Vive la France! Vive la Normandie!

It is hard, perhaps even unfair to, label a ship as the most magnificent of all.  Deciding what is, or is not exceptional, is much a matter of aesthetics and personal taste.  Yet, most ocean liner experts and enthusiasts do not shy from elevating one ship above all-- the Normandie.  Much admired and greatly anticipated in her day, the Normandie was one of a kind and the ship of the 1930s. 

1:1250 model of Normandie by Mercator with tugboats by Tri-ang Minic.

Planned and built during the Great Depression, the state subsided CGT spend $60 million on the most technologically advanced and artistically designed ocean liner.  She was to be a true floating symbol of France.  The press and public were amazed by her particulars:  over 1,000 feet long, heaver than 80,000 tons, three deck high public spaces, advanced fire and safety systems, and a streamlined hull.  The French Line did not publicly state that Normandie would try to win the Blue Ribband, many speculated that she was built with that objective in mind.

Adolphe Cassandre's famed 1935 depiction of the SS Normandie.

Her clipper ship hull design was unlike that of any other ocean liner, and combined with a bulbous forefoot, and powerful turbo electric engines, she was meant to be a fast ship.  Her designer, Vladimir Yourkevitch, designed the hull to be fuel efficient as well.  She would use considerably less fuel and need 1/5 less horsepower than her British rival, Queen Mary. Yourkevitch approached Cunard with his hull design, but the conservative British company decided on a more conventional approach (some design elements from Normandie were incorporated in QueenElizabeth).  More than 200,000 people came to watch the launching of the world’s largest ship.

Note the clipper shaped bow.

The interiors were unabashedly modern and elegant.  The major first class public rooms, such as the dining saloon, featured Lalique, hammered glass, aluminum, and steel.  Enormous brass doors with fantastic etchings led to and from the room into the lounge.  The dining saloon was three decks high and longer that the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles (300 feet long).  The room seated 1,000 guests at 400 tables.  The dinner menu was just as impressive with seven hors d’oeuvres, five soups, six salad choices, and delectable entrees.  Everything was oversized to impress:  the theater had 380 seats on two levels, the garage held 100 touring cars, and the swimming pool was 80 feet long with graduated depths.

Normandie's main dining room, decorated with Lalique glass and compared to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

The major first class public rooms were arranged along major corridors and flowed from room to room.  There was a grill room and bar, and forward, a winter garden with birds and tropical plants.  Passengers could relax in comfort while watching the liner push through the Atlantic ahead. 

Bow-on view of Normandie.  The observation lounge is behind the front-facing windows on the lowest deck of the superstructure.

All of the cabins, even in third class, were ahead of the competition in size and comfort.  The most expensive suites, located on the promenade deck included private verandas, living rooms and dining rooms.  Each of the four bedrooms included a private bathroom.  On a special 24-day cruise to Rio in 1939, one of these suites cost $9,175 for each of the eight passengers.  Such cost and opulence was thought to intimidate many but the most fashionable travelers.

Mercator model and chair from Normandie's dining saloon.  The chairs are used in the Normandie Room at the Chicago Conrad Hilton, which purchased some furnishings in 1945.  The chairs are reupholstered and still in use.

Indeed, the ship barely averaged half of her carrying capacity and never made a profit.  The cost of operation and maintenance was astronomical, particularly in the tough economy.  The ship was a success however, conveying the strength and ingenuity of France, and maintaining competition on the Atlantic.

Note the tiered superstructure gradually easing down each deck level.

Normandie’s construction was ahead of her British rival, Queen Mary, but it was clear that the builders in France and Scotland were closely watching each other.  Changes were made to each vessel as facts and figures became public (additional superstructure was added to increase her tonnage to 83,000 to best the Mary’s 81,000).  The two ships became linked in the public mind as national symbols and as ocean greyhounds racing like yachts on the open sea.

Maiden voyage arrival in New York. Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3b36522.

The maiden voyage of Normandie in May 1935 went smoothly and she arrived in New York shattering all records: 4 days 3 hours and 14 minutes at an average speed of 32 knots.  The arrival was cheered by thousands of people gathered on the shores of New York and New Jersey and thousands more on a flotilla of ferries, excursion boats, and tugs.  Even though the French never made a formal challenge for the record, they were very confident of their vessel as each passenger was given a medallion at the end of the voyage celebrating the capture of the Blue Ribband!  She also was the first ship to fly a blue pennant from her mainmast upon arrival.  The Italians sadly, but graciously, surrendered the record set by the Rex, but the Germans boasted that Bremen and Europa would be unleashed with their full power and reclaim the prize.  Neither ship would win another speed record.  The Queen Mary challenged her in 1936 and again in 1938, winning the record once and for all.

