RMS Empress of Britain (1930)

Empress of Britain in 1931
History
United Kingdom
Name	Empress of Britain
Owner	Canadian Pacific Railway Co
Operator	Canadian Pacific SS Ltd
Port of registry	London
Route	Southampton – Quebec City (Cruising in winter)
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Yard number	530
Laid down	28 November 1928
Launched	11 June 1930
Completed	5 April 1931
In service	27 May 1931
Identification	UK official number 162582 Code letters: KLMF (until 1933) Call sign: GMBJ (1930 onward)
Fate	Sunk by torpedo by U-32, 28 October 1940.
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner
Tonnage	42,348 gross register tons (GRT) 22,545 net register tons (NRT) (as built) 22,385 NRT (by 1939)
Length	760 ft 6 in (231.80 m) overall
Beam	97.8 ft (29.8 m)
Draught	32 ft 8+1⁄4 in (10.0 m)
Installed power	12,753 NHP 62,500 shp
Propulsion	8 × Yarrow & 1 × Johnson boiler 12 Parsons steam turbines, single reduction geared, four propellers
Speed	24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Capacity	465 1st class, 260 tourist class, 470 3rd class (700 one class when cruising)
Crew	740

RMS Empress of Britain was a steam turbine ocean liner built between 1928 and 1931 by John Brown shipyard in Scotland, owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and operated by Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. She was the second of three Canadian Pacific ships named Empress of Britain,^[1] which provided scheduled trans-Atlantic passenger service from spring to autumn between Canada and Europe from 1931 until 1939.

In her time Empress of Britain was the largest, fastest and most luxurious ship between the United Kingdom and Canada, and the largest ship in the Canadian Pacific fleet. She was torpedoed on 28 October 1940 by U-32 and sank. At 42,348 GRT she was the largest liner lost in the Second World War and the largest ship sunk by a U-boat.^[2]