Elisabethville was an 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 served the Antwerp - Matadi route. Elisabethville was named after a city in what was then Belgian Congo. The city is now Lubumbashi. 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, and rechristened the Empire Bure.