French Line Fleet List
Fleet List of the French Line Showing Ownership, Nationality, Name of Ship, Year Placed in Service, and Gross Tonnage. Gross tonnage equals cubic feet of all enclosed space divided by 100. Notations Regarding the Ship (if any), Such as Previous Name or Renaming, are shown after the Gross Tonnage.
FRENCH LINE
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT)
(French)
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, commonly named "Transat") was a French shipping company, typically known overseas as the French Line. Established in 1855 by the brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the name Compagnie Générale Maritime, the company was entrusted by the French government to transport mail to North America.
In 1861, the company's name was changed to Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. The company's first vessel, SS Washington, had its maiden voyage on 15 June 1864. After a period of trials and errors in the late 19th century, the company, under the direction of its presidents Jules Charles-Roux and John Dal Piaz, gained fame in the 1910s and 1930s with its prestigious ocean liners such as SS Paris, SS Île de France, and especially SS Normandie.
Fragilized by the Second World War, the company regained its fame in 1962 with the famous SS France, which suffered significant competition from air transport and was retired in 1974.
In 1977, the company merged with the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes to form the Compagnie Générale Maritime. Then, in 1996, Compagnie Générale Maritime merged to form the CMA CGM.
- Amérique (1864) 4,585
- Antilles (1952) 20,419
- Arkansas (1899) 6,863
- Atlantique (1864) 3,200
- Bretagne (1922) 10,171
- Californie (1905) 5,455
- Canada (1865) 4,287
- Caravelle (1904) 2,518
- Caroline (1908) 6,698
- Champlain (1932) 28,124
- Carthage (1910) 5,601
- Charles Roux (1908) 4,104
- Chicago (1908) 9,350
- Colombie (1862) 1,859
- Colombie (1931) 13,391
- Commandant Quere (1948) 4,478
- Cuba (1923) 11,337
- De Grasse (1924) 17,759
- De la Salle (1924) 8,400
- Duc d'Aumale (1912) 4,452
- Duc de Bragance (1889) 2,033
- Espagne (1909) 11,155
- Europe (1864) 3,443
- Ferdinand de Lesseps (1875) 2,920
- Figuig (1903) 3,714
- Flandre (1914) 8,503
- Flandre (1951) 20,459
- Floride (1862) 2,706
- Floride (1907) 7,029
- France (1865) 3,300
- France (1912) 23,769
- France (1961) 66,348
- Gascogne (1924) 5,195
- General Chanzy (1891) 2,299
- Gouverneur General Chanzv (1921) 4,397
- Gouverneur General Grew (1922) 4,565
- Gouverneur General de Gueydou (1922) 4,513
- Gouverneur General Jonnart 4,513
- Gaudeloupe (1855) 1,900
- Guadeloupe (1906) 6,600
- Guadeloupe (1908) 10,502
- Haiti (1913) 6,288
- Hudson (1904) 5,558
- Ile de France (1926) 43,153
- Impératrice Eugenie(1864) 3,200
- Jacques Cartier (1908) 6,693
- Jacques Cartier (1918) 8,379
- L'Aquitaine (1890) 8,810
- La Bourdonnais (1904) 8,287
- La Bourgogne (1886) 7,395
- La Bretagne (1886) 6,756
- La Champagne (1885) 7,087
- La Gascogne (1887) 7,090
- La Lorraine (1899) 11,146
- La Navarre (1892) 6,648
- La Normandie (1882) 6,283
- La Provence (1905) 13,753
- La Savoie (1900) 11,168
- La Touraine (1891) 9,047
- Labrador (1865) 4,612
- Lafayette (1864) 3,394
- Lafayette (1915) 11,953
- Lafayette (1930) 25,178
- Lamoriciere (1921) 4,713
- Laperouse (1916) 9,717
- Leopoldina (1901) 12,334
- Liberte (1930) 51,839
- Louisiane (1862) 1,786
- Louisiane (1905) 5,399
- Macoris (1902) 5,879
- Maroc (1949) 9,544
- Marrakech (1913) 6,179
- Martinique (1855) 1,900
- Martinique (1883) 4,392
- Meknes (1913) 6,127
