(later Liberté) Liner (2f/2m).
L/B:
939 × 101.9 (285.6m × 31.1m). Tons:
49,746 grt. Hull:
steel. Comp.:
1st 723, 2nd 500, tourist 300; 3rd 600. Mach.:
steam turbines, 4 screws; 27 kts. Built:
Blohm & Voss, Hamburg; 1929.
Intended to enter service together with her sister ship,
Bremen, Norddeutscher Lloyd's Europa was all but gutted by fire at her fitting-out dock in March 1929. Despite this setback, when she finally made her maiden voyage from Bremen to Southampton, Cherbourg, and New York in April 1930, she broke Bremen's record with an average speed of 27.91 knots between Cherbourg and Ambrose Light. She remained on the transatlantic run until August 1939, and after the start of World War II, she became an accommodation ship at Bremerhaven. In 1940 she was converted for use as a troopship in Operation Sea Lion, the abortive German invasion of England, and in 1942 some thought was given to turning her into an aircraft carrier. However, she survived the war more or less intact and on May 8, 1945, she was seized by the United States and commissioned as troopship USS Europa (AP-177). Decommissioned in 1946 and handed over to the French as reparations, after four years of rebuilding at St. Nazaire she made her maiden voyage to New York as French Line's Liberté in August 1950. She maintained regular transatlantic service with
Ile de France and Flandre until 1961. The following year she was scrapped at La Spezia.
Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway. Braynard & Miller, Fifty Famous Liners.
