HMCS Prince Robert

History
Name	Prince Robert (1930–1939) Charlton Sovereign (1947–1951) Lucania (1951–1962)
Owner	Canadian National Steamships (1930–1939) Charlton Steam Shipping Company (1947–1951) Fratelli Grimaldi (1951–1962)
Port of registry	Vancouver (1930–1939) London (1948–1951) Naples (1952–1962)
Ordered	1929
Builder	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Yard number	966
Launched	3 April 1930
Completed	August 1930
In service	1930–1939 1948–1962
Out of service	1962
Fate	Sold to Royal Canadian Navy (1939–1945) Broken up for scrap 1962
General characteristics as built
Type	Passenger/cargo ship
Tonnage	6,893 GRT 3,072 NRT
Length	385 ft 0 in (117.3 m) oa
Beam	57 ft 0 in (17.4 m)
Draught	16 ft 6 in (5.0 m)
Depth	20 ft 2 in (6.1 m)
Installed power	6 × Water-tube, five-drum, super-heated main boilers 2 × Three-burner Scotch marine boilers for auxiliary power
Propulsion	2 × screws 2 × Parsons reaction three-stage single-reduction geared turbines 19,300 ihp (14,392 kW)
Speed	22.25 knots (41.21 km/h)
Capacity	334 first class 70 third class

HMCS Prince Robert was the first of three refrigerated passenger and cargo ships constructed at Birkenhead for Canadian National for operation along the British Columbia Coast during the 1930s. The ship's arrival during the Great Depression led to the vessel's financial failure and by 1935, the ship was in limited use. With the onset of World War II, the Royal Canadian Navy acquired the vessel for use as an armed merchant cruiser for protection of western coast of Canada. Upon completion, Prince Robert and her sister ships were the most powerful ships operated by the Canadians until the arrival of larger cruisers later in the war. Converted at Esquimalt, British Columbia and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy in September 1940, Prince Robert saw its first action along the Mexican coast, capturing the German freighter Weser later that month. Prince Robert then continued patrolling along the Pacific coast of North America, then being sent to Australia to escort troop convoys across the Pacific.

Following the entry of the United States into the war in 1941, Prince Robert took part in the naval operations in Alaska alongside its sister ships Prince Henry and Prince David. As the threat along the Pacific coast of Canada diminished, a new role for Prince Robert and it was converted to an anti-aircraft cruiser in 1943. Prince Robert returned to service later that year and escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea between the United Kingdom and Naples, Italy, defending them against air attack. In 1944, the ship was transferred to the Pacific once again and was at Sydney, Australia when Japan surrendered. Prince Robert was ordered to Hong Kong to repatriate Canadian prisoners of war and to assist in control of the island. The ship returned to Canada on 20 October 1945 and was paid off on 10 December and transferred to War Assets Corporation for disposal.

The ship was sold to private buyers who returned the vessel to the cargo/passenger trade as Charlton Sovereign in 1948. Charlton Sovereign transported displaced persons and refugees from Europe to locations in Central and South America. In 1951, the ship was sold again and renamed Lucania. Lucania was used a passenger ship between Italy and Venezuela until 1962, when the vessel was sold for scrap.