SS France was a Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, or French Line) ocean liner, constructed by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard at Saint-Nazaire, France, and put into service in February 1962. From the time of her construction in 1960 until the construction of the in 2004, the vessel was the longest passenger ship ever built. France was purchased by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) in 1979, renamed SS Norway, and underwent significant modifications to refit her for cruising. She was later renamed SS Blue Lady preparatory to scrapping, sold to be scrapped in 2005, with scrapping completed in late 2008.
Characteristics France was the French Line flagship from 1961 to 1974, combining regular five days/nights transatlantic crossings with occasional winter cruises, as well as two world circumnavigations. During her last years as a liner, to save fuel costs, crossings took six days/nights.
Some, like ship historian John Maxtone-Graham, believe that France was purposely built to serve as both a liner and a cruise ship, stating: "Once again, the company had cruise conversion in mind... for cruises, all baffle doors segregating staircases from taboo decks were opened to permit free circulation throughout the vessel."Maxtone-Graham, John; Liners to the Sun; Pg. 71 However, others, such as ship historian William Miller, have asserted that France was the "last purposely designed year-round transatlantic supership."Miller, William H.; Famous Ocean Liners; Patrick Stephens Ltd.; 1987; Pg. 107
History
Concept and construction France was constructed to replace the line's other ageing ships including and SS Liberté, which were outdated by the 1950s. Without these vessels the French Line could not compete against their rivals, most notably the Cunard Line, which also had plans for constructing a new modern liner. It was rumoured that this ship would be a 75,000-ton replacement for their ships and . (This ship would eventually be the 68,000-ton Queen Elizabeth 2.) Further, the United States Lines had put into service in 1952 , which had broken all speed records on her maiden voyage, with an average speed of .
At first, the idea of two 35,000-ton running mates was considered to replace Ile de France and Liberté. Charles de Gaulle, later President of France, opined that it would be better for French national pride, then flagging due to the then ongoing Algerian War of Independence, to construct one grand ocean liner, in the tradition of , as an ocean-going showcase for France. The idea of such a publicly funded liner was controversial, leading to raucous debates in the French parliament. The dealing lasted three and a half years, and though the letter commissioning the construction was finally signed by the Chairman of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, Jean Marie, on 25 July 1956, debate about the form, cost and construction schedule for France went on for a further year.Offrey, Charles; 303 Arts, recherces et créations:SS Normandie/SS France/SS Norway: France, the Last French Passenger Liner; p. 45
Beyond the luxuries, the French Line had to also face the realities that transatlantic passenger trade was forecast to decline due to increased air travel. Also, ship operating costs were increasing, mostly due to the price of crude oil. Consequently, the new ship would be larger than Ile, but smaller and cheaper to operate than Normandie. She would also only be a two-class liner, which would, like the recently built , be able to be converted from a segregated, class-restricted crossing mode to a unified, classless cruising mode, thereby allowing the ship to be more versatile in its operations. Despite these requirements, she was still to be the longest ship ever built, as well as one of the fastest, meaning not only an advanced propulsion system, but also a hull design which would withstand the rigours of the North Atlantic at high speed.
Hull G19 was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, in Saint-Nazaire, France, her keel being laid down on 7 October 1957. She was built in a pioneering manner: rather than constructing a skeleton which was then covered in steel hull plating, large parts of the ship were prefabricated in other cities (including Orléans, Le Havre and Lyon). The hull was fully welded, leading to weight savings, and two sets of stabilisers were fitted.Offrey; p. 52
She was blessed by the Bishop of Nantes, Monseigneur Villepelet, and launched on 11 May 1960, at 4:15 pm, by Yvonne de Gaulle, wife of the president, and was named France, in honour both of the country and of the two previous CGT ships to bear the name. By 4:22 pm France was afloat and under command of tugs.Offrey; p. 54 President De Gaulle was in attendance at the launch, and gave a speech, announcing that France had been given a new Normandie, able to compete with Cunard's Queens, and the Blue Riband was within their reach. In reality, however, the speed of United States could not be beaten.
After the launch, the propellers were installed (the entire process taking over three weeks), the distinctive funnels affixed to the upper decks, the superstructure completed, life boats placed in their davits, and the interiors fitted out. France then undertook her sea trials on 19 November 1961, and averaged an unexpected . With the French Line satisfied, the ship was handed over, and undertook a trial cruise to the Canary Islands with a full complement of passengers and crew. During this short trip she met, at sea, Liberté which was on her way to the shipbreakers.
