Northern Ships and Shipping

    Reproduced below, from before the days of privacy concerns, is a passenger list for the July 17, 1937 sailing of the T. S. S. Prince Robert, from Vancouver to Skagway. The mailable booklet is 3.5 x 6 inches folded. We have also posted a dinner menu from this sailing.

    Prince Robert was built for the west coast service of Canadian National Steamship Company (CNSS) in 1930 by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead, England, who also built Prince David and Prince Henry for CNSS at the same time. In 1939, Prince Robert and Prince David were requisitioned by the Royal Canadian Navy to be used as Armed Merchant Cruisers, and for much of the war were the largest (at 6,892 tons) and most heavily armed ships in the Canadian Navy (see a photo of Prince David in that role). They were both converted into LSIs (Landing Ships Infantry) at Burrard Drydock in Vancouver in 1943, and in 1946 were sold to the Charlton Steam Shipping Company of London, who renamed her Charlton Sovereign. A more detailed history of her military service in particular can be found at AirMuseum.ca, and a 236-page history of the military history of "the Princes" can be downloaded at the Canadian Forces site (pdf, 45MB).

"T. S. S. Prince Robert" denotes that she was a Twin Screw Steamer.