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 439 ft long, with a beam of 57 ft and a depth of 34 ft. She was propelled by two quadruple expansion steam engines, which had cylinders of 23 in, 33 in, 47 in and 67 in bore by 48 in 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.