Language material "The Disaster of the Normandy"

The Normandie was an epoch-making and most luxurious giant mail ship in history. It still gives people a dreamlike feeling of doubting whether it actually existed. Tonnage of 83,423 tons, streamlined bulbous bow, electric propulsion, whole-ship air conditioning, top chefs hired from the Crillon Hotel in Paris, indoor swimming pool with heated water circulation, opera house with modern audio equipment, marble-walled church, whole-ship Art Deco art decoration... is known as "the most luxurious and beautiful cruise ship that shocked the world" and "enjoys an immortal reputation in the history of world passenger ships".

Construction Overview

After the craze for building large mail ships broke out in various countries on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1930s, they faced Britain's Queen of Britain and Britannic, and Germany's Bremen mail ship. and the Europa mail ship, especially when it comes to the pride of Italy, the King mail ship, the French are not immune. Just like the arms race between Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy and other countries in the construction of capital ships, they are also competing for the title of bigger, faster and more luxurious in the construction of transatlantic mail ships. At this time, the largest mail ship in the Atlantic was a 56,000-ton mail ship (the British Majesty and the Berengaria), and the French decided to end the tonnage race once and for all by building an 80,000-ton mail ship. Vladimir Yukovitch, the chief designer of the French mail shipping industry and a Russian who had designed warships for the Tsarist Navy, was invited to take on this design 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, it was decided to use an Atlantic-shaped bow, the so-called "clipper bow", which can reduce resistance when sailing at high speeds. The major European shipping companies have their own relationships in the shipbuilding industry. For example, Cunard's ships are mostly built by John Brown Shipyard in Clydebank, and White Star's ships are mostly built by Harlan Waugh in Belfast. Built by Wolff Shipyard, most North German ships were built by Blohm-Voss in Hamburg. The Normandie was built by the Penhoet shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, an old partner of the French CGT company.

Since the Mauretania and the Lusitania, large mail ships have been powered by more economical and more powerful steam turbines. However, the steam turbine rotates in one direction. In order to reverse, these mail ships need to install a small auxiliary power. The Normandy is a unique innovation. It still uses a high-power steam turbine, but it does not directly drive the propeller, but drives a set of generators - electric motors. The electric motors then drive the 80,000-ton mail ship. 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 problem was solved, but the economic problem came again. On October 29, 1929, the Great Depression broke out. There are three mail ships over 1,000 feet in length currently under construction or in preparation. Among them, only the Oceania of the British White Star Company (the White Star Steamship Company once owned famous mail ships such as the Olympic) continued to build. This foolish behavior worsened the financial situation of the White Star Company, which eventually led to its acquisition by the British Cunard Company, and the Oceania was eventually turned into a hulk and sold. The Queen Mary, code-named "534", which was being built by Cunard Company, was ordered to be put on hold until the economic situation improved. 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 relative, and France cannot remain aloof from the global economic downturn. In January 1931, shortly after construction of the new ship started, CGT (Transatlantic Shipping Company) 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 the new ship code-named T6 was successfully built and named the Normandy (the name is derived from Napoleon, Lindbergh, Benjamin Franklin, Sea King, Beautiful France, etc. Selected from many names).

On October 29, 1932, 200,000 spectators came to watch the launch of this French super ship. French President Albert Leblanc also attended the launching ceremony. The hull of the Normandie slowly slid into the Loire River along a slipway coated with 43 tons of soap and 2.5 tons of lard. Since the economic situation has not yet fully recovered, the outfitting work after the launch of the Normandy was relatively slow. The interior of the ship is decorated with carpets, paneling and artwork. CGT summoned masters of ship decoration and design—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 all invited again to decorate the palace on the sea. . 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 large indoor swimming pool; the first theater on a mail ship to perform movies and operettas; the first 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 today, 70 years later, the Normandie was also evaluated by the international passenger ship industry as the largest, most beautiful, and most beautiful ship in history. The most luxurious cruise ship (the reason why I say this is because contemporary large cruise ships are already tourist tools, not transportation, and many details of decoration are not as good as the Normandy).

