HMCS Prince Henry was an armed merchant cruiser and a landing ship infantry during World War II for the Royal Canadian Navy. The ship began service as the ocean liner SS Prince Henry for the Canadian National Steamship Company servicing ports along the Canadian British Columbia Coast and cities in the United States Northwest. However, lack of commercial opportunity and the arrival of the Great Depression forced the vessel's owners to send Prince Henry to ply the passenger trade along the North American eastern seaboard. In 1937, the vessel was chartered by Clarke Steamship Company and renamed SS North Star for service in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Clarke Steamship Company purchased the vessel outright in 1938. In 1939, with the outbreak of World War II, North Star was one of the vessels acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy for naval service, which returned the ship to its original name.
Converted to an armed merchant cruiser, Prince Henry was ordered to patrol along the west coast of South America to intercept German merchant vessels trying to break the British blockade and return to Germany. Prince Henry took part in the apprehension of two German merchant vessels. The armed merchant cruiser escorted convoys in the US Aleutians campaign before returning to Canada to undergo conversion to a landing ship infantry. Following the conversion, Prince Henry was sent to the United Kingdom to take part in the invasion of Normandy. Prince Henry landed troops on Juno Beach on D-day and then spent the next two months supporting the beachhead. The vessel was then sent to the Mediterranean Sea in preparation for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France. Prince Henry was flagship of one of the advance forces clearing coastal islands prior to the main invasion. Prince Henry continued service in the Mediterranean, landing Allied troops at Piraeus in the liberation of Greece from the Axis powers. Following this service, Prince Henry returned to the United Kingdom where the ship was paid off by the Royal Canadian Navy and loaned to the Royal Navy.
Taken into British service as Prince Henry, the vessel served as an accommodation ship and headquarters ship at Wilhelmshaven, Plymouth and Falmouth. Following the end of the war, the ship was acquired outright by the Ministry of War Transport, renamed Empire Parkeston and used as a troopship to shuttle military personnel between Harwich and the Hook of Holland. In 1956, Empire Parkeston was one of the troopships used to land invasion forces at Port Said in the Suez Crisis. The vessel was taken out of service in 1961 and sold to be broken up for scrap at La Spezia, Italy in 1962.
As built, Prince Henry was considered a small ocean liner. The ship was 366feet long between perpendiculars with a beam of 57feet. The vessel had a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 6,893 tons. Prince Henry had a small forecastle and cruiser stern as built and three funnels situated on an extra deck combined with a vertical stem.
The ship was powered by six Yarrow watertube boilers feeding two Parsons single reduction geared steam turbines, driving two shafts. The engines were rated at 19000shp during sea trials, giving the ship a maximum speed of 23lk=inNaNlk=in. However, in service the vessel operated at 16500shp with maximum speed of 21.5kn. Prince Henry could carry 1470LT of fuel oil.
Prince Henry had a capacity of 334 first class passengers and 70 deck passengers. The ship could also accommodate several cars. After being acquired by the Clarke Steamship Company, the vessel was refitted to carry 335 cruise passengers.
In 1939 Prince Henry was converted first to an armed merchant cruiser, then in 1943, to a landing ship infantry. The ship's displacement as a warship was 5736LT and had a draught of 21feet. The ship was armed with four single breech-loading 6adj=onNaNadj=on Mk VII guns of antiquated design for engaging surface targets were mounted along the centreline, two forward and two aft. The guns had a maximum angle of 20° and could not be used against aircraft.