Troops returning on the Princess Sophia, 1914 - 1915. It is probably / possibly troops for the 16th Battalion CEF and reinforcements for other CEF units. They may be on their way to Vancouver from Victoria in 1914. There are soldiers in kilts which may be from the 50th Regiment, Gordon Highlanders of Canada. The Photo was copied in 1974 from a large print in the Billy Bishop Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion at 1407 Laburnum Street, Vancouver near the Vancouver Maritime Museum. The SS Princess Sophia was a steel-built coastal passenger liner in the coastal service fleet of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Along with the SS Princess Adelaide, the SS Princess Alice and the SS Princess Mary, the SS Princess Sophia was one of four sister ships built for the CPR during 1910- 1911. In 1914 the Great War began and early wartime economic disruption resulted in a sharp decline of business for the CPR fleet. A number of vessels, including the Princess Sophia were temporarily taken out of service by November 1914. The SS Sophia and other CPR vessels transported troops raised for service in Europe. On 25 October 1918, the Sophia sank with the loss of all aboard after grounding on Vanderbilt Reef in Lynn Canal near Juneau, Alaska. With 343 or more people dying in the incident, the wreck of the Princess Sophia was the worst maritime accident in the history of British Columbia and Alaska. The circumstances of the wreck were controversial, as some felt that all aboard could have been saved.