SS L'Atlantique was not known for her beauty, nor was she known for her longevity (sorry, L'Atlantique fans). However, I think it is safe to say that she was a victim of unfortunate circumstance; had she had more time to establish her run of the South Atlantic, she likely would have had a long and storied career. With an interior that would be echoed in ships like Normandie, SS L'Atlantique was a great ship in her own right, and her story deserves to be told...
The keel for the new ship would be laid down on 28 November 1928 at Saint-Nazaire by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, a highly reputable shipbuilder which would go on to construct famous ships including SS Normandie and SS France. She was built for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT), which was currently experiencing significant business success, particularly since the launch of Île de France a year prior.
The new liner would serve the South America route, a route which had been historically neglected by major shipping companies who used smaller, slower and older ships compared to the North Atlantic routes. French Line decided to change this by building a ship which could compete in size, speed and luxury, with her counterparts on the northern run, and SS L'Atlantique certainly did that.
Yet, unlike Île de France, L'Atlantique's design would represent an unusual deviation from most CGT ships. Her overall length stood at 733 feet (223m) and had a draught of only 92 feet (28m). Additionally, she had very little sheer (sheer = decks slanting upwards towards the stern and the bow), giving her an unusually flat look in comparison to her contemporaries. In fact, her exterior design is surprisingly reminiscent of a modern cruise ship.
However, the allure of L'Atlantique would be found in her stunning Art Deco interiors. Designed by Paul-Albert Bensard and Pierre Patout (a major figure in pioneering the Art Deco style), her interiors were toned down and relaxed, whilst retaining an air of class and luxury.
Like its ships on the northern route, CGT aimed to dominate the First Class markets. All First and Second Class cabins were located towards the outside of the ship, with First Class passengers enjoying access to a shopping mall and private dining rooms.
L'Atlantique strived for elegance and simplicity without quite the grandeur of Île de France, but her stunning Art Deco design would have competed with any liner on the North Atlantic run. With a gross-registered tonnage of 42,512, a top speed of 21 knots and a passenger capacity of 1,238, she was the largest and grandest of any ship on the South America route.
On 15 April 1930, she was launched, and on 7 September 1931, the newly finished ship was delivered to South America to begin her maiden voyage. However, a maiden voyage during the height of the Great Depression was always going to be a difficult task, especially given that L'Atlantique was far more grand and expensive than its passengers in South America was used to. Nonetheless, she began her maiden voyage from Buenos Aires on 29 September 1931, with her voyages subsidised by the French government in order to break even.
In January 1933, L'Atlantique was scheduled to undergo a refit in Le Havre. On 4 January, whilst sailing from Bordeaux to Le Havre, tragedy would strike. At approximately 3:30am about 25 miles (40km) from the coast of Guernsey, a fire was discovered in the First Class Stateroom, quickly setting ablaze the extensive wood panelling. The fire spread rapidly, and by 6am Captain Rene Schoofs ordered the crew to abandon ship. Given that they were located in a busy shipping lane, a number of vessels were quickly able to respond and rescue crewmen. Of the 229 crewmen onboard, 210 survived, the other 19 were lost either to the flames or as a result of a lifeboat falling into the sea.
Later that day, the ship was still ablaze and listing 20 degrees to port. It took nine tugs across a 30 hour operation to bring the ship back to Cherbourg, and she would remain on fire until 8 January.
Despite the extent of the fire which had ripped through most of her accommodations and buckled hull plates below the waterline, her engines and boiler rooms survived with relatively little damage. However, following numerous repair estimates, her owners and underwriter's eventually agreed that she was beyond economic repair, and in February 1936, three years after the fire, she was sold for scrap and towed to Port Glasgow.
SS L'Atlantique represented both the glory and the vulnerability of the ocean liner. In fact, she was one of five French liners that were lost to fire over a 10 year period (the most famous of course being Normandie). Indeed, it seems she had a rather unfortunate life; economic troubles prevented her from being a bigger player on the shipping stage, and just as things may have begun to look up economically, she was struck by a cruel twist of fate that doomed her, just like many liners before her. In another time and place, perhaps she would have had an extensive and illustrious career.
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