RMS Empress of Britain was a transatlantic ocean liner built by Fairfield Shipbuilding at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland in 1955–1956[1] for Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP). This ship – the third of three CP vessels to be named Empress of Britain[2] – regularly traversed the trans-Atlantic route between Canada and Europe until 1964, completing 123 voyages under the Canadian Pacific flag.
The 25,516-ton vessel had a length of 640 ft, and her beam was 85.2 ft. The ship had one funnel, one mast, twin propellers and an average speed of 20 kn. The ocean liner provided accommodation for 160 first class passengers and for 984 tourist class passengers.[5]
In November 1964, the former CP Empress of Britain was sold to the Greek Line. The ship was renamed Queen Anna Maria. This "Queen" was rebuilt with a new lido area at the stern and remeasured under Greek rules to 21,716 gross register tons, implying a significant reduction in size. Her genuine tonnage had been increased by a superstructure extension at the stern and the measurement was an attempt to reduce dock dues.
With accommodation for 168 first-class passengers and for 1,145 tourist-class passengers, she sailed on the Piraeus, Palermo, Naples, Lisbon, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and New York route. She later sailed the Haifa, Limassol, Piraeus, Palermo, Naples, Lisbon, Halifax and New York route, occasionally calling at Boston before New York. In due course, these liner services were replaced by full time, one class, cruising. In 1975, she was laid up at Piraeus for a time.
In 1976, the former Greek Queen was sold to Carnival Cruise Lines. The ship was renamed Carnivale. As Carnival's market expanded and the company could afford to buy new ships, the ship transferred into a Latin market subsidiary cruise line.[5]
In 1993, Carnival Cruise Lines transferred registration of the Carnivale to a subsidiary cruise line, Fiesta Marina Cruises. The ship was renamed Fiesta Marina. She became something of a test ship in a cruise line expansion venture, which proved ultimately to be unsuccessful.[5]
In 1994, Fiesta Marine sold ex-Fiesta Marina to Epirotiki. The ship was renamed Olympic. In 1996, she was transferred to Royal Olympic Cruises, operating under the same name.[5]
In 1997, the former Olympic was sold to Cyprus-based Thomson Holidays. The ship was renamed The Topaz.
In 2003, the vessel was chartered, and then later sold to Topaz International to sail for Peace Boat, operating under the name Peace Boat. She was repainted white with a blue funnel, with her name painted in large letters across both sides of the hull. In October 2005, The Topaz was inspected and found to be in immaculate condition, the steam turbines engines operating flawlessly.
Topaz International were looking for a buyer for The Topaz and they had maintained the ship in excellent condition. It was hoped that a buyer could be found as The Topaz offered a potential buyer the opportunity of a ready to work ship. However, rising oil prices, combined with inefficient 50-year-old engines proved too much for any potential buyer. In April 2008, The Topaz was retired from the Peace Boat organization.
After The Topaz was retired in April 2008, she was laid up. On 15 June, while she was anchored, she was struck by the tanker Champion Brali. The collision severed part of her bow.[6] During her lay up, she was sold to the breakers. In mid 2008, Topaz was beached at Alang, India, to be scrapped. She was placed close to the remains of the SS France (1960)/SS Norway.[7] The ship began demolition a few months after being beached. As of December 2022, the Topaz has been completely scrapped.
