RMS Empress of Britain was a transatlantic ocean liner built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland in 1905–1906[Note 1] for Canadian Pacific Steamship (CP).

"[4] On her second voyage, Empress of Britain made the west-bound trip from Moville, Ireland, to Rimouski, Canada, in five days, 21 hours, 17 minutes – a new record,[5] which was a credit to her Captain, James Anderson Murray, and to her shipbuilders.

In 1914, Empress of Ireland sank in the Saint Lawrence River with great loss of life.

In the conventional course of transatlantic traffic, the ship was sometimes held in quarantine if a communicative disease was discovered amongst the passengers.

Similarly, it would have been expected, for example, that the ship would notify authorities in Halifax that one passenger had died from pneumonia en route to Canada from Europe.

[citation needed] The end of the war in Europe meant a change for Empress of Britain.

The ship was then returned to Fairfield's yard on the Clyde, where she was converted from coal to oil fuel[1] and the passenger accommodations were modernised.

[3] In October 1922, Empress of Britain begin sailing on the Southampton – Cherbourg – Quebec route.

[3] The ship's woodwork is still a feature of this building as the Montroyal Lounge for Sunday buffets and events, including the original fireplace, lead glass ceiling and windows.