This ship, the first of Canadian Pacific's three ships named Empress of
Britain, was built at Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering's yard at
Glasgow. Launched in 1905, she made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to
Montréal on 5 May 1906. Later in 1906, and again in 1908, she set
eastbound Canada-England speed records.
During World War I, Empress of Britain served as an armed merchant
cruiser and a troop carrier. She returned to Canadian Pacific in 1919,
but after one roundtrip to St. John, N.B., she underwent a major
refitting, which included conversion to oil fuel. She returned to
Liverpool-Québec service in the fall of 1920, and moved to
Southampton-Québec in 1922. After conversion to cabin class
accomodations in 1924, she was renamed Montroyal and placed back on the
Liverpool-Québec service. In 1927, she was placed on an
Antwerp-Southampton-Cherbourg-Québec service and was on that route
when she made her final voyage in September 1929. She was scrapped in
Norway in 1930.
Sources: Bonsor's North Atlantic Seaway; Haws' Merchant Fleets.
