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The German submarine U-32 sank the
Canadian Pacific Line’s 42,348-ton
flagship Empress of
Britain II during World War
Two. The rebuilding of the Canadian
Pacific fleet after the war led to the
25,500-ton Empress of
Britain III entering
service in 1956. The following year, they
replaced their aging 26,032-ton
Empress of Scotland
with the 25,500-ton Empress
of England. The Canadian
Pacific Line then ordered Empress
of Canada to give them
three modern liners on the Britain -
Canada run. Empress of
Canada entered service on the
Liverpool - Montreal run April 24th 1961.
The dramatic increase in the aircraft
industry over the following decade forced
the Canadian Pacific Line to start
selling their ships. Empress
of Britain was sold first
in 1963 with Empress of
England following in 1970.
After providing a service for 68
years, the Canadian Pacific Line came to
an end when Empress of
Canada was laid up at Liverpool
November 23rd 1971. The newly formed
Carnival Cruise Line bought
Empress of Canada in
January 1972 to be operated under the
name Mardi Gras. With
Carnival building up their fleet to an
extent they had become the largest cruise
line in the world by the 1990s, they sold
the aging Mardi Gras to the
Greek owned Epirotiki line in 1993.
Epirotiki chartered her to Gold Star
Cruises at that time to be operated under
the name Star of
Texas. After a short time being
operated on gambling cruises from
Galveston - Mexican Gulf, financial
problems led to Star of
Texas being relocated to Miami.
Gold Star then tried to buy time from the
creditors by operating her on gambling
cruises out of Miami under the name
Lucky Star. With the
creditors closing in before the losses
could be turned around, Lucky
Star was returned to Greece.
Epirotiki then chartered her to various
companies under the name
Apollon.
This ship was scrapped in 2004 at the
Alang ship breakers in India where all
the large tankers are dismantled on the
beaches.
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