One of the best passenger ships of its time, which crossed the Atlantic in record time, became part of the United States Navy with the outbreak of World War II. The French ship "Normandy" did not have time to serve - the ship had to be written off due to the fault of a negligent worker.
Liner development
In the early thirties of the last century, the French shipping company set as its goal the construction of a large liner for transatlantic flights. A French transatlantic postal and passenger turboelectric ship would compete successfully with the then leaders in the shipping industry - the British giants White Star Line and Cunard Line.
The development was based on the project of the Russian engineer V. Yurkevich, who proposed a special case design. At first, the employees of the shipping company did not accept the idea and proposal of the still unknown Russian shipbuilder, but with the help of senior friends he managed to convince the leadership.
Prior to this, the engineers were sure that the old type of hull was the best solution for the new ship. But now it became clear that the liner will have unprecedented hydrodynamic qualities in those times. Yurkevich’s project allowed to reduce engine power.
Revision of plans
Plans for the construction of a new passenger liner were revised. The stock market crash of 1929 negatively affected all major shipping companies, but the first work still began in January 1931. Trial running tests were carried out in the summer of 1935.
They talked about the future vessel, calling it “item No. 534”, and the workers assigned it the T6 code. The names went through a lot: "Neptune", "General Pershing", "Benjamin Franklin", "La France". In French, the word “ship” is masculine, so when the name “Normandy” was proposed, the article “La” or “Le” was required. As a result, the company decided to call the liner simply “Normandy”.
Launching
The public interest in the Normandy liner has not abated since the very moment when the construction plans were announced. On the day the ship was launched, the banks of the Loire River were filled with 200 thousand inhabitants. The ceremony was attended by French President Albert Lebrun, and his wife was supposed to christen the ship.
The basic characteristics of the Normandy liner amazed even ordinary citizens who did not understand anything in shipbuilding. The ship weighed more than twenty-seven and a half tons, that is, more than any previous ship. The hull descended into the water at such a speed that it doused about a hundred observers with river water. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Then the liner was driven away to the place of finishing work. The first trip on the liner took place only in 1935.
Improvements
It was originally planned to begin servicing the Normandy in 1934. However, transatlantic travels are no longer relevant due to depression. So, the shipping company decided to put the ship in a dry dock until 1935. The designers who were supposed to make the ship a truly luxurious liner were given enough time. In 1935, the Normandy entered the port of Le Havre.
First flight
May 29, 1935 at 18:19 the liner Normandy set off on its first flight. The public expected him to be a record. On the fourth of June of the same year, the ship passed Ambrose lighthouse, thus breaking a speed record. The new ship passed the Atlantic in four days, three hours and two minutes. The average crossing speed was 29.98 knots - faster than any other airliner before.
First problems
The liner "Normandy" problems with vibration at high speeds were found during trial tests. But officials did not see this as a reason for delaying the first flight. However, while traveling on a liner, passengers noted that it was impossible to stay in tourist-class cabins due to noise and vibration.
The engineers of the French shipping company believed that vibration should be eliminated very quickly. Normandy spent six months in the dry dock, attracting famous clients. The liner was reinforced with stern and the screws were replaced from three-blade to four-blade. Perestroika was also used to improve the ship to the appearance of a competitor from the UK.
Competition with Queen Mary
The Normandy airliner was still the best, but the appearance of a competitor could deprive the ship of several titles. Britain at that time was completing its “product number 534”. Queen Mary (photo above) was to join the British Navy in the summer of 1936. It was announced that the ship will be the first ship whose tonnage will exceed 80 thousand tons. With a tonnage of 79,280 tons, the Normandy would lose the title of the largest ship in the world. Therefore, the shipbuilding company decided to increase the dimensions of the liner. The tonnage of Normandy increased to 83,423 tons.
Three months after the return, the Normandy was preparing to enter the route, and Queen Mary to enter the race for the Atlantic. Her case was less efficient than that of the Normandy, but the engines were more powerful. Queen Mary broke the French liner record and became the first ship in the world to cross the ocean in less than four days.
The following season, Normandy could already successfully compete with the British airliner, because the engines were improved. This allowed to reach speeds of up to 30-31 knots. Liner "Normandy" again became the fastest in the world. But the English development was more popular, because the luxurious interiors of the “Frenchman” had a depressing effect on people.
