Canadian Pacific wanted a flagship that could win travellers on the route between Britain and Canada – and with the Empress of Britain it got one. Built by John Brown & Company on the Clyde and completed in 1931, she was bigger, quicker and more lavishly fitted out than any ship the Canadian route had seen before, with interiors created by well-known artists of the day.
In summer she sailed between Southampton and Quebec; in winter, when the St. Lawrence was frozen, she set off on long luxury cruises around the world. When the Second World War began she was turned into a troopship. On 26 October 1940, off the north-west coast of Ireland, a German bomber set her on fire; two days later, while she was under tow, the submarine U-32 torpedoed and sank her. She was one of the biggest liners lost in the war and the largest ship ever sunk by a U-boat.
