SS Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, crossing the Atlantic in a record 4.14 days, and remains the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built.
During service as the flagship of the CGT, she made 139 westbound transatlantic crossings from her home port of Le Havre to New York City. Normandie held the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing at several points during her service career, during which was her main rival.
During the Second World War, Normandie was seized by U.S. authorities at New York and renamed USS Lafayette. In 1942, while being converted to a troopship, the liner caught fire and capsized onto her port side and came to rest, half submerged, on the bottom of the Hudson River at Pier 88 (the site of the current Manhattan Cruise Terminal). Although salvaged at great expense, restoration was deemed too costly and she was scrapped in October 1946.
Origins The origins of Normandie can be traced to the 1920s, when the U.S. put restrictions on immigration, greatly reducing the traditional market for steerage-class passengers from Europe, and placing a new emphasis on upper-class tourists, largely Americans, many of them wanting to escape prohibition.Floating Palaces. (1996) A&E. TV Documentary. Narrated by Fritz Weaver Companies like Cunard and the White Star Line planned to build their own superliners to rival newer ships of the day; such vessels included the record-breaking and , both German. The French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) began to plan its own superliner.
The CGT's flagship was the , which had modern Art Deco interiors but a conservative hull design. The designers intended their new superliner to be similar to earlier French Line ships. Then they were approached by Vladimir Yourkevitch, a former ship architect for the Imperial Russian Navy who had emigrated to France after the 1917 revolution. Yourkevitch's ideas included a slanting clipper-like bow and a bulbous forefoot beneath the waterline, in combination with a slim hydrodynamic hull. His concepts worked wonderfully in scale models, confirming the design's performance advantages. The French engineers were convinced by Yourkevitch and asked him to join their project. He also approached Cunard with his ideas, but was rejected because the bow was deemed too radical.
The CGT commissioned artists to create posters and publicity for the liner. One of the most famous posters was by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, another Russian emigrant to France. Another poster, by Albert Sébille, showed the interior layout in a cutaway diagram long. This poster is displayed in the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.
Construction and launch
Work by the Société Anonyme des Chantiers de Penhoët began on the unnamed flagship on 26 January 1931 at Saint-Nazaire, not long after the stock market crash of 1929. While the French continued construction, the competing White Star Line's planned Oceanic was cancelled and Cunard's put on hold. French builders also ran into difficulty and had to ask for government money; this subsidy was questioned in the press. Still, the ship's construction was followed by newspapers and national interest was deep, as she was designed to represent France in the nation-state contest of the great liners and was built in a French shipyard using French parts.
The growing hull in Saint-Nazaire had no formal designation except "T-6" ("T" for "Transat", an alternate name for the French Line, and "6" for "6th"), the contract name."T-6 The Latest Giant Of The Sea" Popular Mechanics, December 1932 Many names were suggested including Doumer, after Paul Doumer, the recently assassinated President of France; and originally, La Belle France. Finally Normandie was chosen, a name last used by CGT for a financially successful ocean liner in service from May 1883 until October 1911. In France, boat prefixes properly depend on the boat name's gender, but non-sailors mostly use the masculine form, inherited from the French terms for boat, which can be "paquebot", "navire", "bateau", or "bâtiment". British and Germans refer to boats as feminine ("she's a beauty"). The CGT called their ship simply "Normandie", preceded by neither "le" nor "la" (French masculine/feminine for "the") to avoid any confusion.
On 29 October 1932 – three years to the day after the stock market crash – Normandie was launched in front of two hundred thousand spectators. The 27,567-ton hull that slid into the river Loire was the largest launched and the wave washed up the shoreline and over several hundred spectators, but with no injury. She was dedicated by Madame Marguerite Lebrun, wife of Albert Lebrun, the president of France. The ship was outfitted until early 1935, her interiors, funnels, engines, and other fittings put in to make her into a working vessel. Finally, in May 1935, Normandie was ready for trials, which were watched by reporters. The hydrodynamic qualities of Yourkevitch's hull resulted in very little bow wave. The ship reached a top speed of and used her ability to dedicate all engines to full reverse to perform an emergency stop from that speed in .
In addition to a hull design which let her attain speed at far less power than other big liners, Normandie had a turbo-electric transmission, with turbo-generators and electric propulsion motors built by Alsthom of Belfort. She remains the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built. The CGT chose turbo-electric transmission because they felt it was quieter, more easily maintained, and more easily controlled, as it had the ability to use full power from all engines in reverse, removing the need for dedicated astern turbines. The engine installation was heavier than conventional turbines and slightly less efficient at high speed but allowed all propellers to operate even if one engine was not running. An early form of radar was installed to help avoid collisions. The rudder frame, including the 125-ton cast steel connecting rod, was produced by Škoda Works in Czechoslovakia.
