SS Normandie

SS Normandie, the famous French liner that met it's end in WWII. (NOTE: This is only the history bit. I'll work on more if I can.)

She was built in Saint-Nazaire, built for French Line or Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She entered service in 1935 being the largest passenger ship afloat, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a record breaking 4 days, and 14 hours, and is still the most powerful steam powered turbo-electric passenger ship ever built.

Normandie 's lavish interiors and novel design led many people to consider her one of the most greatest ocean liners ever built. Despite this, she wasn't actually a commercial success and relied government money to operate. During her service of being the flagship of CGT, she sailed 139 westbound transatlantic crossings from Le Havre, her home port to New York City (NYC/The Big Apple). Normandie held the Blue Ribband for several points of her career, when the RMS Queen Mary was her main rival.

During the Second World War (WWII), Normandie was seized by the U.S. authorities when docked in New York renaming her: USS Lafayette. Then, in 1942, the liner caught on fire when being converted to a troopship, capsizing on her port side to rest in the Hudson River at Pier 88, the site of the current New York Passenger Terminal. Although salvaged at a expense, restoration seemed to be required to much money and she was then, set of her final voyage to the scrapyards in October of 1946.