La Champagne (ship)
 The identical sister ship La Bretagne
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The La Champagne was a transatlantic passenger steamer put into service in 1886 for the French shipping company Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT), which was built for the passenger service from Le Havre to New York . It was later used on other routes until it stranded at Saint-Nazaire on May 28, 1915 and broke up.
The ship
The La Champagne was the first of four new transatlantic liners that the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique put into service in succession for transatlantic passenger and mail traffic from Le Havre to New York in 1886. The other three were La Gascogne with 7,071 GRT, La Bretagne with 6,754 GRT and La Bourgogne with 7,395 GRT. The four sister ships , which were named after regions of France , were furnished by the Parisian interior designer Jules Allard et Fils, one of the most popular interior designers of his time, who was particularly known for his extravagant fashion design .
The ship was built at the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique shipyard in Penhoët near Saint-Nazaire for the shipping company of the same name and was launched on May 15, 1885. The 150 meter long steamer had two chimneys, four masts and a propeller . Like its sister ships, it was powered by a six-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engine that developed 9,000 hp and could accelerate the ship to up to 17.5 knots. On board there was space for 390 passengers in the first, 65 in the second and 600 in the third class.
On May 22, 1886, the La Champagne left Le Havre on her maiden voyage to New York. On August 7, 1887, she collided with the passenger steamer Ville de Rio de Janeiro (1,435 t) of the Compagnie des Chargeurs Réunis near Barfleur , which sank as a result of the collision. The La Champagne itself suffered severe damage, but was made afloat and was repaired in Saint-Nazaire. In 1895 it was completely overhauled, with two of the four masts dismantled and new machinery installed. The passenger capacity of the third class increased to 1,500 travelers in the course of the renovations.
On February 17, 1898, the propeller shaft of La Champagne broke in the middle of the ocean . She drifted rudderlessly on the Atlantic for six days until she was sighted by the ship Rotterdam on February 23 . On the same day, the Warren Line novel took her in tow to Halifax . The repair work took place in Penhoët between May 2nd and August 17th, 1898. On August 15, 1900, she left Le Havre with an expedition team to Tonkin (Vietnam). She was only back in Le Havre on October 28, 1900. On January 21, 1905, the La Champagne set sail from Le Havre to New York for her last time to cross the Atlantic. Then she was put on the Mexico route. In March and April 1906 she returned for two tours on the Le Havre – New York route, but then returned to Mexico . In October 1909 a radio station was set up on board so that wireless messages could now be received and sent.
On November 30, 1912, she began her first journey with the Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique . Shortly thereafter, another collision occurred, this time with the Desna of the Royal Mail Line near Lisbon . From 1913 she drove from Saint-Nazaire to Colón (Panama). On May 28, 1915, it ran aground when entering the port of Saint-Nazaire and broke in two. The wreck was scrapped a short time later.