The ship was considered "unlucky" and suffered several incidents during her career, including two significant ones that left large portions of the vessel underwater.

The ship was powered by steam provided by two double-ended and two single-ended boilers operating at 180 psi (1,200 kPa).

[1][2] Prince Rupert was ordered from Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson and was constructed at their shipyard at Wallsend-on-Tyne.

The following year on 23 March, the ship ran aground on Genn Island while leaving Anyox during a gale.

On 20 September 1920, the vessel struck a reef in Swanson Bay and tore a 12-foot (3.7 m) hole in the bottom of the hull.

The entire cofferdam took 125,000 feet (38,000 m) of lumber which was bolted to the sides of the ship with the crevices with heavy canvas.

[7] Prince Rupert was then raised to the surface and towed to Victoria where the ship underwent repairs at Yarrows, remaining out of service until May 1921.

Captain Andy Johnson of the competing Union Steamship Company of British Columbia manoeuvred his ship Cardena alongside and pulled Prince Rupert off the reef, saving the vessel from almost certain disaster.

Prince Rupert was then towed by two tugboats to Vancouver, where the ship was repaired by Burrard Dry Dock.

[8] On 4 September 1935, she overtook and rammed the American 28-gross register ton halibut-fishing vessel Anna J near Maud Island (from where Ripple Rock was blasted in Seymour Narrows) on the British Columbia coast; Anna J beached herself in Plumper Bay after the collision and became a total loss.

Purchased by Rinko Iron Works, a Japanese salvage company, the ship was renamed SS Prince Maru.