Service experience

On May 29, 1935, 50,000 people gathered at the Le Havre dock to watch the ceremony of 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. During the Normandy's maiden voyage, the average speed on the first day reached 29.76 knots. According to statistics after arriving at New York Harbor, the average speed reached 29.98 knots. A new Atlantic crossing record was born. When slowly driving into the French Mail Terminal on West 50th Street in New York, a 30-foot-long blue ribbon was raised (one foot represents one knot of speed), announcing the arrival of France's participation in the competition for the Blue Ribbon Award. After sailing west for 6 days, the Normandy arrived at the Port of Southampton, England, in a record time of 4 days, 3 hours and 28 minutes. At a speed of 30.31 knots, it broke the eastbound speed record set by the German mail ship Bremen in 1929. Brand-new and luxurious, the Normandie quickly won acclaim in the mail shipping world. At this time, Cunard Company's "534" hull was under construction and was launched in September 1935. The British proudly announced that the 81,000-ton Queen Mary had become the largest mail ship in the world. The French are naturally unwilling to lag behind. CGT Company renovated the Normandie in the same year, increasing the tonnage to 83,423 tons, which was almost 2,000 tons more than the Queen Mary. Cunard decided to regain the blue ribbon for Britain in terms of speed, although the Queen Mary's bow was not as beautiful as the Normandie. The Queen Mary won the westbound blue ribbon in August with a record of 30.14 knots. After that, the battle for the blue ribbon started between these two luxury ships. The westbound speed was refreshed to 30.58 knots by the Normandy, and the eastbound speed was refreshed to 31.20 knots. However, in this peaceful competition, the Normandy lost to the prudent British in terms of management. The luxurious and fashionable interior facilities and decoration scare away many conservative passengers. Ordinary passengers also consciously stayed away from it because they thought it was a ship for celebrities and royal family members. The Normandy was burdened by its reputation and rarely filled more than 60% of its passengers. The Queen Mary was not content with its relatively "popular" role, and 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. In view of the pitiful number of passengers traveling to and from the North Atlantic on the Normandie, the Normandie, which was good at leading the way, began a so-called "cruise voyage" - a cruise to scenic areas around the world. In the winter of 1938, the Normandie sailed to Rio de Janeiro loaded with 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 Normandy not to sail in the Atlantic where German submarines might be present for the time being and to stay on standby. Only 200 people were left on board. The old enemy Queen Mary is docked at Pier 90 next to it. In June 1940, France was defeated and sued for peace. The United States immediately declared the Normandie in custody. The Coast Guard is responsible for protecting and guarding against damage. For the United States, this ship may have other uses. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered 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. Since there are no docks in the ports of New York and New Jersey that can accommodate this 80,000-ton ship, renovation work was carried out on-site at Pier 88. Thousands of workers boarded the floating palace, stripped it of luxurious decorations and entertainment facilities, and turned it into a troop transport. 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.

Ending

On February 9, 1942, disaster happened. As it was planned to depart soon, a large amount of food, food, bedding, clothing and life-saving facilities were sent to the ship and piled everywhere in the cabin. In the first-class salon, workers are cutting the steel columns that originally supported the glass fountain. Sparks splashed onto the kapok lifejackets stacked nearby, and the fire broke out (according to the official investigation). According to the FBI's Edgar Hoover secret investigation, the Mafia ordered workers to deliberately set the fire to warn Hoover that during the war, Don't touch the New York Italian Mafia). Coincidentally, there was no water in the fire hydrants on the ship 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 who rushed to the dock 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. Yukovich, the designer of the Normandy, rushed to the scene. Because he was familiar with the internal structure, he asked to direct the fire-fighting work so that the hull could sit smoothly on the river bed for easy salvage. But he was pushed aside by people from the fire department and the navy. At 2:45 a.m. on February 10, the ship capsized in the Hudson River at an angle of 79 degrees to the left. Twelve days later, the remaining fire inside the ship was extinguished. After a year and a half of salvage and rescue work, the Normandy was raised, righted, and handed over to the U.S. Navy on October 27, 1943. The ship was of little use by this time. On November 3, the wreckage of the Normandy, still listing 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 hull of the Normandy, which cost $60 million, was sold to a New Jersey shipbreaking company for $160,000. Once the most luxurious mail ship in the world, it bid farewell to this world.