The Death of the Normandie

It was 69 years ago today that the French liner Normandie caught fire and capsized at her berth in New York. The grand ship was laid up in New York following the outbreak of World War II, and after France fell in 1940 was seized by the US government for use as a troop transport. She was renamed the USS Lafayette, after the Marquis de Lafayette (who had helped the Americans in the Revolutionary War) and nearly ready for her debut in this wartime role when disaster struck on February 9, 1942.

This period newsreel does a rather good job of describing what exactly happened to this grand ship 69 years ago. Notice, too, how in the later part of the clip the announcer described her as once being "the second finest ship afloat."

39 Years Ago: The Death of the Queen Elizabeth

It was 39 years ago today that fire swept through and destroyed the RMS Queen Elizabeth, which had been renamed the SS Seawise University. The liner had been sold to Mr. C.Y. Tung of Hong Kong who had the intention of turning her into a traveling school (similar to the Semester at Sea program that exists today). Shortly before her debut in this new role, however, several fires broke out aboard the former Lizzie on January 9, 1972 and completely destroyed her. Twisted, broken and burnt out, she would lay in disgrace until finally broken up between 1974 and 1975. Although much of the ship was scrapped it is estimated that as much as 50% of the former Queen Elizabeth still sits underwater in Hong Kong Harbor.

A memorial was established outside of Mr. Tung's headquarters in Torrance, California following the liner's destruction. It incorporated one of her massive anchors as well as a "Q" and "E" from her bow letters. A similar monument was put up in New York City and utilized the other set of letters.

The loss of any ship is tragic; especially one as beautiful and historically significant as the Queen Elizabeth. She lives on, however, in the hearts and minds of those who sailed aboard her; as well as those who wish they could have.

The Splendor's Tugboat

In the early hours of November 8, 2010 the 113,300 GRT Carnival Splendor suffered from a terrible fire in her after engine room that knocked out all power to the ship and left all 4,500 people onboard adrift at sea. She had to be slowly towed by tugboat to San Diego, California and finally arrived safely on November 11.

Yesterday I met a man from Wisconsin whose brother had been a passenger on that trip, along with his wife, mother-in-law and sister-in-law (which had to have been an ordeal in itself, he said). But then he asked me if I knew the name of the tug that came to the Splendor's rescue. After thinking for a moment, I had to confess that I did not. "The Chihuahua," he told me. "That's the name of the boat that towed them in. My brother told me that if it had been named the St. Bernard they'd have been home in a day!"

Fire Safety

Fire is the worst disaster that a ship can face next to sinking. Increasingly high safety standards have limited the number of accidents, but the threat is still a very real one. Not even a Cunard Queen is immune, as demonstrated by the fiery and tragic demise of the original Queen Elizabeth (which had recently been sold and renamed the SS Seawise University) on January 9, 1972.

Tragedy could have also fallen on her successor, the Queen Elizabeth 2. The new ship had been built according to both British and American safety regulations, which meant that she was extensively fire-proofed and had the best in fire suppression technology. The QE2 was built to be one of the safest ships afloat.

In 1976, an engine room erupted and ultimately knocked out one of the liner's boilers. This forced QE2 to limp back into port at Southampton, where it was clear to all that something had happened. The liner's distinctive white funnel had been blackened as a result of the blaze.

The faulty boiler was eventually replaced and the QE2 resumed her work. Had it not been for her high safety standards, she may have followed her older sister to Valhalla only four years later.



References: David F. Hutchings, QE2: A Ship For All Seasons (Dorset: Waterfront Publications, 1993), 40-41.