Editing SS Commissaire Ramel (section)

===Service history===
''Commissaire Ramel'' was launched on 20 March 1920, and entered service with the Compagnie des [[Messageries Maritimes]] on 24 April 1921, as a [[cargo liner]], sailing between France and the [[Far East]].<ref name="frenchlines"/>

In 1926 she was refitted in La Ciotat as an [[ocean liner]], receiving a promenade deck, lifeboat deck, and an additional boiler.<ref name="frenchlines"/> This gave her the capacity to carry up to 552 passengers, and increased her tonnages to 20,323 tonnes displacement and 10,092 GRT. The additional boiler increased her power to 5,000 hp,{{clarification needed|Reason=Which type of horsepower?|date=February 2021}} giving her a speed to {{cvt|14|kn|km/h}}.<ref name="maritimes"/> On 19 January 1927 she returned to service, sailing between France and Australia.<ref name="frenchlines"/>

In 1931 she was refitted again. Her boilers were converted from coal to oil fuel, and a low-pressure [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbine]] was added alongside her triple-expansion engine.<ref name=LR31>{{cite book |year=1931 |title=Lloyd's Register |volume=II |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/31/31b0282.pdf |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref> Exhaust steam from the low-pressure cylinder of her piston engine powered the turbine, which was geared onto the same propeller shaft as her piston engine. The addition of the turbine increased her total power to 6,250 hp.<ref name="maritimes"/>{{clarification needed|Reason=Which type of horsepower?|date=February 2021}}

Until 1933 the ship's [[code letters]] were OEXC.<ref name=LR31/> In 1934 these were superseded by the [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] FOAR.<ref>{{cite book |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register |volume=II |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |publisher=Lloyd's Register |via=Southampton City Council |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0211.pdf |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref>

In 1935 she was transferred to a new route, sailing between [[Marseille]] and [[New Caledonia]] in the South Pacific, via the Panama Canal.<ref name="frenchlines"/> On 19 May 1940 she left Marseille under the command of Captain Sabouret, bound for Tahiti. She arrived at [[Papeete]] on 28 June 1940,<ref name="alamer"/> five days after the signing of [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|armistice between France and Germany]] that ended the [[battle of France]]. On 18 July 1940 she arrived at [[Suva]] in [[Colony of Fiji|Fiji]] to refuel, but was [[Expropriation|requisitioned]] by the authorities there. She was taken to Sydney, Australia, where 26 members of the crew, including the captain, volunteered to serve aboard.<ref name="frenchlines"/>