liner FRANCE

Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, 1962 - 1977

Design features

France (liner) 1962 - 1977
hull material : ...................steel
previous name(s) of ship : ........
detailed type : ...................liner
type of propulsion : ..............4 propellers
building year of ship : ...........1960
name of shipyard : ................Chantiers de l'Atlantique
place of construction : ...........Saint-Nazaire
year of entering the fleet : ......1962
length (in meters) : ..............315,66
width (in meters) : ...............33,70
gross tonnage (in tons) : .........66348
deadweight (in tons) : ............13961
type of engine : ..................4 sets of turbo-reducing gears composed of 4 turbines
engine power (in HP) : ............160000
nominal speed (in Knots) : ........31

History

Last transatlantic liner built on behalf of Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, FRANCE will close in September 1974 the line Le Havre-New York which had been exploited by Compagnie for 110 years : a whole symbol! Third ship of company to bear this name after FRANCE (1) of 1865 and FRANCE (2) of 1912. The new flag-ship of the French Line is completed November 1961 and brought into service in January 1962. Her first departure for New York takes place on February 3, 1962. She is at the time the longest steamer of the world (315,66 meters overall), one of fastest also, but her startup intervenes whereas the share of market of the transatlantic liners is reduced year by year to the profit of the plane and nobody any more thinks of blue Ribbon… FRANCE will meet however a success at least equal to that of NORMANDIE in her time. Exploited mainly between Havre, Southampton and New York (FRANCE will never make stopover at Plymouth, contrary to her predecessors), with sometimes a detour via Bremerhaven between 1969 and 1974, FRANCE will carry out each year several cruises in Europe, departure from New York and in particular two long cruises over the world in 1972 and 1974, only ever organized by the company. Until 1973, she carries out her transatlantic crossings in 5 days. The last year, their duration will be increased to 6 days in order to save a little fuel oil. Several time in 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1971, she will divert her route to carry assistance to sailors sick or wounded on other ships. From May 1969, FRANCE accosts in New York along pier 92 of Cunard, which she shares with new steamer QUEEN ELIZABETH 2. Pier 88 is demolished to leave the place to a new terminal of cruises, which will be completed in 1975. The steamer will also carry out a single stopover in Cherbourg in June 1974, this time because of a strike of the "Abeilles" in Le Havre. In spring 1974, the French government decides not to more subsidize the exploitation of the ship, and this from July 1. Facing this decision, and in front of the rise of the prices of oil, the French Line announces on July 8 that FRANCE will be laid up in the autumn. The two last transatlantic crossings are programmed on October 11 departure from Le Havre, in the East-West direction, with a stopover in Halifax, Canada and October 18 at the departure of New York, in the west-east direction, with a stopover in the Azores and unloading of the passengers in Cannes. These crossings will never take place because, September 11, at the end of her 202th voyage, the steamer is immobilized by the crew at the entry of Le Havre, where she will remain nearly one month, under the full glare of the medias. Her fate being sealed, FRANCE accosts in Le Havre on October 9 where she is finally laid up in December, in the channel of Tancarville. During her career under French Line flag, FRANCE crossed the Atlantic 377 times, transporting nearly 600.000 passengers, and she carried out on the whole 93 cruises. In October 1977, the steamer is sold first once at a Swiss company but the projects of its new owner, Mr. Akkram Ojjeh, do not succeed. In August 1979, the ship is resold to the Norwegian shipowner Klosters Rederi A/S which renames her NORWAY. She leaves Le Havre on August 18, 1979: she will return only 17 years there later. For 8 months, she is completely transformed into cruising ship by the Hapag-Lloyd Shipyards in Bremerhaven: this work makes her, and by far, the largest steamer of cruisings in the world (more than 70.000 tons). In May 1980, she crosses the Atlantic, accosts to the pier 88 in New York then reaches Miami, her new home port. At the time, her success is such as her cabins are reserved one year in advance. With the autumn 1990, the steamer is again transformed in Bremerhaven by the addition of an upper deck. With 76.000 tons, she is always the largest steamer of cruisings of the world. In September 1996, she goes back to New York for the first time since 1980 then carries out a transatlantic crossing New York – Le Havre, the first since 1974. With the end of the year, her funnels are repainted in white with the dark blue top but this unpleasant coating will be replaced on the following year by an entirely blue new one, with in its center, the company logo in golden letters. During the summer 2001, the Malaysian company Star Cruises, which went owner of the shipowner Kloster (or Norwegian Cruise Line) the previous year, announces that it will put a term to the career of NORWAY in the Caribbean in September. September 5, 2001, NORWAY leaves New York for what must be her last transatlantic crossing. But, contrary to all expectations, she takes again her cruises at the departure of Miami in December. May 25, 2003, whereas the steamer is handled to accost in Miami, the explosion of a boiler makes 7 victims among the men of crew and leads to the cancellation of the program of cruisings of the ship. In June, NORWAY is towed until Bremerhaven where she is laid up at the end of July. March 17, 2004, Norwegian Cruise Line announces that it would not make repair of the damaged boiler - perhaps because of the prohibitory cost of the operation -, and it thus decided not to give the steamer in service on the American market. The official statement published precises that company seeks other solutions for the exploitation of the ship. Finally, in April 2004, it puts her officially on sale. To note : NORWAY is not any more the largest steamer of cruisings of the world since completion at the end of 1987 of Norwegian steamer SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS (73.000 tons), also built in Saint-Nazaire. However, she took again the title in 1990, after the addition of the new additional deck, then lost - this time definitively - at the end of 1995, with the service entrance of liberian steamer SUN PRINCESS (77.000 tons). As for the length record of her hull (for a steamer), it was exceeded by that of the giant steamer Queen Mary 2, which reaches 345 meters and has, moreover, a tonnage twice higher (approximately 150.000 tons).