Parking lot in new york city
In 1939, the Normandy was parked in New York due to the impending war in Europe. The very next day, fears were confirmed when Hitler's forces treacherously attacked Poland. Queen Mary moored nearby. In June 1940, after France surrendered to Germany, the Normandy was arrested by the coast guard. On Christmas Eve, the ship was renamed Lafayette.
The death of "Normandy"
The death of the ship "Normandy" occurred on February 9, 1942. A group of workers cut the bulkheads with gas burners. One of the workers accidentally set fire to life jackets without noticing sparks from the burner. There were no firefighters on board then, and the automatic system was turned off. New York firefighters arrived at the scene in just twelve minutes, but they were not able to get inside because of workers running out of the burning liner. After all this turmoil, the rescuers nevertheless began to extinguish the fire.
A fire broke out in the central compartment, which housed bunks for US soldiers. Flames began to spread rapidly throughout the ship, it was not possible to bring down it. The ship tilted to its left side. One of the largest and fastest liners in the world, which could take on board a whole division with weapons, at the very height of hostilities in Europe, when the American command was in need of transport, it was disabled in a matter of seconds.
Effects
On the evening of the same day, the rescue operations manager told reporters that one hundred and twenty-eight workers received severe burns and were transported to the hospital, ninety-two of them are in very serious or unstable condition. At the same time, preliminary causes of the fire were announced: sparks from a worker's tool accidentally hit a pile of life jackets when repairs were being carried out on the ship. The material from which lifejackets are made is highly flammable, so the fire spread very quickly.
The ship continued to tilt. On the night of February 10, turbid streams of water from the bottom of the strait poured into the holds of the Normandy, the most expensive record holder in the world. The starboard side continued to burn. The liner "Normandy" sank. Part fell on a granite ledge, and the rest - in the mud of the Hudson. The rudder of the ship buried one and a half meters under the pier, breaking five piles. It took five million dollars and twenty-two months to lift Normandy.
Pumping of water began only on August 2, 1943, and the liner was fully raised only in mid-September. Until the end of World War II, the ship was docked in Brooklyn, and in 1946 the United States government sold the Normandy ship at the cost of scrap metal, that is, for only one hundred sixty two thousand dollars. American law enforcement agencies conducted an investigation, but it was not possible to find out the causes of the fire.
At first, of course, it was planned to put the ship on the water again. But in order to raise the "Normandy" from the bottom of the Hudson, it was necessary to cut off all pipes, superstructures, masts. They planned to convert the ship into an aircraft carrier, and then turn it back into a passenger liner, but after an approximate estimate of the cost of the work, these ideas were abandoned. After the sale, the interiors of the ship were exhibited at various auctions for a long time.
Maybe a diversion?
Some facts point to a possible sabotage by German agents or New York gangsters of Italian origin. The opinions of experts of the Navy and the FBI regarding the causes of the fire diverged. American journalists M. Sayers and A. Kann also came to the conclusion that the death of "Normandy" is the work of German saboteurs.
In their book, the authors state this opinion: for a long time, Nazi agents watched the ship. Two weeks before the surrender of France, the secret service transmitted to agents in the United States a radio message that was intercepted on Long Island. The message contained a requirement to monitor the ship. German spy Kurt Frederick Ludwig regularly sent management reports.
Several facts speak in favor of this version. Firstly, during the week before the fire on board there were four fires that turned out to be put out in time. Secondly, after the start of the fire, there were only two buckets near the outbreak, although usually there were much more. In addition, the warning system was disabled on the ship almost a month before the disaster, but the US security service did not know about it. Thirdly, there were a large number of pro-German-minded workers on board, whose personal data was not carefully checked.
Other versions
In 1975, an authoritative English publication published a sensational article. A journalistic investigation suggested that the Normandy’s death in New York’s harbor was caused by gangster boss Lacchi Luciano, who wanted to demonstrate the US Navy's need to protect the country's ports.
Luciano was jailed for the murder. He repeatedly offered the authorities cooperation. The influential boss of the Italian mafia warned counterintelligence about impending arson and sabotage, he offered his services to protect the harbor and prevent sabotage, but he was ignored. After the death of Normandy, he was promised release from custody with the end of hostilities if his people would assist the authorities, and then the mafia boss would leave for Europe. The mafia kept its word.