SS Europa (1928)

SS Europa prior to her maiden voyage
History
Germany
Name	Europa
Owner	Norddeutsche Lloyd
Port of registry	Bremen,Germany
Ordered	1927
Builder	Blohm & Voss shipyard, Hamburg, Germany
Launched	15 August 1928
Christened	15 August 1928
Maiden voyage	19 March 1930
In service	March 1930
Out of service	May 1945
Identification	Not known
Fate	Captured by Allied forces
Status	Claimed as war prize by the US Navy
Notes	Was largest German ship built during the 1930s
United States
Name	USS Europa
Operator	United States Navy
Port of registry	Boston, USA
Route	Transatlantic
Acquired	1945
In service	1945 to 1946
Out of service	1946
Identification	Pennant Number AP-177
Status	Turned over to the French Line in 1946
Notes	Served as a Troop Transport from Brest, France to New York, New York
France
Name	SS Liberté
Operator	Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
Route	Le Havre, France- New York, USA
Acquired	1946
Maiden voyage	16 July 1950
In service	1950 to 1963
Out of service	1946 to 1950
Fate	Retired in 1962 and scrapped in 1963.
Status	Scrapped
Notes	Was the replacement of Normandie
General characteristics
Class and type	Ocean liner
Tonnage	49,746 GRT
Displacement	55,500 long tons (56,400 t)
Length	936.7 ft (283.5 m)
Beam	101.7 feet (31 m)
Height	150.6 feet
Decks	12
Installed power	Four steam turbines generating 105,000 shp
Propulsion	Quadruple propellers
Speed	27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph)
Capacity	2,195 total passengers: 860 first class 502 second class 305 tourist class 617 third class
Crew	965

SS Europa, later SS Liberté, IMO 5607332, was a German ocean liner built for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) to work the transatlantic sea route. She and her sister ship, Bremen, were the two most advanced, high-speed steam turbine ocean vessels in their day, and were a part of the international competition for the Blue Riband.

History

Construction

Europa was built in 1929 with her sister ship SS Bremen to be the second 50,000–gross ton North German Lloyd liner. They both were powered with advanced high-speed steam turbine engines and were built with a bulbous bow entry and a low streamlined profile.

Europa and her slightly larger sister ship were designed to have a cruising speed of 27.5 knots, allowing an Atlantic crossing time of 5 days. This enabled Norddeutsche Lloyd to run regular weekly crossings with two ships, a feat that previously required three.

Europa in flames during her fitting out

The launching of Europa took place at Blohm & Voss shipyard, Hamburg on Wednesday, August 15, 1928. Europa was intended to be completed in spring 1929. However, on the morning of 26 March 1929, a fire broke out while still at the equipment dock. The fire raged all day long and it was not until the evening when the fire was under control. The ship's turbines were damaged heavily and also the remainder of the ship had been significantly damaged. After long discussions between builder and shipping company, it was decided to repair the ship. Within eleven months the ship was finished and completed on February 22, 1930. The cause of the fire has never been clearly identified.

Blue Riband

Europa made her maiden voyage to New York on 19 March 1930 taking the westbound Blue Riband from SS Bremen with the average speed of 27.91 knots and a crossing time of 4 days, 17 hours and 6 minutes. During the voyage many of her passengers were disturbed by the soot coming out of Europa's low funnels. The problem was corrected by raising the funnels by 15 feet, though decreasing her low profile. After they were raised, there were no more complaints. She held it till the Bremen recaptured it in June 1933.

Aircraft

Heinkel He 58 D-1919 Bremen Atlantic being loaded onto the catapult on SS Europa

Like Bremen, Europa had a small seaplane launched from a catapult on her upper deck between the funnels. The airplane flew from the ship to a landing at the seaplane port in Blexen. The pilots and technicians gained experience later applied to equipping German warships with on-board aircraft.

The catapult was removed from both Bremen and Europa after a few years of service, because it was too expensive and complex.

World War II

USS Europa in Bremerhaven, May 1945

Europa was inactive for most of World War II. There were plans to use her as a transport in Operation Sea Lion, the intended invasion of Great Britain, and later conversion to an aircraft carrier. None of these plans came to pass, and in 1945, she was captured by the Allies and used as a troopship, sailing as the USS Europa (AP-177). The United States claimed the ship as a war prize on 8 May 1945 and gave the vessel to the US Navy, which commissioned Europa 25 August 1945 with Captain B. F. Perry in command. Europa cleared Bremerhaven on 11 September 1945 for Southampton, England, where she loaded 4,500 homeward-bound American troops, arriving in New York City on 24 September. After alteration to increase her troop-carrying capacity, she made two voyages to Southampton to bring US servicemen home to the United States. She sailed from New York once more, on 15 March 1946, bound for Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, and Bremerhaven, where she moored on 24 March.

Europa suffered from small fires caused by the removal of the ship's original high-quality fittings and installation of inferior replacements to compensate for material shortages in the war effort. Also, several serious hull cracks were discovered. The vessel was decommissioned on 2 May 1946 and delivered to the State Department on 8 June 1946. She was later transferred to France in partial payment of war reparations.

French Line

Liberté sunk following a collision with the capsized Paris at Le Havre

The French line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique took over ownership and brought the vessel to Le Havre for refitting into their service as a replacement for SS Normandie. The most obvious change was the repainting of her funnels from NDL yellow to the red funnels and black tops of the CGT. On December 8, 1946 a storm caused her to break free from her moorings and she collided with the wreck of Paris, causing significant damage to her hull. She was raised in April 1947 and towed to the Chantiers de l'Atlantique Shipyard in Saint-Nazaire to complete her refitting. She suffered some further damage when the ship caught fire once again in October 1949, resulting in damage to some of her passenger space. Finally, on August 2, 1950, after five years and two near disasters, she made her maiden voyage to New York under her new name, Liberté. She served the French line until 1962, when she was retired and was scrapped in 1963, due to the SS France coming out in 1961 and the French line also wanted to replace most of their fleet.

Sailing as SS Liberté in the 1950s

After the launching of the 66,000-ton SS France in 1960, Liberté was laid up in 1962 and scrapped in 1963. She had served 11 years as the premier transatlantic liner of the French Line fleet.

Liberté was featured prominently in the Jane Russell film The French Line. Liberté made an appearance in the opening credits of the 1953 movie How to Marry a Millionaire, as well as the 1954 classic film Sabrina, starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, in the final scenes of the film.

Route

• Bremerhaven – New York (as Europa)
• Le Havre – New York (1950 on as Liberté)

See also

Media related to IMO 5607332 at Wikimedia Commons

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Further reading

• Miller, William H. (2013). Île de France and Liberté: France's premier post-war liners. Classic Liners series. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 9780752474861.
• Willoughby, J. Russell (2010). Bremen and Europa: German Speed Queens of the Atlantic. Canterbury: Maritime Publishing Concepts. ISBN 9780953103553.
• "AP-177 Europa". Service Ship Photo Archive. Retrieved March 28, 2007.