RMS Empress of France was an ocean liner built in 1928 by John Brown at Clydebank, Scotland for the Canadian Pacific Steamships and launched as SS Duchess of Bedford in 1928.

[5] At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Duchess of Bedford was commandeered by the Admiralty to bring civil and military officials from England to India.

[7] Duchess of Bedford transported 1,955 men of the 18th Infantry Division to Singapore before it fell, departing Bombay on 19 January 1942 and arriving ten days later.

[9] Duchess of Bedford may best be known for her role in Operation Torch, where, along with HMS Warwick Castle, she carried troops of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, United States from Greenock stopping briefly in Glasgow, Scotland, to Arzew, Algeria where she landed said troops on 8 November 1942 to facilitate the United States' first involvement in the theater and the overall invasion of Axis-held North Africa.

On 3 March 1947, Duchess of Bedford arrived at the Govan yard of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company for her overhaul and refit, during the course of which (in October 1947) she was renamed Empress of France.