Canadian Pacific’s EMPRESS OF JAPAN had four lives.

• First as the trans-Pacific record holder liner, then serving during World War 2, followed by being renamed the Empress of Scotland on the trans-Atlantic run and then finally sailing under the German flag.

Babe Ruth with daughter Julia (left) and wife Claire on deck of Empress of Japan in Vancouver harbor on Oct. 20, 1934.

• It was ironic, the allied ship used during WW 2 to fight the Nazis, was sold to Hamburg America Line and rebuilt as the Hanseatic for cruise and trans-Atlantic service.

1930—1942: RMS Empress of Japan

• The Empress of Japan carried out her sea trial successfully in May 1930, achieving a top speed of 23 knots; and on June 8, 1930, she was delivered to Vancouver for service on the trans-Pacific route.
• In this period, she was the fastest ocean liner on the Pacific.
• Due to being a part of Canadian Pacific’s service carrying Royal Mail, the Empress of Japan carried the RMS (Royal Mail Ship) prefix in front of her name while in commercial service with Canadian Pacific.

Aboard the RMS EMPRESS OF CANADA – 1930s… (Shipboard & docked in Honolulu)

• She would continue sailing the Vancouver-Yokohama-Kobe-Shanghai-Hong Kong route for the rest of the decade.
• Amongst her celebrity passengers were a number of American baseball all-stars, including Babe Ruth, who sailed aboard the Empress of Japan in October 1934 en route to Japan.

The RMS Empress of Japan

The RMS Empress of Japan at war…

• The outbreak of war in Europe caused the Empress of Japan to be re-fitted for wartime service. Following the Japanese attacks on the Empire outposts in the Far East in December 1941, the name of the ship needed to be named. In 1942, she was renamed the Empress of Scotland.

Piper and passengers aboard the RMS Empress of Scotland as the ship approaches a UK port.

1942—1958: Empress of Scotland

• Following the end of World War II, the Empress of Scotland was needed to meet the newly developing demands for trans-Atlantic passenger service.
• In the period between 1948 and 1950, she was rebuilt at Fairfield in Glasgow.
• These modifications were necessary to better meet weather conditions on the colder Atlantic route.
• This extensive re-fitting included a radical reconfiguration of her cabins from the original four classes to just two — first and tourist.

1958—1966: Hanseatic

Wonderful video on the HANSEATIC. 

• Following her sale to Hamburg Atlantic Line in 1958, the ship was radically rebuilt to meet the expanding market for trans-Atlantic passenger service.
• The ship’s superstructure and funnels were rebuilt and her passenger accommodations were re-configured.
• The vessel emerged as the 30,030 GRT SS Hanseatic.
• The re-named and re-flagged ship were designed to carry as many 1350 passengers in comfortable luxury on the Hamburg-New York route.
• In 1966 the ship was destroyed by fire in New York City harbor and subsequently scrapped.