In what years was the Normandy built?

Normandie

After the craze for building large mail ships broke out in various countries on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1930s, they faced the British Empress of Britain and the Britannic, and the German sisters Bremen and Europa. , especially Mussolini’s pride, the King, the French were not immune. Just like the arms race between Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Italy on the issue of capital ship construction, during this period, the largest mail ship in the Atlantic was the 56,000-ton class (British Majesty, Berengaria), and the French decided to end it once and for all A competition in tonnage - building an 80,000-ton mail ship. The chief designer of the French mail shipping industry, the Russian Vladimir Yukovich, who had designed battleships for the Tsarist Navy, was invited to take on this glorious task. There are three hard targets for Yukovitch: a tonnage of more than 80,000 tons; a length of more than 1,000 feet; and a speed of more than 30 knots. After considering various line shapes, Jukovich decided on a beautiful Atlantic-shaped bow, the so-called "clipper bow". This reduces drag when sailing at high speeds. The major European shipping companies have their own relationships in the shipbuilding industry. CGT's old partner, Penhoet Shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, is responsible for the construction task of the Normandie. There is also a technical difficulty. Since the Mauretania and the Lusitania, large mail ships have been powered by more economical and powerful steam turbines. But steam turbines rotate in one direction. As a result, these mail ships also need to install a small auxiliary power in order to reverse. The Normandie's unique innovation is that it still uses a high-power steam turbine, but instead of driving the propeller, it drives a set of power generation-electric motors, which then drive the 80,000 tons of steel. Since the electric motor can run in reverse, a problem that has troubled cruise ship designers for more than 20 years has been solved. The technical problems were solved, but the economic problems arrived. On October 29, 1929, the Great Depression broke out. During this period, there were three mail ships over 1,000 feet in length under construction or in preparation. Among them, only the British White Star Company's Oceanic was built at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast. But this foolish behavior made White Star's financial situation worse, which eventually led to its acquisition by the British Cunard Company in 1934. The Oceania was eventually turned into a hulk and sold. The large ship being built by Cunard Company in Clydebank was ordered to be put on hold until economic conditions improved. This wait is 3 years. This giant ship, codenamed "Hull No. 534" during the lay-up period, became the later Queen Mary. France was relatively lucky during the Great Depression because its economic structure was different from that of Britain and the United States. But luck is temporary and relative. France is not immune to the global economic downturn. In January 1931, not long after CGT's new ship started construction, the shadow of the Great Depression quietly came to France. CGT was forced to request financial support from the French government. At the expense of the French government gaining control of the company, CGT received funding and survived the crisis. The new ship, codenamed T6, was successfully built and named Normandy (the name was chosen from many names such as Napoleon, Lindbergh, Benjamin Franklin, Sea King, and Beautiful France). On October 29, 1932, the third anniversary of Black Thursday (haha, it seems not a good sign), the new ship was launched. There were 200,000 spectators along the coast to watch the launch of France's super ship, and French President Albert Leblanc also attended the launching ceremony. Along the slipway coated with 43 tons of soap and 2.5 tons of lard, the hull of the Normandie slowly slid into the Loire River. Since the economy has not yet fully recovered, according to the shipowner's orders, the outfitting work after the Normandy was launched was relatively slow. The interior of the ship is decorated with carpets, paneling and artwork. CGT convened ship decoration design masters. The Dutchman Van de Bojan, who designed the magnificent three-story foyer for the ?le-de-France, and the Frenchman Paul Bartle, who designed the marble restaurant, were both invited again to decorate the palace on the sea. The French may have actually intended to build it into a palace. Many unprecedented luxury installations appeared for the first time on the Normandy - the sports field and tennis court between the first and second funnels; the first theater on the mail ship, which could perform movies and operettas; the first large indoor swimming pool; The first to adopt soft lighting and indoor broadcasting systems; the first to popularize heating and cooling air conditioning in all passenger cabins... Not only at that time, but even to this day, the Normandie was also evaluated by the international passenger ship industry as the largest, most beautiful, and most luxurious in history. Mail ship. The reason why I say this is because contemporary large cruise ships are already tourist tools rather than means of transportation, and many of their details are not as decorative as the Normandy). On May 29, 1935, the most solemn day arrived. Fifty thousand people crowded the Le Havre pier to watch the Normandy's maiden voyage to New York. The band played "La Marseillaise" and "The Star-Spangled Banner." Countless streamers and colorful confetti were flying all over the sky. Amid cheers from the people, the Normandy set sail. On its maiden voyage, its average speed reached 29.76 knots on the first day. According to statistics after it arrived in New York Harbor, the average speed reached 29.98 knots. A new Atlantic crossing record was born. As it slowly sailed into the French Mail Terminal on West 50th Street in New York, it proudly raised a 30-foot-long blue ribbon - one foot representing one knot of speed, announcing the arrival of France's participation in the blue ribbon era.

