The SS Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. 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.
At 14:30 on 9 February 1942, sparks from a welding torch used by workman Clement Derrick ignited a stack of life vests filled with flammable kapok that had been stored in Lafayette’s first-class lounge. The flammable varnished woodwork had not yet been removed, and the fire spread rapidly. The ship had a very efficient fire protection system, but it had been disconnected during the conversion and its internal pumping system was deactivated. The New York City Fire Department’s hoses, unfortunately, did not fit the ship’s French inlets. Before the fire department arrived, approximately 15 minutes after fire broke out, all onboard crew were using manual means in a vain attempt to stop the blaze. A strong northwesterly wind blowing over Lafayette’s port quarter swept the blaze forward, eventually consuming the three upper decks of the ship within an hour of the start of the conflagration. Capt. Coman, along with Capt. Simmers, arrived about 15:25 to see his huge prospective command in flames.
Overhead view of Normandie at sea
Normandie’s main dining room, decorated with Lalique glass and compared to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.
Normandie docked in New York Harbor at Pier 88, site of attempted troopship conversion.
Lafayette (AP-53) afire at New York Harbor on 9 February 1942
U.S. Coast Guard Grumman Widgeon flies over wreck of Lafayette in New York 1943
Normandie, renamed USS Lafayette, lies capsized in the frozen mud of her New York pier in the winter of 1942
Normandie at C.G.T.’s pier 88 in New York
The maiden voyage of SS Normandie
The SS Normandie arriving in New York Harbor on maiden voyage.
Normandie, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth in New York Harbor in 1940
Normandie, renamed USS Lafayette, lies capsized in the frozen mud of her New York pier in the winter of 1942
Normandie, renamed USS Lafayette
Normandie