Service history as France
France's maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York via Southampton, took place on 3 February 1962, with many of France's film stars and aristocracy aboard.
On 14 December 1962, France carried the Mona Lisa from Le Havre to New York, where the painting was to embark on an American tour.
She sailed the North Atlantic run between Le Havre and New York for thirteen years. But, by the beginning of the 1970s, far faster, and increasingly more comfortable and fuel-efficient commercial jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707, DC-8, and Boeing 747 had made long-distance transoceanic air travel more popular than the ocean liners, putting financial stress on European ship lines like the CGT that had derived much of their revenue from the trans-Atlantic market. Owing to this shift in trans-Atlantic travel trends, France was forced to take increasing advantage of subsidies from the French government.
Using the ship's versatile design to its full potential, the CGT began to send France on cruises in winter, which was off-season for the Atlantic trade. One design flaw was revealed when the ship reached warmer waters: her two swimming pools, one each for first and tourist class, were both indoors; the first class pool deep within the ship's hull, and the tourist class pool on an upper deck, but covered with an immovable glass dome. The latter, perhaps, was the more aggravating in hot weather. She also had limited outdoor deck space, with much of what was available protected behind thick glass wind-screens, useful on the North Atlantic, but frustrating when blocking cooling breezes in the tropics.
Nonetheless, France's cruises were popular, and her first world cruise took place in 1972. Too large to traverse the Panama and Suez Canals, she was forced to sail around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. That same year, with the destruction of the Seawise University (former RMS Queen Elizabeth) by fire in Hong Kong, France became the largest passenger ship in service in the world.
As the opening years of the decade progressed, the cruise market expanded, seeing the construction of smaller, purpose-built cruise ships which could pass through the Panama Canal. In the 1973 oil crisis the price of oil went from US$3 to $12 per barrel. When the French government, at the end of the Trente Glorieuses, realised that keeping France running would necessitate an additional ten million dollars a year, it opted instead to subsidize the then Concorde supersonic aircraft currently in development. Without this government money, the French Line could not operate, and it was announced that France would be withdrawn from service on 25 October 1974.
In response the crew decided to take matters into their own hands: an eastbound crossing on 6 September 1974, her 202nd crossing, was delayed several hours while the crew met to decide on strike action. Rather than strike immediately in New York, it was decided to strike six days later outside Le Havre. The ship was commandeered by a group of French trade unionists who anchored France in the entrance to the port, blocking all incoming and outgoing traffic. The 1,200 passengers aboard had to be ferried to shore on tenders, while approximately 800 of the crew remained aboard. The strikers demanded that the ship be allowed to continue to serve, along with a 35% wage increase for themselves. Their mission failed, and the night of the takeover proved to be the ship's last day of service for the CGT. It took over a month for the stand-off to end, and by 7 December 1974, the ship was moored at a distant quay in Le Havre, known colloquially as quai de l'oubli – the pier of oblivion.
By that time France had completed 377 crossings and 93 cruises (including two world cruises), carried a total of 588,024 passengers on trans-Atlantic crossings, and 113,862 passengers on cruises, and had sailed a total of 1,860,000 nautical miles.
First decommissioning
The mothballing of France was met with dismay by much of the French population, resulting in a song by Michel Sardou, titled "Le France". The chorus of the song being "Never call me "France" again / France has let me down" ("Ne m'appelez plus jamais "France"/ La France elle m'a laissé tomber"). The French Communist Party and the trade unions of Le Havre approved the song, which also became an anthem for the defender of the ship.
The ship sat in the same spot for approximately four years, with the interiors, including all furniture, still completely intact. There were no plans to scrap the ship, or to sell it. In 1977 Saudi Arabian millionaire Akram Ojjeh expressed an interest in purchasing the vessel for use as a floating museum for antique French furniture and artworks, as well as a casino and hotel off the coast of the south-east United States. Though he purchased the ship for $24 million, this proposal was never realised, and others were rumoured to have floated, including bids from the Soviet Union to use her as a hotel ship in the Black Sea, and a proposal from China to turn her into a floating industrial trade fair.
In the end, the ship was sold in 1979 to Knut Kloster, the owner of Norwegian Caribbean Line for $18 million for conversion into the world's largest cruise ship. Hundreds of weddings had been celebrated on France over her transatlantic career; just before she was renamed Norway, one last marriage was performed aboard the ship at the quay in Le Havre. Norway was considered the first "mega" cruise ship.
By August of that year Norway was moved to the Lloyd shipyards in Bremerhaven, Germany, where she underwent renovations at a cost of US$80 million.
Service history as Norway