HMS Princess Beatrix HMS Princess Beatrix HMS "Princess Beatrix" was a commando troop ship of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Built as a civilian passenger liner in 1939 by De Schelde at Vlissingen, she was named the MS "Prinses Beatrix", after Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, and operated by Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (SMZ) (The Zealand Steamship Company) between Flushing and Harwich, along with her sister ship, MS "Koningin Emma". After fleeing to Britain after the German invasion in 1940, she was requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport, renamed HMS "Princess Beatrix" and converted to a troopship at Harland
HMS Queen Emma front line. On the return trip to Algiers she was repeatedly attacked by German aircraft, but made port without damage. "Queen Emma", her sister ship "Princess Beatrix", and the former Burn & Laird Lines ships and became known as the "Moonlight Squadron" for their preference for operating at night. After the fall of Tunis in May 1943 the ships received a special commendation from the Allied Army Commanders and a letter from the British Admiral Andrew Cunningham, the Commander in Chief of the western Mediterranean. "Queen Emma" was then attached to the ships of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily.