SS Normandie was an ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. When she entered service in 1935 she was the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, and maintains today the distinction of being the most powerful steam turbo-electric propelled passenger ship ever built.

Her novel design featured and lavish interiors led many to consider her the greatest of all ocean liners. Despite this she was not a commercial success and relied partly on government subsidy to operate. During her service career as the flagship of the CGT she made 139 transatlantic crossings westbound from her home port of Le Havre to New York and one fewer return.

During World War II Normandie was seized by United States authorities at New York and renamed USS Lafayette. In 1942 the liner caught fire while being converted to a troopship, capsized, and sank at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal. Although she was salvaged at great expense, restoration was deemed too costly and she was scrapped in October 1946.

Origin

The beginnings of Normandie can be traced to the Roaring Twenties when shipping companies started to look for new ships to replace aging veterans such as the , which had first sailed in 1907. Those earlier ships had been designed around the huge numbers of steerage-class immigrants coming from Europe to the United States; when the U.S. closed the door on most immigration in the early 1920s, steamship companies ordered vessels built to serve middle-class tourists instead, particularly Americans who traveled to Europe for alcohol-fueled fun during Prohibition. Companies like Cunard and the White Star Line planned to build their own superliners to rival the newer ships on the scene; such vessels included the record-breaking and , both German ships. The French Line was not to be left out of this new race and soon began to plan their own superliner.

At the time, the French Line's flagship was the , which had modern Art Deco interiors but a relatively conservative hull design. The designers of the new French superliner initially intended to construct their new ship similar to French Line ships of the past but then they were approached by Vladimir Yourkevitch, a former ship architect for the Imperial Russian Navy, who had emigrated to France before the revolution. His ideas included a slanting clipper-like bow and a bulbous forefoot beneath the waterline, in combination with a slim hull. Yourkevitch's concepts worked wonderfully in scale model tests which supported his design's performance advantages. The French engineers were so impressed that they asked Yourkevitch to join their project. Reportedly, he also approached the Cunard Line with his ideas, but was rejected on the grounds that the new bow shape was too radical.

The French Line commissioned a number of artists to create posters and publicity artwork for the new liner. One of the most famous posters of Normandie was later made by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, who, like Yourkevitch, was also a Russian emigrant to France. Another cutaway diagram by Albert Sébille, measuring fifteen feet in length, detailed the interior layout of the liner, and is displayed in the Musée national de la Marine in Paris.

Construction and launch

Work began on the as-yet unnamed French Line flagship in January 1931, soon after the stock market crash of 1929. While the French continued construction, the competing White Star Line's ship (intended as Oceanic) – started before the crash – had to be cancelled and the Cunard ship was put on hold. Soon, the French builders also ran into difficulty and had to ask their government for money to continue construction; this subsidy was questioned in the press. Still, the building was followed heavily 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-built major parts .

As construction went on, the growing hull in Saint-Nazaire had no formal designation except for "T-6" (with "6" for "6th" and "T" for "Transat", short for "CIE. GLE. TRANSATLANTIQUE" aka the "French Line"), the contract name. Many names were suggested including Doumer, after the recently assassinated president Paul Doumer, and originally, La Belle France. Finally the name Normandie was decided upon after much speculation. In what may be a unique quirk of French nomenclature, the name carries no definite article. In France, ship prefixes are customarily masculine, inherited from the French terms for ship, which can be "paquebot", "navire", "bateau", "bâtiment", etc. (including le "France" which is not grammatically correct); but English speakers usually refer to ships as feminine ("she's a beauty"), and the French Line carried many rich American customers. After discussion, French Line officials wrote that their ship was to be called simply "Normandie," preceded by no "le" or "la" (French masculine/feminine for "the") to avoid any confusion.

On October 29, 1932 – three years to the day after the stock market crash – Normandie was launched in front of 200,000 spectators. The 27,567 ton hull that slid into the Loire River was the largest ever launched and it caused a large wave that crashed into a few hundred people, but with no injury. Normandie was outfitted until early 1935, meaning all her interiors, funnels, engines, and other fittings were put in to make her into a working vessel. Finally, in May 1935, Normandie was ready for her trials, which were watched by reporters. The superiority of Vladimir Yourkevitch's hull design was immediately visible: hardly a wave was created off the bulbous bow. The ship demonstrated impressive performance during these trials, reaching a top speed of and performing an emergency stop from that speed in only 1,700 meters.

In addition to a novel hull shape which made it possible for her to attain her great speed at lesser power expenditure than that of the other big liners, Normandie was filled with technical feats. She had turbo-electric engines, chosen for the their ability to allow full reverse power, and according to French Line officials quieter, more easily controlled, and maintained. This engine type was also heavier than conventional turbines and slightly less efficient at higher speeds, but allowed all propellers to operate even if one engine was shut down, this system also made it possible to do away with astern turbines An early form of radar was installed to detect icebergs and other ships.

Interior

The luxurious interiors of Normandie were marvels of Art Déco and Streamline Moderne style. Many of her sculptures and wall paintings made indirect or direct allusions to Normandy, the province of France for which she was named. Drawings and photographs from the era show a series of vast public rooms of great elegance. The children's dining room was decorated by Jean de Brunhoff, who covered the walls with Babar the Elephant and his entourage.

Normandie's voluminous public rooms were made possible by having the funnel intakes split and pass along the sides of the ship, rather than straight upward.

A disproportionate amount of public space was devoted to the first-class passengers, including the dining room, first-class lounge, grille room, first class swimming pool, theatre, Winter Garden, and other amenities. The first class swimming pool featured staggered depths, with a shallow training 'beach' for children.

The interiors were filled with grand perspectives, spectacular entryways, and long, wide staircases. First-class suites on Normandie were given unique designs by a team of renowned designers. The most luxurious accommodations were the Deauville and Trouville apartments, featiromg dining rooms, baby grand pianos, multiple bedrooms, and private decks.

The first class dining hall was far the largest room afloat. At three hundred and five feet (93 m) it was longer than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, stood wide, and towered high. Passengers entered through tall doors adorned with bronze medallions by artist Raymond Subes. The room could seat 700 diners at 157 tables,. 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 thirty-eight matching columns along the walls. These, along with chandeliers hung at either 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 during voyages. Adjoining the cafe grill was the first class smoking room, which was paneled in large murals, depicting ancient Egyptian life. In addition, Normandie boasted both indoor and outdoor pools, a chapel, and a theatre which could double as both a stage and cinema.

The machinery of the top deck and forecastle, normally an eyesore or an annoyance for passengers on the other liners, had been integrated within the ship, concealing it completely and releasing nearly all of the exposed deck space for the passengers' use. The air conditioner units were concealed along with the kennels inside the third "dummy" funnel of the ship.

Career

After more fitting out and final touches, the maiden voyage came on May 29, 1935. Fifty thousand people came to Le Havre to see the large ship off, on what was hoped would be a record-breaking crossing. And indeed it was. Normandie reached New York after just four days, three hours and fourteen minutes, thus snatching away the Blue Riband from the Italian liner . This prize was a source of great pride for the French. They had watched other countries gain this prestigious award year after year but had never had it themselves, until Normandie. Under the leadership of her master, Captain Rene Pugnet, her average speed on the maiden voyage was around and on the eastbound crossing to France she averaged over , shattering records on the way.

At the time of her maiden voyage, the French Line publicly refused to predict that their new flagship would win the Blue Riband. However, by the time the ship reached New York, commemorative medallions of the Blue Riband victory, made in France, were delivered to the passengers, and the ship was flying a long blue pennant. An estimated 100,000 spectators lined New York Harbor for Normandie's triumphant arrival.

With the Blue Riband hers, Normandie had a successful year but come 1936 a new ship was on the scene. The , Cunard's superliner, entered service in the summer of 1936. Cunard had announced that the Queen Mary would surpass 80,000 tons. At 79,280 gross tons, Normandie would in that case lose the prestigious title of being the world’s largest liner to her British rival. Therefore, the French Line decided to increase Normandie’s size, mainly through the addition of an enclosed tourist lounge on the aft boat deck. Following these and a few other alterations, Normandie was re-measured at 83,423 gross tons. Exceeding the Queen Mary by some 2,000 tons, she would remain the world’s largest in terms of overall measured gross tonnage. However in August of that year, the Queen Mary captured the Blue Riband from Normandie averaging , thus starting a fierce rivalry. The Normandie held the size record through the 1930s, until the arrival of the RMS Queen Elizabeth (83,673 gross tons) in 1940.

