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. The ship's arrival during the Great Depression led to the vessel's financial failure and by 1935, the ship was in limited use. 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. Upon completion, Prince Robert and her sister ships were the most powerful ships operated by the Canadians until the arrival of larger cruisers later in the war. Converted at Esquimalt, British Columbia and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy in September 1941, Prince Robert saw its first action along the Mexican co