Brand-new and luxurious, the Normandie quickly won acclaim in the mail shipping world. Six days after her maiden voyage westward, the Normandy arrived at the Port of Southampton, England, in a record time of four days, three hours and 28 minutes, breaking the eastbound speed record set by the German Werder Bremen in 1929 at a speed of 30.31 knots. At this time, the construction of Cunard Company's "Hull No. 534" was intensifying, and it was launched in September 1935 and named Queen Mary. The British proudly announced that the 81,000-ton Queen Mary has become the largest mail ship in the world. The French are naturally unwilling to lag behind. CGT Company renovated the Normandy in the same year and increased the weight to 83,423 tons, which was almost 2,000 tons more than the Queen Mary. The Queen Mary decided to outspeed her and win back the Blue Ribbon for Britain, even though her bow was not as beautiful as the Normandy's. On July 1, 1936, the Queen Mary returned from New York with victory in sight. But a heavy fog off the coast of southern England delayed it. The passengers on the Queen Mary stamped their feet and beat their chests, but the captain was confident and won the westbound blue ribbon in August 1936 with a record of 30.14 knots. After that, the battle for the blue ribbon began among these two luxury ships. The westbound speed was refreshed to 30.58 knots, and the eastbound speed was refreshed to 31.20 knots. In fact, in this peaceful competition before the war, although the Normandy was the speed winner, it lost to the prudent British in terms of operation. Its luxurious and fashionable interior facilities and decoration scare away many conservative passengers. Ordinary travelers also consciously stayed away from it because they thought it was a ship for movie stars and royal family members. The Normandy was burdened by its reputation and rarely filled more than 60% of its passengers. The Queen Mary is not content with its relatively "popular" role. It launched a new sprint in 1938. The westbound speed was refreshed to 30.99 knots, and the eastbound speed was refreshed to 31.69 knots. The French decided to find another way. Also in this year, in view of the pitiful number of passengers taking the Normandy to and from the North Atlantic, the Normandy, which was good at leading the way, began the so-called "cruise voyage" - a cruise to scenic areas around the world. In the winter of 1938, it sailed to Rio de Janeiro filled with excited tourists attending the Brazilian Carnival, becoming the largest ship ever to cross the equator. On August 31, 1939, the Normandy, which completed its 139th voyage, docked at Pier 88 on the Hudson River in New York. Due to the outbreak of war in Europe, CGT informed the Normandie not to sail in the Atlantic Ocean, which may be full of German submarines, for the time being, and to stay on standby. The old enemy Queen Mary is docked at Pier 90 next to it. As the German war machine continued to shift into high gear, the Normandie's future became increasingly uncertain. Only 200 men remained on board the Normandy. In March 1940, the newly built Queen Elizabeth also secretly sailed from the UK and was parked next to it and Queen Mary. It was launched too late and the interior decoration was not completed. When it was on standby in the Clyde River in Scotland, it almost collapsed. Suffered bombs from Dorniers, Heinkels and Junkers. In June 1940, the Prussian eagle defeated the Gallic chicken. France sued for peace. The United States immediately declared the Normandie in custody. The Coast Guard is responsible for protecting and guarding against sabotage by Soviet or German agents. For the United States, this ship might have another use. On December 7, 1941, the use came. Pearl Harbor was bombed. America enters the war. The Normandy was requisitioned by the United States Navy. The tricolor was lowered. The U.S. Navy renamed it the USS Lafayette and prepared it for use as a troop carrier. However, the ports of New York and New Jersey do not have such large shipyards to accommodate this 80,000-ton ship. So the renovation work was carried out on site at Pier 88. Thousands of workers boarded the floating sea palace, the pride of France, stripping off its luxurious decorations and dismantling its entertainment facilities, turning it into a bare troop carrier. On January 15, 1942, it was handed over to the Ministry of Defense. The first mission is expected to begin in February to reinforce troops to the Pacific Islands, especially the Hawaiian Islands. On February 9, disaster happened. Since the plan was to set off soon, a large amount of food, food, bedding, clothing and life-saving facilities were sent to the ship and piled everywhere in the original luxurious cabin. In the first-class salon, workers are cutting the steel columns that originally supported the glass fountain. Sparks flew onto a pile of kapok life jackets stacked nearby (that's what the official investigation said). According to FBI Big Brother Edgar Hoover's own undercover investigation, the fire was deliberately set by the Mafia on orders of their workers as a warning to Hoover. Buddha, don't touch the Italian Mafia in New York during the war). The fire suddenly started. Coincidentally, there was no water in the ship's fire hydrants that day. What is even more "coincident" is that it took 12 minutes for the New York Fire Department to receive the report. New York firefighters rushed to the dock and began pouring water into the ship to extinguish the fire. But as the water accumulated in the hull increased, the firefighters discovered to their horror that the hull was gradually turning to the left. Its designer Yukovich rushed to the scene. Because he was familiar with the internal structure of the Normandy, he asked to direct the fire-fighting work so that the hull could sit smoothly on the muddy bed of the Hudson River to facilitate future salvage. But he was pushed aside by people from the fire department and the navy. The fire was still raging, and everyone was helpless. At 2:45 a.m. on February 10, it capsized to the left at an angle of 79 degrees and fell into the Hudson River. Twelve days later, the remaining fire inside the ship was finally extinguished.

After a year and a half of salvage and rescue work, the Normandy was lifted, righted, and handed over to the U.S. Navy on October 27, 1943. However, the ship was of little use by this time. After being righted, it was abandoned at Pier 88. On November 3, the wreckage of the Normandy, which was still tilted two degrees to the left, was towed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Americans proposed various recovery plans. Some people even suggested transforming it into an aircraft carrier! However, after repeated weighing and calculation, the cost of transformation will be higher than that of building a new aircraft carrier. As for President Roosevelt himself, he preferred to restore it after the war and return it to the French. But in the end the U.S. Navy decided to dismantle it. In October 1946, the Normandy hull was sold to a New Jersey shipbreaking company for $160,000.

A year later, it turned into piles and carts of scrap steel. It was once the most luxurious cruise ship in the world, and it left this world.