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 and . 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.
Design and description Three passenger/cargo ships were ordered by Canadian National from Cammell Laird for construction in the United Kingdom. Designed by A.T. Wall & Co. of Liverpool as luxury liners with the ability to be converted into armed merchant cruisers, Prince Robert was the last of the three, the other two being and . The ship was long overall with a moulded breath of and a moulded depth of . The vessel's draught was aft. Prince Robert displaced and had a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 6,893 tons and a net register tonnage (NRT) of 3,072 tons.
Prince Robert was propelled by twin screws driven by two Parsons reaction three-stage single-reduction geared turbines rated at at 267 rpm or . These were powered by six water-tube, five-drum, super-heated main boilers and two three-burner Scotch marine boilers for auxiliary power. The ship achieved during sea trials and had a range of at economical speeds or at .
The ship had a refrigerated cargo capacity forward and could have accommodation for 334 first class passengers and 70 third class. They could carry 1,500 passengers on day trips. The ship had three decks and an elevator that could move up to two automobiles between them. Prince Robert had an open bridge placed in front of a small, enclosed wheelhouse. The vessel had three funnels and was equipped with six lifeboats per side. Two booms were situated forward over the no. 1 hold. To allow access to jetties of different heights, shell doors were located on each deck.
Problems with the design arose after entering service. Their high sides and lack of maneuverability led to them requiring tugboat assistance when entering smaller harbours. Their speed created a tremendous wash that damaged the sea walls in West Vancouver, British Columbia. This led to Prince Robert and its sister ships having to reduce speed to in Burrard Inlet.
Service history
Construction and early civilian service In 1928, the president of Canadian National, Sir Henry Thornton, announced orders for three luxury liners for service on the Pacific coast as part of the effort to re-establish the tri-city route between Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington and to create a new market for Alaskan cruises. Prince Robert was ordered in 1929 by Canadian National for construction by Cammell Laird at their shipyard in Birkenhead with the yard number 966. The third ship of the class after and , the ship was launched on 3 April 1930 and named after Robert B. Teakle, a vice-president of Canadian National. Prince Robert was completed in August 1930 and sailed for the British Columbia Coast. However, Prince Robert was forced to return to Birkenhead after the vessel developed engine troubles. The ship did not enter service until May 1931 and began sailing on the tri-city routes. In July 1931, Prince Robert ran aground near Port Townsend, Washington and was withdrawn from service. By 5 September 1931, the tri-city service was ended and Prince Robert spent most of its time laid up in Vancouver.
In 1932 the ship was chartered for extended cruises from Boston, Massachusetts and New York City to destinations such as Bermuda, ports in South America and Hawaii. It was not until 1935 that Prince Robert began seeing more regular service when the ship began to make 11-day cruises to Skagway, Alaska. The 11-day cruises began in Vancouver, stopping in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Sitka, Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska, before arriving at Skagway. From November through February each year, Skagway froze over during winter and Prince Robert was laid up for overhaul. The three sister ships were considered economic failures for Canadian National, with their arrival coinciding with the Great Depression. Their failure was one of the contributing factors in the resignation of the president of Canadian National, Sir Henry Thornton. The ships were expensive to operate and did not generate new business. In mid-1939, Prince Robert was chosen to act as a royal yacht during the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to British Columbia. They embarked aboard Prince Robert at Vancouver and were accompanied by a naval escort to their disembarkation site at Victoria.
Conversion
Prior to the outbreak of World War II, the Royal Canadian Navy offered to the British Royal Navy to convert vessels for their own armed merchant cruisers if they were provided with the armaments. The offer was accepted and the Royal Canadian Navy looked around for ships for possible conversion. Though the "Princes" were made available, Prince Robert and its sister ships were initially rejected due to their poor range, limited water supply and low top speed. However, after the outbreak of war, there was a shortage of cruisers and destroyers to deter surface raiders, and the conversion of the three vessels was incorporated in the 1939 Shipbuilding Programme. The British Admiralty advised that only two of the ships be converted. Prince Robert was one of the two initially chosen. Though intended only for chartering by the Royal Canadian Navy, it was later decided to purchase the vessels outright with Prince Robert acquired for $700,000 in November 1939.
The design of the conversion was laid out by the naval architecture firm Lambert, German & Milne of Montreal and work on Prince Robert began on 9 February 1940 at Burrard Dry Dock, Esquimalt, British Columbia with an expected delivery in July. The conversion cost $755,330 and included the trunking of the three funnels into two shorter ones, the installation of four breech-loading Mk VII guns, one on each of the two decks forward and aft. The 6-inch guns had once been provided by the Royal Navy and had once been part of the armament of the s. Two guns were fitted on the upper deck amidships along with light anti-aircraft (AA) machine guns. Two depth charge chutes were placed over the stern, though no anti-submarine warfare (ASW) detection equipment was provided. At full load displacement, the draught increased to . Prince Roberts complement was 241 officers and ratings.
Royal Canadian Navy service The threat of German surface raiders along the Pacific Coast forced the Royal Canadian Navy to speed up the conversion. When the conversion was completed, Prince Robert resembled the s and were the most powerful vessels in the Canadian fleet until the arrival of larger ships later in the war. Prince Robert was commissioned on 31 July 1940 at Vancouver and was ready for sea trials in September. The Royal Canadian Navy had hoped to keep Prince Robert in Canadian waters as protection for west coast Canadian ports. The British Commander-in-Chief of the America and West Indies Station sought to use Prince Robert along the South American coast to disrupt enemy shipping and it was the latter's plan that became Prince Roberts mission. On 11 September, Prince Robert departed Esquimalt for one day of gunnery trials before sailing south to reinforce the Allied blockade of German ships in South American ports.
Prince Robert arrived off Manzanillo, Mexico on 18 September and patrolled the entrance to the harbour. Within the port, the 9,472-ton German merchant vessel was known to be getting ready to sail. Weser was carrying supplies for the and was set to meet up with the raider in the Marshall Islands. On 25 September Weser was spotted departing Manzanillo after dark. The commander of Prince Robert waited until Weser had exited the harbour mouth before placing his ship between Weser and the port, cutting off the German vessel's retreat. Prince Robert followed Weser out to international waters remaining undetected, with the Germans thinking that Prince Robert just another Mexican patrol vessel. Prince Robert moved to seize the German vessel after crossing into international waters, taking the Germans by surprise. The Canadian ship sent a boarding party which was able to prevent the German ship from being scuttled and captured Weser. Prince Robert and Weser then sailed for Esquimalt, where the former German ship was taken into Allied service.
Prince Robert returned to patrolling off the west coast of South and Central America until early February 1941 when the armed merchant cruiser was replaced by a British cruiser. Prince Robert was then redirected to escort Australian troop convoys across the Pacific for the seven months, spending September and October in refit at Esquimalt. In November, Prince Robert escorted the troop transport that carried C Force to Hong Kong. C Force was the Canadian contingent for the garrison of Hong Kong. Prince Robert transported 109 members of the Royal Rifles of Canada to Hong Kong. Prince Robert and Awatea arrived at Hong Kong on 16 November and disembarked their troops. On 19 November, Prince Robert sailed for Manila, Philippines, arriving two days later to refuel and replenish before sailing again for home. Prince Robert paused at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii before sailing for Esquimalt on 4 December. On 7 December, the United States Army Transport Cynthia Olsen was sunk south of Prince Roberts location. Prince Robert was ordered to the area to search but found nothing. The armed merchant cruiser arrived at Esquimalt on 10 December. Rumours that Prince Robert had spotted the Japanese fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December, were denied and proven to be false.