SS Elisabethville ( 1921 ) Elisabethville was a 8 , 851 GRT ocean liner which was built in 1921 for Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo . In 1930 the company became Compagnie Maritime Belge . She was used on the Antwerp - Matadi route . In 1940 , " Elisabethville " was requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport ( MoWT ) for use as a troopship . She briefly returned to merchant service in 1946 before being requisitioned again in 1947 for further troopship duties , this time being renamed Empire Bure . She was then laid up before being sold in 1950 to Charlton Steamship Co and was renamed Charlton Star . In 1958 , she was sold to a Greek company and renamed Maristrella , serving until she was scrapped in 1960 . Description . " Elisabethville " was built by J Cockerill SA , Hoboken Belgium for Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo . She was yard number 562 . " Elisabethville " was launched on 19 May 1921 and completed in November 1921 . She had accommodation for 700 passengers in a single class . The ship was long , with a beam of and a depth of . She was propelled by two quadruple expansion steam engine s , which had cylinders of , , and bore by stroke . The engine was built by SA J Cockerill , Seraing , Belgium . As built , she had a GRT of 8 , 178 and a NRT of 4 , 869 . Career . " Elisabethville " was operated by Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo , which in 1930 became Compagnie Maritime Belge ( CMB ) . She was used on the Antwerp - Matadi route . In 1930 , " Elisabethville " was rebuilt . The rebuild resulted in an increase to 8 , 351 GRT . She was placed under the management of Agence Maritime Internationale . In 1940 , she was requisitioned by the MoWT for use as a troopship under the management of Lamport & Holt Line , entering service on 16 December 1940 . On 3 February 1947 , she was returned to CMB , returning to Antwerp on 7 March . On 18 March , " Elisabethville " was requisitioned by the Ministry of Transport and renamed " Empire Bure " . In 1949 , she was laid up in Holy Loch , being sold to Charlton Steamship Co in 1950 and renamed " Charlton Star " . The ship was refitted as an ocean liner by Beliard , Crichton & Co , Greenock . She was towed to Antwerp by the tug " Turmoil " , arriving on 3 April 1950 . " Charlton Star " was operated under the management of Chandris ( England ) Ltd . In 1952 , during the Suez Crisis , " Charlton Star " was used as an accommodation ship at Tobruk . She served until 1957 when she was laid up at La Spezia , Italy . In 1958 , " Charlton Star " was sold to Navigation Maristrella SA , Monrovia and renamed " Maristrella " , operating under the management of A J & D J Chandris , Greece . She served with Chandris for a couple of years before she was scrapped at Osaka , Japan , arriving for scrapping on 19 January 1960 . Official Numbers and Code Letters . Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers . " Empire Bure " and " Charlton Star " had the United Kingdom Official Number 181651 . " Maristrella " had the Liberian Official Number 1219 . " Elisabethville " used the Code Letters MENV until 1933 , and OPEA from 1934 . Culture and Media . A painting of " Elisabethville " on her maiden voyage in May 1921 was made by Belgian artist Eugeen Van Mieghem .