Suez to Australia and then Manus, supporting British Pacific Fleet destroyers during operations connected with Okinawa and the Sakishima Islands. She later served as a flagship within the Fleet Train and took part in the reoccupation of Hong Kong.
Postwar Naval Service
Montclare returned to Britain in 1946 and was subsequently converted into a submarine depot ship. In that role she supported the 3rd Submarine Flotilla in the Clyde area for much of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
She participated in the 1953 Coronation Review at Spithead and was decommissioned in October 1954. After reserve lay-up, she was sold for demolition in 1958. She reached Thos. W. Ward's Inverkeithing yard at the beginning of February, where breaking commenced immediately.
Interpretive Notes
Montclare's naval career is not a footnote: she spent roughly fifteen years in Royal Navy service, longer than many better-known wartime liner conversions remained active.
Keep the “Mont” builders straight: Montcalm was John Brown yard 464, Montclare yard 465, while Montrose came from Fairfield yard 529.
Same name, different context: unlike Montcalm/Wolfe or Montrose/Forfar, Montclare retained her name in naval service. A wartime “Montclare” reference therefore cannot be assumed to be civilian Canadian Pacific material.
Evidence-first ship guide