- Mexico (1905) 4,885
- Mexique (1915) 12,220
- Montreal (1896) 3,342
- Napoleon (1960) 5,802
- Napoleon III (1866) 3,376
- Niagara (1908) 9,614
- Normandie (1933) 82,799
- Nouveau Monde (1865) 3,200
- Olinde-Rodriques (1873) 3,188
- Oregon (1929) 7,706
- Paimpol (1918) 8,379
- Panama (1865) 3,200
- Paris (1921) 34,569
- Pellerin de la Touche (1913) 8,217
- Pereire (1865) 3,150
- Pérou (1907) 6,599
- Picardie (1865) 1,371
- Pologne (1911) 3,112
- President Dal Piaz (1929) 4,929
- Puerto Rico (1913) 6,127
- Quebec (1896) 3,342
- Rochambeau (1911) 12,678
- Roussillon (1906) 8,800
- St, Germain (1874) 3,641
- Saint Laurent (1866) 3,400
- Saint Laurent (1905) 5,614
- Saint Simon (1874) 3,133
- Suffren (1901) 10,622
- Tampico (1855) 1,707
- Timgad (1911) 5,232
- Venezuela (1905) 4,772
- Vera Cruz (1855) 1,739
- Versailles (1882) 4,336
- Ville d'Alger (1890) 2,097
- Ville d'Alger (1935) 10,172
- Ville d* Oran (1936) 10,172
- Ville de Bordeaux (1870) 2,670
- Ville de Bordeaux (1940) 6,541 ex-Saga (1956)
- Ville de Brest (1870) 2,676
- Ville de Marseille (1874) 2,836
- Ville de Marseille (1951) 9,576
- Ville de Paris (1866) 3,014
- Ville de St, Nazaire (1870) 2,623
- Ville de Tunis (1884) 1,903
- Ville de Tunis (1952) 9,226
- Ville du Havre (1866) 5,065
- Virginie (1903) 5,330
- Volubilis (1902) 4,747
- Washington (1863) 3,401
- Washington (1929) 7,817
- Winnipeg (1918) 9,802
- Wisconsin (1929) 8,062
- Wyoming (1930) 8,062
Smith, Eugene W., Passenger Ships of the World: Past and Present, Boston: George H. Dean Company, 1963.
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
A French undertaking known as the Compagnie Générale Maritime was founded in 1855, owing its inception to the brothers Emile and Isaac Pereire. Services were first organized from Rouen to Algeria, between Havre and Hamburg, and between Marseilles and Antwerp, with calls at Spanish and Portuguese ports.
In 1861, the company was allowed to change its title to the more comprehensive one under which it is now known. It undertook its first contracts to carriage French mail to the United States, the Antilles, and Mexico.
Some of the earlier vessels employed in the New York service were outstanding specimens of the naval architecture of their day. Among them may be the excellent iron paddle-steamer "Napoleon III.," built in 1864 by Messrs Scott & Co. of Greenock, who constructed most of the more important vessels for this service at that time. This vessel, with her imperially titled sisters, suffered a change of name in the early 1870s when several of them were lengthened and altered to screws.
In 1881, again, there was a significant movement towards accelerating and improving the New York service, and a new fleet was begun with the single-screw steamship "La Normandie," launched at Barrow-in-Furness in 1883.
Four larger vessels of the same class followed, three constructed in the owners' yard at Penhoet. In 1890, the first twin-screw steamer of the line appeared in "La Touraine," and the British-built "L'Aquitaine" was purchased, proving a success.
A new postal contract was arranged in 1898. Under its terms, it became necessary for the company to build still larger and faster vessels. Eventually, four such ships were to be provided. These vessels are at 22 knots on trial and are among the fastest on the Atlantic.
The company maintains a weekly service to New York and the lines to the Antilles and Mexico in the Atlantic. There are also communications with British and Algerian ports.
Philip Watts, "Compagnie Générale Transatlantique." in Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 24, 1911.
