SS Île de France
From Our Contribution
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Île de France |
| Owner | Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët |
| Launched | 1926 |
| In service | 22 Jun 1927 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean Liner |
| Tonnage | 44,356 tons |
| Length | 241.1 m |
| Beam | 27.7 m |
| Depth | 9.75 m |
| Speed | 23 .5 knots (43.52 km/h) |
| Capacity | 537 x 1st; 603 x 2nd; 646 x 3rd class + 800 crew |
Contents
Remarks
Built for the "French Line" or CGT. The first liner ever to be decorated almost entirely with modern designs associated with the Art Deco style. Used on the Trans Atlantic run between France and the US east coast. When WW2 broke out she was in New York where she remained until loaned to the British in March 1940 who then converted her to carry troops and war materials in the large common spaces. She later sailed to Singapore, where she was officially confiscated by the British after the fall of France to Nazi Germany.
Ironically, all of the ship's luxurious fittings were removed for its conversion into a prison ship during World War II. Returned to her owners in February 1946, Île de France resumed transatlantic operations. In 1956, she played a key role in rescuing passengers from the SS Andrea Doria after the latter ship's fatal collision with the MS Stockholm off Nantucket. In 1959, the ship was sold off for scrap. In her final moments before the scrapyard, she served as the set for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Last Voyage, in which she was partially sunk. After the shooting of the film, she was refloated and towed to her final resting place in Osaka, Japan.
Soldiers carried
Fremantle to Port Tewfik 19 April - 14 May 1941
Embarked 16 April, sailed 19 April 1941.
- Cyril John Dunnell
- James Robert McCormack
- Charles Owen Parkin
- George Victor Parkin
- † James Pryor Thatcher
- Norman Rees Willacott MID
- Walter Roland Williams
Port Tewfik to Adelaide 30 January - 23 March 1942
Disembarked at Bombay 6 Feb 1942 & transferred 9 Feb 1942 to SS Kosciusko , SS Madras City or SS City of Paris
- Eric Anderson SS Madras City
- Ralph Godfrey SS City of Paris
- David Edward Kitchener Granberg SS Kosciusko
- † Victor Charles Lowe SS Kosciusko
- Clarence Malarkey SS Madras City
- Francis Malarkey SS Madras City
- Len Malarkey SS Madras City
- Edwin Reed Marshall SS Kosciusko
- † Jack North SS Kosciusko
- John William Pryor SS Kosciusko
- Donald Roberts Scott SS Kosciusko
- Allan Cole Uren SS Kosciusko
- John Patrick Whitaker SS Kosciusko
Disembarked from SS Kosciusko in Fremantle and went AWOL
2/4th Australian Company AASC
- Robert Ralph Thompson HMT Empire Prince