French architect Roger-Henri Expert was in charge of the overall decorative scheme. Normandie's voluminous interior spaces were made possible by having the funnel intakes split to pass along the sides of the ship, rather than straight upward. Drawings and photographs show a series of vast public rooms of great elegance. Many sculptures and wall paintings made allusions to Normandy, the province of France for which Normandie was named. The luxurious interiors were designed in Art Déco and Streamline Moderne style. Although salvaged at great expense, restoration was deemed too costly and she was scrapped in October 1946. In 1942, the liner caught fire while being converted to a troopship, capsized onto her port side and came to rest on the mud of the Hudson River at Pier 88, the site of the current New York Passenger Ship Terminal. Normandie held the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing at several points during her service career, during which the RMS Queen Mary was her main rival.ĭuring World War II, Normandie was seized by US authorities at New York and renamed USS Lafayette. During service as the flagship of the CGT, she made 139 transatlantic crossings westbound from her home port of Le Havre to New York and one fewer returns. Despite this, she was not a commercial success and relied partly on government subsidy to operate. Her novel design and lavish interiors led many to consider her the greatest of ocean liners. She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat she is still the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built. SS Normandie was an ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.

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