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All Aboard the Doomed Art Deco Floating Palace
Seventy-five years after she lay burning and capsized in the New York harbour, the French SS Normandie still holds the record as the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built. She is considered one of the greatest of ocean liners in history, a floating palace of Art Deco majesty so dazzling, they nicknamed her the “Ship of Light” similar to Paris as the ‘”City of Light”. The gilded first class dining hall was longer than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles and guests included Ernest Hemingway, Colette, Fred Astaire, Walt Disney and even the von Trapp family singers, who all sailed aboard the Normandie during her career of 139 westbound transatlantic crossings from Le Havre, France to New York City. She was, for a brief time, Queen of the seven seas, before war, negligence and possibly sabotage, sealed her fate.
An SS Normandie promotional poster, 1935 © MCNY
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The Normandie was the fastest transatlantic ship during her career, in direct rivalry with the British RMS Queen Mary. She was a product of the roaring twenties when the U.S had closed its door on most immigration and steamship companies no longer found themselves catering to huge numbers of steerage-class European immigrants, but instead, to upper-class American tourists, particularly those wishing to escape the Prohibition for alcohol-fueled holidays in Europe.
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In 1935, three years after the stock market crash (and considerable subsidy from the French government)– the SS Normandie was sensationally launched in front of 200,000 spectators. There was no question that the Normandie was designed predominantly with first-class passengers in mind. Most of the public space, filled with grand perspectives, over-the-top entryways and grand staircases, was devoted to the highest paying customer…
One of the salons aboard of the SS Normandie © MCNY
Facilities included lavish dining rooms, lounges, swimming pool, a luxury department store, theatre, nightclub, chapel, beauty parlour, and even a winter garden.
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Passengers entered the dining room through 20-foot-tall doors adorned with bronze medallions and sauntered past its 12 pillars of Lalique glass flanked by matching columns along the walls. The café grill turned into a nightclub and the smoking room next door was paneled with ominous Egyptian murals.
First class swimming pool © MCNY
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Cinema and theatre © MCNY
Chapel © MCNY
Le Bon Marché luxury department store aboard the Normandie © MCNY
Dog Kennel © MCNY
Salle de sport © MCNY
Wine cellar © MCNY
Each first-class suites was decorated by a different designers and the most luxurious accommodations featured dining rooms, baby grand pianos, multiple bedrooms, and private decks.
First class suite © MCNY
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But Normandie’s excessive luxury was also perhaps its greatest flaw as a profitable ocean liner. While the ship’s income covered her operating expenses almost exactly, throughout her career, the Normandie often carried less than half of its potential passenger capacity.
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The problem was, there weren’t enough passengers willing to pay that first class fair. With less space and consideration given to second and tourist class, Normandie‘s luxurious if not slightly intimidating art deco interiors ended up being a deterrent to most travellers. She was regarded of as a ship for the rich and famous only, an unattainable dream voyage. Meanwhile her rival, the Queen Mary had placed just as much emphasis on decor, space, and accommodation in second and tourist class as in first class– and making a profit.
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Before the French Line behind the Normandie had a chance to re-think their marketing plan, the war had other plans for her. With Hitler’s invasion of Europe looming, the Normandie made its way to New York, seeking haven on the Hudson River. Although America was not yet involved in the war, when France declared war on Germany in 1939, American authorities immediately put Coast Guard troops on board the Normandie and interned her in accordance with international maritime law.
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