RMS Empress of Asia was an ocean liner built in 1912–1913 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships. As well as being a passenger liner in peacetime, Empress of Asia served as an armed merchant cruiser and a troopship in wartime. She was sunk during World War II by Japanese aircraft while transiting from Bombay to Singapore. Service history Empress of Asia was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan near Glasgow in Scotland She was launched on 23 November 1912, and christened by Mrs. Bosworth, wife of the Vice-President of the Canadian Pacific Railway. She completed her maiden voyage in 1913. In May 1914, Captain Samuel Robinson pushed the RMS Empress of Asia and her crew in setting a new world's record for both a single day's steaming (473 nautical miles) and for crossing the Pacific (nine days, two hours, and fifteen minutes). World War I During the First World War, Empress of Asia was converted into an auxiliary cruiser at Hong Kong. She was armed with eight 4.7-inch (12 cm) guns and Royal Navy officers assumed command. Among her peacetime crew only those in the Royal Naval Reserve were retained. She was deployed in Asia, in the Middle East and in the Atlantic with Chinese, British Indian and Portuguese Indian (Goan) crew. In late 1914, Empress of Asia was among the cruisers tasked with hunting the German light cruiser SMS Emden in the Indian Ocean east of Ceylon. The Empress of Asia transported wounded German prisoners from the sunken Emden to Colombo. On 9 September 1918, Empress of Asia set sail from Hoboken, NJ bound for Liverpool carrying troops from the 86th Infantry Division's 331st Machine Gun Battalion, 311th Engineer Regiment and 311th Engineer Train. She arrived safely on 21 September 1918. In 1919, Empress of Asia returned to Vancouver carrying the 72nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF); and the men disembarked from the ship at the CPR pier. Inter-war period Amongst the celebrities who sailed in Empress of Asia was Bertrand Russell. The writer traveled from Yokohama to Vancouver in the late summer of 1921. On 11 January 1926, Empress of Asia rammed the British coastal steamer in the Yangtze at Shanghai, China. Tung Shing sank with the loss of between five and ten lives. Empress of Asia and Empress of Canada evacuated