France (ship, 1910)
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The France was completed in 1912, asked transatlantic - passenger steamer of the French shipping company Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She was the first French passenger ship with a volume of over 20,000 GRT and the only one with four funnels . Due to its exceptionally magnificent interior, it was referred to as the “Château des Atlantiks” by the passengers on the route.
Planning and completion
At the beginning of the 20th century, the CGT tried to catch up with the British ships of the Cunard Line and White Star Line, as well as the German express steamers of the North German Lloyd, which were extremely successful in the transatlantic service at the time . The CGT had already used some ships on this route, but these were too small to be able to keep up with their competitors. In 1909 the keel for a much larger and faster Atlantic liner was laid at the Chantier et Atelier de St. Nazaire shipyard . According to the original planning, the name Picardie was intended for the ship ; In view of the quantum leap it meant for French passenger shipping, however, it was then changed to France .
Since the France was able to set French, but not international standards due to its size (contemporary British and German ships reached more than twice the volume), special emphasis was placed on a high cruising speed and lavish interior. The focal point of the ship was the first class dining room, which spanned three decks and - like other rooms and cabins on the France - was built based on models of real rooms from the French baroque and rococo palaces .
On April 20, 1912, France left Le Havre on her maiden voyage to New York . Since the Titanic accident had only occurred a few days earlier , further life-saving equipment was brought on board the ship at short notice to calm the passengers and crew . The France was the first ship of that time to offer space in lifeboats for everyone on board in response to the sinking of the Titanic .
Use in peace and war
By the First World War , the France fulfilled the expectations placed on it and established itself as one of the most popular ships on the North Atlantic route between Europe and the USA . After the outbreak of war in 1914, the French Navy converted it as planned into an armed auxiliary cruiser under the name France IV , but its high coal consumption made it completely unsuitable for this role. As a result, used as a troop transport and from 1917 as a hospital ship, the France survived the war without damage. Only one boiler explosion in 1918 claimed nine deaths among the crew. After she had brought American soldiers back from France to the USA by 1919 , she was finally used again as a passenger ship on the North Atlantic route.
From 1923 to 1924 it was modernized in St. Nazaire (conversion from coal to oil firing and redistribution of the cabins). In the late 1920s the ship lost its popularity due to major newbuildings by the CGT, and the Great Depression of 1929 forced the CGT to send the increasingly unprofitable ship on cruises to the Caribbean in addition to regular liner service . After a collision with a freighter off New York in 1931, the France was finally decommissioned in 1932. Initially, plans had been drawn up for a further modernization, but the precarious economic situation of the early 1930s did not allow this. The France was finally sold to a scrapping company in 1934 and demolished in Dunkirk.
Trivia
For unknown reasons, the France tended to make violent rolling movements of up to 20 degrees, even in completely calm seas. Again and again people were harmed and valuable equipment was destroyed.
Web links
- The grand first class staircase on board the France
- The first class lounge on board the France
- The first class dining room on board the France
- Detailed description of the ship with many pictures (English)
literature
- Robert D. Ballard , Ken Marschall : Lost Liners - From the Titanic to Andrea Doria - the glory and decline of the great luxury liners . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag GmbH & Co., Munich 1997, ISBN 3-453-12905-9 (English: Lost Liners: From the Titanic to the Andrea Doria. The ocean floor reveals its greatest lost ships. Translated by Helmut Gerstberger).
- Beken of Cowes: The most beautiful luxury liners. Hamburg 1996.
- Melvin Maddocks: The Big Passenger Ships . Eltville am Rhein 1992.