SS Normandie Collection
The SS Normandie Departing for New York, 29 May 1935. GGA Image ID # 1ba94f0455
Normandie (1935) French Line
Built by Chantiers & Ateliers de Penhoet, St. Nazaire, France. Tonnage: 79,280. Dimensions: 981' x 117'9 (1,027 o.l. ). Quadruple-screw, 30 knots. Steam turbines connected to electric motors. Two masts and three funnels. Laid down on January 26,1931. Launched: November 29,1932. Height from water line to top of foremast was 202 feet high. Passengers: 848 first, 670 tourist, 454 third. Maiden voyage: Havre-Southampton-New York, May 29, 1935. Her superstructure was enlarged in 1936, thus increasing tonnage to 82,799. The increased enclosed space made her the largest ship in the world. Speed Record: She broke the trans-Atlantic speed record with a time of 4 days, 3 hours, 14 minutes with an average speed of 31.37 knots. Her mammoth funnels measured 160 feet in circumference with the foremost one towering at a height of 145 feet. Main dining room was 300 feet by 43 feet, and three decks high with a seating capacity for 1,000 people. WW2 Service: Liner was laid up in New York in August 1939, due to the war. Taken over by United States Government in December 1941. Renamed: Lafayette. Fate: Badly gutted by fire at her New York pier, February 9, 1942, and as fire progressed keeled over and sank. After a costly salvage job was eventually refloated. Towed to Port Newark in December 1946 and she was completely dismantled by October 1947. (Eugene W. Smith, Trans-Atlantic Passenger Ships: Normandie, in Passenger Ships of the World, Past and Present, Boston, George H. Dean Company, 1963. p. 186.)
SS Normandie Content Links
- Normandie (1935) French Line
- History of the SS Normandie - 1947
- Photographs
- Brochures
- Passenger Lists
- Menus
- Immigrant Documents
- Books
- Sailing Schedules
- Postcards
History of the SS Normandie - 1947
The great French liner, Normandie, has had a genuinely eventful career. Her keel was laid down in June 1931 at St. Nazaire, and she was launched on 29 October 1932, but it was not until 29 May 1935 that she commenced her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York. She broke all existing speed records on this trip, making it in 4 days, 3 hours, and 14 minutes with an average speed of 31.37 knots.
The homeward passage took 14 minutes longer, being made in 4 days, 3 hours, and 28 minutes. This noble French ship was indeed a superliner. Her building cost amounted to $60,000,000; as to her exterior appearance, she possessed many outstanding features.
Her overall length was 1,029 feet, and after alterations, her tonnage was set at 82,799 tons gross. The tops of her masts were 202 feet above the waterline, and her mammoth funnels measured 160 feet in circumference, with the foremost one towering at the height of 145 feet.
Her main dining room measured 300 feet by 43 feet and was three decks high with a seating capacity for 1,000 people. The designer installed a small theater, two decks high, to accommodate 380 people. The swimming pool was 80 feet long with a graduated bottom made of tiling. The garage onboard the ship could furnish storage for 100 automobiles.
The Normandie took care of facilities for passenger and freight movements by installing numerous elevators operating between the various decks. In short, the great liner was a small city in herself with accommodations for no less than 1,972 passengers and a crew of 1,350 members.
The Normandie was a very popular and successful ship, as might be imagined. The outbreak of hostilities found her at her New York pier, where she remained until the United States took possession of her intending to convert the great ship into a troop carrier. She continued in the regular Atlantic service up to the commencement of World War II.
She was renamed Lafayette in honor of the great French patriot who helped the American cause in the Revolution. While preparing her to play her new role in the war, a fire of mysterious origin started aboard one day in the early months of 1942. The title to her possession had passed from the hands of the French Line into those of America.
The blaze soon spread throughout the ship despite the strenuous attempts to quell it on the part of New York's firefighters. After battling the conflagration for many hours, their efforts to save the great ship proved futile and listing over to one side, and she slowly settled down into the muddy floor of the harbor.
Work soon started to raise her, and after months of painstaking effort, the ship was once again afloat, and for a while, it was thought possible to rebuild her. This project, however, was never carried out, and in September 1946, the United States put the hulk up for auction.
She was finally knocked down to a New York scrap dealer for approximately $161,000, a ludicrously small sum compared to the vast amount it had cost to build her. Early in December 1946, the fallen monarch of the seas was towed by a small army of tugs to Port Newark, where she awaited her dismantling. So passes one of the most mighty and impressive ships that ever sailed the seas.
