The passenger ship Europa was one of the famous ship of the North German Lloyd line traveling on the North Atlantic route. After the start of World War II, the ship was first used as a barrack ship and in 1940 as a troop transport. Being the largest passenger ship in Germany, the Europa was also selected in the 1942 auxiliary carrier program, but because of the lack of stability and the high fuel consumption, its conversion was stopped in November 1942.
After the war, the Europa was taken over by the US who used the ship as troops transport AP 177 . In 1946 it was given to France, renamed as Liberte and used as a ocean liner again between 1950 and 1962.