Liner (3f/2m).
L/B:
1,029.4 × 118.1 (313.8m × 36m). Tons:
79,280 grt. Hull:
steel. Comp.:
1st 828, tourist 670, 3rd 454; crew 1,345. Mach.:
steam turbine, 4 screws; 29 kts. Des.:
Vladimir Yourkevitch. Built:
Chantiers & Ateliers de St. Nazaire (Penhöet), St. Nazaire, France; 1935.
Following the success of their
Ile de France, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (French Line) determined to build the largest and most beautiful ship in the world. Design of the ship eventually fell to Russian émigré naval architect Vladimir Yourkevitch. Although he was then laboring in obscurity as a Renault factory worker, before World War I Yourkevitch had been responsible for the hull form of the innovative Borodino-class battlecruisers, laid down in 1912 but never finished. Normandie's hull was narrow at both ends and wide amidships, with a bulbous bow below the waterline. (After World War II, the latter feature was widely adopted in the design of navy and commercial ships.) To create an impression of speed, Yourkevitch enclosed all the deck machinery so that there was an unencumbered vista along her decks, and in so doing he redefined the aesthetic that would characterize new ocean liners until they were eclipsed by jet passenger planes in the 1960s. Designed for deluxe trade, Normandie was appointed in a lavish art deco style that also helped redefine the aesthetic of the liner age. As Albert Ballin had done with Vaterland (later
Leviathan) in 1913, Yourkevitch used split uptakes to create massive public spaces that further lightened the appearance of the ship.
Owing to the tremendous rivalry with Cunard, who were planning the as yet unnamed
Queen Mary, Normandie was built amid great secrecy. She was launched in 1932 and began her maiden voyage from Le Havre to Southampton and New York on May 29, 1935—in the process capturing the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing between Bishop Rock and Ambrose Light, at a speed of 29.98 knots (4 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes). On her return passage she became the first ship to cross the Atlantic at better than 30 knots—30.31 knots from Ambrose to Bishop Rock (4 days, 3 hours, 25 minutes). Both runs were bettered by Queen Mary the following year, though in 1937 Normandie recaptured the Blue Riband in both directions, with a westbound crossing of 30.58 knots (July 29-August 2, 1937; 3 days, 23 hours, 2 minutes) and an eastbound record of 31.20 knots (August 4-8; 3 days, 22 hours, 7 minutes). Initially subject to terrible vibrations, a common defect in the search for speed on passenger ships, this was corrected by replacing three-blade screws with four-blade ones.
Normandie's last westbound voyage began on August 23, 1939, and she was held at New York upon the outbreak of World War II. Following the U.S. entry into the war, the government seized her on December 12, 1941. Many competing plans were put forth by private shipbuilders and by the various service branches—some wanted her for an aircraft carrier, others for a troop transport, and still others for a combination carrier-transport—but she was finally converted for use as a troop transport. On February 9, 1942, just before she was to have made her first voyage under the American flag as USS Lafayette, a fire broke out when a spark from a welder's torch ignited a bundle of highly flammable and poorly stowed kapok life vests. Flames swept through the ship and in a matter of hours she was all but gutted. Because of poor coordination in fighting the fire, more water than necessary was pumped into the ship and she turned turtle at the pier. Her salvage provided invaluable training for hundreds of Navy salvage experts, and she was eventually refloated. As her machinery was of no use, she was mothballed for the remainder of the war, following which she was sold to ship breakers and broken up at Newark, New Jersey.
Ardman, "Normandie," Her Life and Times. Foucart, "Normandie." Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-Builder, The French Line ... Steamship "Normandie.".