Eugene W. Smith, "The Italian Bid for Atlantic Supremacy, Part I: A Short History of the North Atlantic Record Breakers," in Trans-Atlantic Passenger Ships, Past and Present, Boston: George H. Dean Company, 1947, pp. 29-30
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Photographs
First Class Dining Saloon on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1ba9797fc3
View of the Gallery Lounge and Superior Hall on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1ba9c90fed
View of the Grand Lounge Before the Staircase to Grillroom on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1ba9f6c846
Corner of the First Class Smoking Lounge Showing Entry to the Grand Lounge on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1baa3eea31
The Grill Room Restaurant on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1baa443b92
The Private Bar on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1baa788528
First Class Swimming Pool on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1bab71d5e5
Luxury Suite "Jumieges" Bedroom on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1baaf128f0
Luxury Suite "Dieppe" Bedroom on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1bab10926b
Stateroom Suite with Terrace on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1bab9a5b27
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Brochures
CGT French Line Paquebot Normandie - 1937
Le livret de 72 pages détaille l'incroyable luxe à bord du paquebot Normandie - la fierté et la joie de vivre de la Compagnie Générale Transatlantique - French Line. Imprimé en France en 1937, il est devenu un article très recherché par les collectionneurs.
CGT French Line - The Ocean Liner Normandie - 1937
The 72-page booklet details the incredible luxury aboard the Normandie liner - the pride and joy of life of Compagnie Générale Transatlantique - French Line. Printed in France in 1937, it has become an item much sought after by collectors. (Translated from the French)
Third Class on the French Line - 1938
The Normandie, Ile de France, Paris, Champlain and Lafayette combine economy and efficiency in fulfilling the most discriminating requirements. Their Third Class accommodations cannot help but bring you all satisfaction.
Passenger Lists
1937-11-03 SS Normandie Passenger List
Cabin Passenger List from the SS Normandie of the CGT French Line, Departing Wednesday, 3 November 1937 from Le Havre to New York via Southampton, Commanded by Captain Pierre THOREUX.
1938-08-24 SS Normandie Passenger List
Tourist Passenger List from the SS Normandie of the CGT French Line, Departing 24 August 1938 from Le Havre to New York via Southampton, Commanded by Captain Paul AUGARDE.
1938-10-05 SS Normandie Passenger List
Tourist Passenger List from the famous SS Normandie of the French Line, Departing Wednesday, 5 October 1938 from Le Havre to New York via Southampton, Commanded by Captain Pierre THOREUX O.C.
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Menus
1936-06-08 SS Normandie Luncheon Menu
Vintage Luncheon Bill of Fare from 8 June 1936 on board the SS Normandie of the CGT French Line featured Lamb from Pauillac with fresh vegetables, Brill with Normande sauce, and Strawberry souffle for dessert.
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Immigrant Documents
1939-09-06 Third Class Passage Contract Ticket - SS Normandie
Passage Ticket for the Compagnie Général Transatlantique, Ltd., - The French Line, Southampton to New York, departing 6 September 1939, issued to Mrs. Agnes de Linia (or de Lina). World War 2 began on 1 September 1939.
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Books
The book profiles the opulent lifestyles aboard such floating palaces as Normandie, Rex, Olympic, Amerika, Queen Mary, France, Mauritania, Queen Elizabeth II, Imperator, and Titanic. "Perhaps the most readable book on the subject ever to have appeared" --Country Life. Black-and-white photographs.
Le Havre - New York: French Lines
This volume about the French Line and its route from Le Havre to New York is a witness to crossing the Atlantic, from before WWI to the present day. A fascinating visual record of travel. Ships covered include the Paris, Ile de France, Normandie, and France.
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Sailing Schedules
Sailing Schedule, Le Havre-Southampton-New York, from 7 September 1938 to 10 January 1939. Ships Included the Champlain, De Grasse, Ile de France, Normandie, and Paris. SS Normandie Passenger List, 5 October 1938. GGA Image ID # 1e31c3c00c
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Postcards
The SS Normandie, Twice Holder of the Blue Ribbon. Length: 1,029 ft, 83,423 Tons Gross, 30 Knots. First Departure for New York on 29 May 1935. GGA Image ID # 1e322f3af0
The Chapel on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1e323db312
Bedroom in the Luxury Suite "Dieppe." GGA Image ID # 1e333bddce
A General View of the First Class Dining Room on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1e3385ac6c
Another General View of the First Class Dining Room with a Length of 282 ft. GGA Image ID # 1e33892c02
A View Overlooking the First Class Dining Room on the SS Normandy, a Statue "The Peace," Stands in the Foreground. GGA Image ID # 1e33c42bd3
A View of the First Class Grand Salon, Decorated by Jean Dupas. GGA Image ID # 1e342f1f89
Another View of the Very Impressive First Class Grand Salon on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1e343721e9
Passengers Enjoy Swimming in the First Class Pool, Surrounded by Spectators on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1e34772f55
Deluxe Sitting Room in the First Class Trouville Suite on the SS Normandie. GGA Image ID # 1e348b836f
The Grand Steamship SS Normandie Docked at Its Pier at the Maritime Station in Le Havre circa 1940. GGA Image ID # 1e3519bc3b
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