RMS Empress of Japan ( 1891 ) RMS " Empress of Japan " , also known as the " Queen of the Pacific " , was an ocean liner built in 1890 - 1891 by Naval Construction & Armament Co . , Barrow , England for Canadian Pacific Steamships ( CP ) . This ship - - the first of two CP vessels to be named " Empress of Japan " - - regularly traversed the trans - Pacific route between the west coast of Canada and the Far East until 1922 . Over the course of her career , the " Empress " traversed 4 million kilometres ( 2 . 5 million miles ) . She made 315 Pacific crossings . In 1891 , Canadian Pacific Railway ( CPR ) and the British government reached agreement on a contract for subsidized mail service between Britain and Hong Kong via Canada ; and the route began to be serviced by three specially designed ocean liners . Each of these three vessels was given an Imperial name . The RMS " Empress of Japan " and her two running mates - the RMS " Empress of China and the RMS " Empress of India " - created a flexible foundation for the CPR trans - Pacific fleet which would ply this route for the next half century . History . The " Empress of Japan " was built by Naval Construction & Armament Co . ( now absorbed into Vickers Armstrongs ) at Barrow , England . The 5 , 905 - ton vessel had a length of , and her beam was . The white - painted , clipper - bowed ship had two buff - colored funnels with a band of black paint at the top , three lightweight schooner - type masts , and an average speed of 16 - knots . This " Empress " and her two sister - ship " Empresses " were the first vessels in the Pacific to have twin propellers with reioprocating engines . The ship was designed to provide accommodation for 770 passengers ( 120 first class , 50 second class and 600 steerage ) . She was launched on 13 December 1890 by Lady Alice Stanley , daughter - in - law of Lord Stanley , who was then the Governor - General of Canada . The ship left Liverpool on 11 April 1891 on her maiden voyage via Suez to Hong Kong and Vancouver , arriving in British Columbia on 2 June . Thereafter , she regularly sailed the route between Canada and the east coast of Asia . In the early days of wireless telegraphy , the call sign established for the " Empress of Japan " was " MPJ . " It also transported passengers and cargo , notably Japanese tea . This vessel was part of a fleet of " Empress " ships , but somehow the " Empress of Japan " stood out , in part because she held the speed record for crossing the $ 3 for over two decades . Captained by Captain Henry Pybus , the RMS Empress of Japan won blue ribbon for record crossing of the Trans - Pacific crossing of 1897 . The proud ship remained in active trans - Pacific service until 1922 ; and then she lingered , harbor - bound in Vancouver for several years . The dragon masthead has been preserved at the Seawall in Stanley Park World War I . The " Empress " was refitted as an Armed merchantman during the Great War ; and consequently , she lost the elegant white gleam associated with luxury cruise ships . The agreement of commission between Canadian Pacific Railway , the Canadian Federal Government and the British Parliament included a clause which stated that in the event of war , the " Empress of Japan " would be re - fitted to meet Admiralty requirements . In 1914 , two days before the " Empress " arrived in Yokohama on a routine trip to Asia , World War I broke out in Europe . His Majesty ' s Admiralty acted swiftly to take advantage of the wartime commissioning clause , and the " Empress " was re - fitted . During the war years , SS " Empress of Japan " was also refitted as an Armed Auxiliary Cruiser . After the Armistice , this ship was the only one of the first three " Empress " ocean liners to return to the trans - Pacific route . In 1923 , the war - weary ship was used in a different kind of battle when CP used the aging " Empress " to house strikebreakers in a dispute with the Vancouver and District Waterfront Workers ' Association . The ship remained moored in Vancouver ' s harbor until 1926 . The CP eventually replaced the old ship with a new one , which was also called the RMS " Empress of Japan " . Salvage . The figurehead was rescued after being discarded from during the salvage of the " Empress of Japan " by the " Vancouver Daily Province " newspaper . It was restored and in 1927 was mounted for public display in Vancouver ' s Stanley Park . That figurehead was itself replaced in 1960 with a fiberglass replica , as the original was beginning to deteriorate . The original figurehead has been once again restored and is now housed at the Vancouver Maritime Museum as part of its permanent collection . Various portions of the ship ' s once lavish interior were also scavenged by local homeowners from Vancouver ' s wealthiest neighborhoods and added to their homes and property values .