4K: SS NORMANDIE: The Queen of the Sea. The French built the first electric boat. No suprise!

The SS Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, crossing the Atlantic in a record 4.14 days, and remains the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built. According to Wikipedia, her novel design and lavish interiors led many to consider her the greatest of ocean liners. Despite this, she was not a commercial success and relied partly on government subsidy to operate. During service as the flagship of the CGT, she made 139 westbound transatlantic crossings from her home port of Le Havre to New York.

Normandie held the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing at several points during her service career, The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade in the form of a cup given to the passenger liners crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. During this time, the RMS Queen Mary was her main rival. Ocean liners in the early 20th century had large steerage-class compartments where immigrants from Europe could cheaply immigrate to the new world. When the U.S. closed the door on most immigration in the early 1920s, steamship companies ordered vessels built to serve upper-class tourists instead, particularly Americans who travelled to Europe to escape the Prohibition of alcohol.
Companies like Cunard and the White Star Line planned to build their own superliners to rival newer ships of the day. Such vessels included the record-breaking German-built Bremen and Europa. The French began to plan their own superliner. On 29 October 1932 – three years to the day after the stock market crash – Normandie was launched in front of 200,000 spectators. The 27,567-ton hull that slid into the Loire River was the largest launched and the wave washed up the shoreline and over several hundred spectators, but with no injury. PAUSE The boat was christened by Madame Marguerite Lebrun, wife of the President of France. Normandie was outfitted until early 1935, when her interiors, funnels, engines, and other fittings put in to make her into a working vessel.
Finally, in May 1935, Normandie was ready for trials. The superiority of the hull was immediately visible: hardly a wave was created off the bulbous bow. PAUSE The ship reached a top speed of 32.125 knots (59.5 km/h) and performed an emergency stop from that speed in 1,700 m (5,577 ft) solely because of the electric motors that turned the propellers. PAUSE In addition to hull design which let her attain speed at far less power than other big liners, Normandie had a turbo-electric transmission, with turbo-generators and electric propulsion motors CGT chose turbo-electric transmission for the ability to use full power in reverse, and because, according to CGT officials, it was quieter and more easily controlled and maintained than traditional steamships.
The French always ahead on technology had installed an early form of radar to prevent collisions with other vessels or icebergs. PAUSE The luxurious interiors were designed in Art Déco and Streamline Moderne style. Many sculptures and wall paintings made allusions to the province of France for which Normandie was named. PAUSE Drawings and photographs show a series of vast public rooms of great elegance.
Normandie's voluminous interior spaces were made possible by having a unique French design, the funnel intakes split to pass along the sides of the ship, rather than straight upward. PAUSE Most of the public space was devoted to first-class passengers, including the dining room, first-class lounge, grill room, first-class swimming pool, theatre and winter garden. The first-class swimming pool featured staggered depths, with a shallow training beach for children. The children had a separate dining room decorated by Jean de Brunhoff, who covered the walls with Babar the Elephant and his entourage. The interiors were filled with grand perspectives, spectacular entryways, and long, wide staircases. First-class suites were given unique designs by select designers.
Sadly, the Normandie only sailed for four and one half years as the curtain of war was sliding across Europe.
Fearing the Germans would take her if she returned to occupied France, Normandie was seized by U.S. authorities at New York and renamed USS Lafayette. In 1942, the liner caught fire while being converted to a troopship, capsized onto her port side and came to rest on the mud of the Hudson River at Pier 88, the site of the current New York Passenger Ship Terminal. PAUSE Although salvaged at great expense, restoration was deemed too costly and she was scrapped in October 1946. A sad end to the Queen of the seas. LONG PAUSE

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