Overhead view of Normandie at sea.  From Wikimedia commons, public domain.

The two ships enjoyed an exciting rivalry until war clouds gathered in 1939.  When Britain and France entered the war against Nazism in September, Normandie was in New York.  Her furnishings were covered and a skeleton crew of 100 watched over the ship.  She was safest here lest she fall into Axis hands.  When France fell, the Vichy government claimed Normandie was theirs, but Washington had already prepared to seize the vessel.  On December 16, 1941, Normandie was seized by the US Navy, renamed Lafayette and commandeered as a troopship.  Her fittings were stripped and work began in earnest.  A shipment of highly flammable life vests caught fire on February 9, 1942.  Like the Paris a few years earlier, the fire spread quickly and attempts to put the fire out dangerously overloaded the vessel with water. 

The wreck of the USS Lafayette (ex-Normandie).  National Archives Photograph, 80-G-410243. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Normandie capsized along the pier and declared a loss.  In order to begin war service, she would need millions of dollars worth of repair.  In 1943 the hull, with superstructure cut down, was re floated. The Navy deemed Lafayette unnecessary for the war effort. The hull was sold for scrap in 1946 and towed away.  An ignominious end to one of the most magnificent liners ever built.

Normandie (1935-1942) built for CGT by Chantiers d’Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France.  82,799 gross tons, 1,028 feet long, 117 feet wide.  Steam turboelectric turbines geared to quadruple screw.  Service speed 29 knots.  1,972 passengers (848 first class, 670 tourist class, 454 third class).

SS Paris: An Art Nouveau Châteaux

The French Line (Companie Generale Transatlantique, or CGT) operated some of the most distinctive vessels in the 1920s and 1930s.  CGT made their reputation for outstanding service, haute cuisine, and cutting-edge interior decor.  In these respects, French vessels were ahead of the competition.  From the end of World War I, the British lines operated the fastest and largest liners on the North Atlantic (and the colonial routes as well).  The German lines were slowly rebuilding and the Americans ran a fleet of slower but pleasant liners.  These vessels were, however, “dry” and unpopular with fashionable travelers.  The savvy travelers sailed on British or French vessels in those days.

Paris passes Lafayette at sea.

Unlike Cunard or North German Lloyd, the French Line did not build sister ships.  Each vessel was unique and often an improvement over the previous liner.  The France (1912) for instance, was a masterpiece of the use of historic styles and its Louis XIV dinning saloon, outshone anything built by the Sun King himself.  She was the only four-funneled liner in the French service and became known as the “chateaux of the Atlantic.”  The France’s interior design and impeccable service earned her a following and gave stiff competition to British and French vessels.  CGT brochures promised: “France, you know, really starts at Pier 57, New York!”

In the midst of war, the next great CGT liner was launched.  This new ship was larger, marginally faster, but most importantly, incorporated the newest Parisian styles.  The aptly-named Paris was destined for greatness.  When she entered service in 1921, she was the first vessel on the Atlantic decorated in Art Nouveau.  The splendid first class grand staircase foyer and dining saloon was exquisitely modern for the time but also unpretentious.  The design of the Paris marks a key transition away from the Jacobean, Tudor, and Baroque themes common to the vessels built before the 1920s.  There were hints too, of Art Deco, which made a splash six years later in the beloved (and hence copied) lIe de France (1927).

Grand Staircase and foyer.

The most expensive first class suites were named for a city or region and offered an eclectic choice of designs that differed from the Art Nouveau public rooms. Many of the first class staterooms had windows rather than portholes.  An extensive telephone system, a rarity in the early 1920s, served many of the first class cabins. 

1:1250 model of Paris by Mercator and original French Line postcard with private dining room from a first class suite.

The food served on the Paris was considered the best at sea and it was claimed more seagulls followed her in search of scraps tossed overboard. Her first class dining saloon could accommodate 540-- nearly all of the first class passengers-- in a single sitting.

First class dining saloon.

Paris was a popular ship, but feel victim to the Great Depression.  She was sent on cruises and laid up for a time.  In 1929, a fire damaged many blocks of staterooms and she was laid up for a year undergoing repairs.  On April 18, 1939, a second fire broke out.  Despite efforts to control the blaze, she succumbed to the flames and rolled onto her port side.  Almost prophetically, the CGT flagship, Normandie was dry docked nearby and would soon suffer an identical fate. 

Paris (1921-1939)  Built for French Line by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France.  34,569 Gross Tons.  764 feet long, 85 feet wide.  Steam turbines geared to quadruple screw.  Service speed 22 knots.  1,930 Total Passengers (560 First Class, 530 Second Class, 840 Third Class).