Normandie had a significant cost. By the time of her maiden voyage, she had cost 615 million francs, then equal to $43 million (equivalent to $ million in ).
Interior Normandies luxurious interiors were designed in Art Déco and Streamline Moderne style by architect Pierre Patout, one of the founders of the Art Deco style.Oudin, Bernard. Dictionnaire des Architectes, Sechiers, Paris, (1994), (in French), page 372. Many sculptures and wall paintings made allusions to Normandy, the province of France for which the ship was named. Drawings and photographs show a series of vast public rooms of great elegance. Her voluminous interior spaces were made possible by having the funnel uptakes split to pass along the sides of the ship, rather than straight upward. French architect Roger-Henri Expert was in charge of the overall decorative scheme.
Most of the public space was devoted to first-class passengers, including the dining room, first-class lounge, grill room, first-class swimming pool, theatre and winter garden. The first-class swimming pool featured staggered depths, with a shallow training beach for children. The children's dining room was decorated by Jean de Brunhoff, who covered the walls with Babar the Elephant and his entourage.
The interiors were filled with grand perspectives, spectacular entryways, and long, wide staircases. First-class suites were given unique designs by select designers. The most luxurious accommodations were the Deauville and Trouville apartments, featuring dining rooms, baby grand pianos, multiple bedrooms, and private decks.
Normandies first-class dining hall was the largest room afloat. At , it was longer than the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, wide, and high. Passengers entered through doors adorned with bronze medallions by artist Raymond Subes. The room could seat 700 at 157 tables, with Normandie serving as a floating promotion for the most sophisticated French cuisine of the period. As no natural light could enter it was illuminated by twelve tall pillars of Lalique glass flanked by 38 matching columns along the walls. These, with chandeliers hung at each end of the room, earned the Normandie the nickname "Ship of Light" (similar to Paris as the "City of Light").
A popular feature was the café grill, which would be transformed into a nightclub. Adjoining the café grill was the first-class smoking room, which was paneled in large murals depicting ancient Egyptian life. The ship also had indoor and outdoor pools, a chapel, and a theatre which could double as a stage and cinema.
The machinery of Normandies top deck and forecastle was integrated within the ship, concealing it and releasing nearly all the exposed deck space for passengers. As such it was the only ocean liner to have a regulation-sized open air tennis court on board. The air conditioner units were concealed along with the kennels inside the third, dummy, funnel.
Career
Normandies maiden voyage was on 29 May 1935. At Le Havre she took aboard 812 Passengers: 467 First Class Passengers, 244 Tourist Class and 101 Third Class. 50,000 people saw her off at Le Havre on what was hoped would be a record-breaking crossing. At Southampton she took aboard an additional 195 Passengers: 122 First Class Passengers, 53 Tourist Class and 20 Third Class. Her combined total was 1,007 passengers. First Class was booked at two-thirds capacity with 589, Tourist Class was half booked at 293, while Third Class was at less than a quarter capacity with only 121.New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1957
She reached New York City after four days, three hours and two minutes, taking away the Blue Riband from the Italian liner . This brought great pride for the French, who had not won the distinction before. Under the command of Captain René Pugnet, Normandies average on the maiden voyage was and on the eastbound crossing to France, she averaged over , breaking records in both directions.
During the maiden voyage, the CGT refused to predict that their ship would win the Blue Riband. However, by the time the ship reached New York, medallions of the Blue Riband victory, made in France, were delivered to passengers and the ship flew a blue pennant. An estimated 100,000 spectators lined New York Harbor for Normandies arrival. All passengers were presented with a medal celebrating the occasion on behalf of the CGT.
Normandie had a successful year but modifications were necessary. During her winter layover, CGT increased Normandies size, mainly through the addition of an enclosed tourist lounge on the aft boat deck, to reduce vibrations. Following these and other alterations, she measured 83,423 GRT when she reentered service in May 1936. In contrast, her rival, Queen Mary, Cunard White Star Line's superliner, which entered service later that month, was only 80,774 gross registered tons. As such, Normandie retained the title of world's largest ship until Cunard White Star Line's at 83,673 gross registered tons formally entered service in 1946.
On 22 June 1936, a Blackburn Baffin, S5162 of A Flight, RAF Gosport, flown by Lt Guy Kennedy Horsey on torpedo-dropping practice, buzzed Normandie off Ryde Pier and collided with a derrick which was transferring a motor car belonging to Arthur Evans, MP, onto a barge alongside the ship. The aircraft crashed onto Normandies bow. The pilot was taken off by tender, but the wreckage of the aircraft remained on board Normandie as she had to sail due to the tide. It was carried to Le Havre. A salvage team from the Royal Air Force later removed the wreckage. Horsey was court-martialled and found guilty on two charges, and Evans' car was wrecked in the accident.