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.

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.

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 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.

[5] 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.

[6] Prince Robert was ordered in 1929 by Canadian National for construction by Cammell Laird at their shipyard in Birkenhead with the yard number 966.

[5] 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.

[5] The 11-day cruises began in Vancouver, stopping in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Sitka, Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska, before arriving at Skagway.

[5][9] 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.

[8][11] 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.

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.

[13][11] 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 6-inch (152 mm) Mk VII guns, one on each of the two decks forward and aft.

When the conversion was completed, Prince Robert resembled the Hawkins-class cruisers and were the most powerful vessels in the Canadian fleet until the arrival of larger ships later in the war.

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.

On 7 December, the United States Army Transport Cynthia Olsen was sunk 150 nautical miles (280 km; 170 mi) south of Prince Robert's location.

Rumours that Prince Robert had spotted the Japanese fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December, were denied and proven to be false.

By May 1942 the ship was overhauled at Esquimalt, receiving plastic bridge armour, ASDIC for ASW detection, and 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon for AA protection.

[22] Beginning in May, Prince Robert was placed under Royal Navy control as an escort and patrol ship attached to the New Zealand Station.

Prince Robert was primarily deployed to escort convoys between Kodiak and Dutch Harbor, each trip taking roughly seven days followed by a four-day maintenance period.

As tensions mounted after attempts to communicate failed, a US destroyer moved to intercept the ships and ascertain their identity, which resolved the situation.

The cruiser's main armament consisted of ten quick-firing 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XVI high-angle/low-angle dual-purpose guns in five twin turrets.

[26] While supporting convoys travelling to Naples, Italy, the ship was tied into the local AA defence of the harbours it was docked in by telephone.

[7] After escorting 17 convoys, Prince Robert was withdrawn from European waters in September as the German air threat diminished and transferred once again to the Pacific.

On 15 August, Japan surrendered and Prince Robert was part of Task Group 111.2 sent to secure Hong Kong from Japanese control.

[29] Upon arrival on 31 August, Prince Robert sent landing parties to secure the dock area, railyard and train station.

Canadian prisoners of war from the units Prince Robert had ferried over to Hong Kong in 1941 were brought aboard the ship to be transported back to Canada.

[30] The ship was transferred to the War Assets Corporation for disposal in January 1946 and laid up in Bedwell Bay, at the northern end of Burrard Inlet.

Intended for the emigrant trade, in 1953, the ship underwent significant reconstruction, being lengthened to 399 feet 11 inches (121.9 m) overall and the gross register tonnage decreasing to 6,723 tons.

[4][34] The Czech-born artists Dusan and Voitre Marek travelled to Sydney from Germany as post-war immigrants to Australia, arriving in August 1948.