funnels by 15 feet, though decreasing her low profile. After they were raised, there were no more complaints. She held the Riband until Bremen recaptured it in June 1933. Aircraft Like Bremen, Europa had a small seaplane launched from a catapult on her upper deck between the funnels. The airplane flew from the ship to a landing at the seaplane port in Blexen. The catapult was removed from both Bremen and Europa after a few years of service. World War II Europa was inactive for most of World War II. There were plans to use her as a transport in Operation Sea Lion, the intended invasion of Great Britain, and later conversion to an aircraft carrier. None of these plans came to pass, and in 1945, she was captured by the Allies and used as a troopship, sailing as the USS Europa (AP-177). The US Navy ensign who was handed the German captain’s pistol as the sign of surrender was a 28 year old surnamed Dolin. The United States claimed the ship as a war prize on 8 May 1945 and gave the vessel to the US Navy, which commissioned Europa 25 August 1945. Europa cleared Bremerhaven on 11 September 1945 for Southampton, England, where she loaded 4,500 homeward-bound American troops, arriving in New York City on 24 September. After alteration to increase her troop-carrying capacity, she made two voyages to Southampton to bring US servicemen home to the United States. She sailed from New York once more, on 15 March 1946, bound for Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, and Bremerhaven, where she moored on 24 March. Europa suffered from small fires caused by the removal of the ship's original high-quality fittings and installation of inferior replacements to compensate for material shortages in the war effort. Also, several serious hull cracks were discovered. The vessel was decommissioned on 2 May 1946 and delivered to the State Department on 8 June 1946. She was later transferred to France in partial payment of war reparations. French Line After World War II French line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique was awarded the Europa as a war prize to replace the destroyed , which had caught fire and capsized at her moorings while interned by the United States in New York City. Europa was taken to Le Havre for refitting – which proved fraught with difficulties. On December 8, 1946, a storm caused her to break