During her refit, Normandie was also modified to address problems of vibration. Her triple-bladed screws were replaced with quadruple-bladed ones, and structural modifications were made to her lower aft section to reduce the occurrence of vibration. These modifications successfully reduced the problem of vibration at speed.

In July 1937 Normandie regained the Blue Riband once more, but the Queen Mary took it back the next year. After this the captain of Normandie sent a message to the British liner saying "Bravo to the Queen Mary until next time!" This rivalry could have gone on into the 1940s but was unfortunately put to a halt due to World War II, ensuring that there would be no 'next time'.

In her short but famous life, Normandie carried a number of distinguished passengers, including the famed authors Colette and Ernest Hemingway, the wife of French President Albert Lebrun, songwriters Noël Coward and Irving Berlin, and Hollywood celebrities such as Fred Astaire, Marlene Dietrich, Walt Disney, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, and James Stewart. Normandie also carried the von Trapp family Singers of The Sound of Music fame from New York to Southampton in 1938, and from Southampton, the family proceeded to Scandinavia for a tour before eventually returning to America.

During her career, the French Line considered building a sister ship, named the SS Bretagne, which was to be longer and larger, but the outbreak of war and limited finances prevented this.

Demise

The outbreak of war found Normandie in New York Harbor. Soon the Queen Mary, later refitted as a troop ship, docked nearby. Then the newly launched joined the Queen Mary. For two weeks the three largest liners in the world floated side by side. In 1940, after the Fall of France, the United States seized the Normandie under the right of angary.

By 1941, the U.S. Navy decided to convert Normandie into a troopship, and renamed her , in honor both of the famous French volunteer general who fought on the Colonies' behalf in the American Revolution and the alliance with France that made American independence possible.

Earlier proposals included turning the vessel into an aircraft carrier, but this modification was dropped in favor of immediate troop transport needs. The ship was moored at Manhattan's Pier 88 for the conversion. On February 9, 1942, sparks from a welding torch ignited a stack of thousands of life vests filled with kapok, a highly flammable material, that had been stored in the first-class dining room. The woodwork had not yet been removed, and the fire spread rapidly. The ship had a very efficient fire protection system but it had been disconnected during the conversion and its internal pumping system was deactivated. The New York City fire department's hoses also did not fit the ship's French inlets. All on board fled the vessel.

As firefighters on shore and in fire boats poured water on the blaze, the ship developed a dangerous list to port due to the greater amount of water being pumped into the seaward side of the vessel by fireboats. About 2:45 a.m. on February 10, Lafayette capsized, nearly crushing a fire boat.

The ship's designer Vladimir Yourkevitch had been at the scene, and offered his expertise, but was barred from entering by local harbor police. His suggestion was to enter the vessel and open the sea-cocks. This would flood the lower decks of the ship and cause it to settle the few feet to the bottom of the dock. With the ship thus stabilised, water could be pumped into the burning areas without the risk of capsize. However the suggestion was denied by port director Admiral Adolphus Andrews.

The ship was stripped of its superstructure and finally righted in 1943 in what was then the world's most expensive salvage operation. It was subsequently determined the cost of restoring her was too great. After neither the US Navy nor the French Line offered to do so, Yourkevitch made a last-ditch proposal to cut the ship down and restore her as a mid-sized passenger liner. This, too, failed to draw backing, and the hulk of Normandie was sold for a mere $161,680 to Lipsett Inc., an American salvage company. She was scrapped on October 1946.

Legacy

Designer Marin-Marie gave an innovative line to Normandie, a silhouette which influenced ocean liners over the decades, including the Queen Mary 2. The design of Normandie and her chief rival, the Queen Mary, was the main inspiration for Disney Cruise Line's matching vessels, the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder.

The S.S. Normandie also inspired the architecture and design of the Normandie Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Items from Normandie were sold at a series of auctions after her demise, and many pieces are considered valuable Art Deco treasures today. The rescued items include the ten large dining room door medallions and fittings, and some of the individual Jean Dupas glass panels that formed the large murals mounted at the four corners of her Grand Salon.

