Compagnie Maritime Belge: "Cruises by the Superb Liner LEOPOLDVILLE" reads the headline on this tissue flier from January of 1933. The Belgian Line offered passage to Portugal and Canary Islands and back in May and June. In July through September they sailed the LEOPOLDVILLE on North Cape cruises. The ship was just four years old when this ad was printed and usually sailed to the Belgian Congo but was placed on cruise duty to fill empty cabins. A decade plus later the atmosphere onboard was anything but cruise-like. The ship was being used for transporting troops across the English Channel to Cherbourg. On Christmas Eve 1944 torpedoes hit the ship and she went down within sight of the harbor. 764 lives were lost, many because the ship was overcrowded, lacked enough lifeboats, had an uncommunicative crew, and didn't radio for help. Churchill held the news from the public and the story wasn't known until after the war.