From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships.

Twelve vessels were lost due to enemy action in World War II, including the RMS Empress of Britain, which was the largest ship ever sunk by a German U-boat.

The company moved to a model of container shipping from passenger, freight and mail service in the 1960s due to competitive pressure from the airline industry.

In the early 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) negotiated with the Government of the United Kingdom to establish trans-Pacific steamship routes between Vancouver, British Columbia and the Far East.

[1] The trans-Pacific services of Canadian Pacific were begun by Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, the Canadian-American builder of the railroad network in 1887.

[6] In the late 19th century, CPR initiated an ocean-going service between the port of Vancouver and Hong Kong, with calls at Japan and China, and later at Manila, Philippine Islands and Honolulu, Hawaii.

[7] From 1887 through 1941, the Canadian Pacific Railway provided steamship service between Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and Hong Kong with calls at Japan and China, and later at Manila, Philippine Islands and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Three ships were built at Barrow-in-Furness in England, and the three sailed together towards Vancouver in 1890, with initial voyages projected for January 15, February 15, and March 15 of the new year.

In an effort to lure American-Chinese passengers to sail with CPR from North America to Shanghai and Hong Kong, prominent members of the Chinese community in New York were invited to examine the scale model and its amenities.

These three ships and the others which comprised the "Empress fleet" carried mail, passengers, and freight speedily across the Pacific for over half a century.

In 1914, the Empress of Ireland collided with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad in the Saint Lawrence River.

Canadian Pacific was an important contributor to the Merchant Navy (United Kingdom) in World War I.

The company also built a fleet of "Beaver Ships" cargo liners for fast freight service in the 1920s, which were some of the most advanced steam freighters of their time: Beaverford, Beaverdale, Beaverburn, Beaverhill and Beaverbrae.

The king chose to visit Canada using a Canadian luxury liner rather than an established British royal yacht.

[6] One CP ship, the freighter SS Beaverford, made the most notable military action in the company's history in 1940 as part of Convoy HX 84 when she engaged the German Deutschland-class cruiser Admiral Scheer for five hours before sinking with all hands, a sacrifice that allowed most of convoy HX 84 to escape.

Despite their extensive and dangerous war service, the CP mariners, part of the Merchant Navy, were denied veterans' benefits by the Canadian Government until 1988.

In 1972, CP Ships regular transatlantic passenger service from the Port of Liverpool finished with the sale of Empress of Canada.

When it was spun off into a separate company it represented 8% of Canadian Pacific's revenues and was a source for a large portion of CPR's rail traffic — much originating from CP Ships' Montreal Gateway Terminals.

· 2013 Name Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd (abandoned by TUI AG) is registered by Eyecon Brands Ltd. of Ontario, Canada.