Also surviving are some examples of the 24,000 pieces of crystal, some from the massive Lalique torcheres, that adorned her Dining Salon. Also some of the room's table silverware, chairs, and gold plated bronze table bases. Custom designed suite and cabin furniture as well as original artwork and statues that decorated the ship, or were built for use by the French Line aboard Normandie, also survive today. Pieces from the Normandie occasionally appear on the BBC TV series Antiques Roadshow. A public lounge and promonade was created from some of the panels and furniture from the S.S. Normandie in the Hilton Chicago.

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See also

• SS Liberté
• Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
• RMS Queen Mary
• RMS Queen Elizabeth

References

1. Ardman, Harvey. "Normandie, Her Life and Times," New York, Franklin Watts, 1985. p. 46-47
2. Ardman 1985, p. 2
3. Floating Palaces. (1996) A&E. TV Documentary. Narrated by Fritz Weaver
4. Maxtone-Graham, John. The Only Way to Cross. New York: Collier Books, 1972, p. 391
5. Ardman 1985, p. 36
6. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 268-69
7. Ardman 1985, p. 42-47
8. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 273
9. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 267.
10. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 269-272
11. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 272
12. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 275
13. Ardman 1985, p. 7, 17-20
14. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 281
15. Ardman 1985, p. 111
16. Ardman 1985, p. 171
17. Ardman 1985, p. 160
18. Ardman 1985, p. 80
19. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 372
20. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 279
21. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 276
22. Ardman 1985, p. 85-86
23. Ardman 1985, p. 86-87
24. Maddocks, Melvin The Great Liners. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1978, p.80-83
25. Ardman 1985, p. 88>
26. Ardman 1985, p. 91-92
27. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 273-75
28. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 284
29. Ardman 1985, p. 147
30. Ardman 1985, p. 137
31. Ardman 1985, p. 166-170
32. Ardman 1985, p. 221
33. Ardman 1985, p. 172-73
34. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 286-87
35. Ardman 1985, p. 325-26
36. Ardman 1985, p. 147, 184-85, 205, 218, 238
37. Ardman 1985, p. 237, 423
38. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 360-61
39. Ardman 1985, p. 274-276
40. Ardman 1985, p. 299
41. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 367-68
42. Ardman 1985, p. 272, 304-14
43. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 373-74
44. Maxtone-Graham 1972, p. 392
45. Ardman 1985, p. 418-20

Further reading

• Ardman, Harvey. "Normandie, Her Life and Times," New York, Franklin Watts, 1985
• Brinnin, John Malcolm. The Sway of the Grand Saloon : a Social History of the North Atlantic. New York : Delacorte Press, 1971
• Coleman, Terry. The liners : a history of the North Atlantic crossing. Harmondsworth, England : Penguin Books, 1977
• Fox, Robert. Liners: The Golden Age. Die Grosse Zeit der Ozeanriesen. L'Âge d'or des paquebots. [trilingual text] Cologne: Konneman, 1999.
• Kludas, Arnold. Record breakers of the North Atlantic - Blue Riband Liners 1838-1952, Chatham Publishing, London, 2000.
• Maddocks, Melvin The Great Liners. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1978.
• Maxtone-Graham, John. The Only Way to Cross. New York: Collier Books, 1972.
• Boks, W. Holland: photo of the model boat SS Normandie 1935.
• Lange Eric & Villers Claude (directed by, original footages by Jean Vivié) A Bord Du Normandie (on board Normandy). Produced by Lobster. France 2005.
• Streater, L: 5 volume series of books from construction to salvage, Marpubs, 2007

External links

• SS Normandie – Magnificent Voyage - Miottel Collection
• Normandie: A Photographic Portrait
• The Normandie - A Dream of Giant
• The Normandie - virtual reality tour of the Art Deco masterpiece
• Normandie Pages - detailed articles about the vessel's career
• SS Normandie - photos and details of books
• French Lines Archives - the liner Normandie
• Pictures in the official French Lines Archives : SS Normandie (french captions)
• The Great Ocean Liners: Normandie