View source for SS Paris (1916)

{{Short description|French ocean liner in service 1916-1939}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2009}}

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{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image =File:S.S Paris(1916) In Port(Modified Original).jpg
| Ship caption = SS ''Paris'' in port
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = France
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|France|civil}}
| Ship name = ''SS Paris''
| Ship namesake = [[Paris]], [[France]]
| Ship owner = [[Compagnie Générale Transatlantique]]
| Ship operator = 
| Ship registry = Le Havre, France
| Ship route = Le Havre, France - New York, USA
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship awarded = 
| Ship builder = Penhoët, [[Saint Nazaire]], France
| Ship original cost = 
| Ship yard number = 68
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 1913
| Ship launched = 12 September 1916
| Ship sponsor = 
| Ship christened = 
| Ship completed = 
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| Ship commissioned = 
| Ship recommissioned = 
| Ship decommissioned = 
| Ship maiden voyage = 15 June 1921
| Ship in service = 15 June 1921
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship renamed = 
| Ship reclassified = 
| Ship refit = 1929
| Ship struck = 1939
| Ship reinstated = 
| Ship homeport = Le Havre, France
| Ship identification = 
| Ship motto = 
| Ship nickname = "Aristocrat of the Atlantic"
| Ship honours = 
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| Ship captured = 
| Ship fate = Caught fire, and capsized in [[Le Havre]] on 18 April 1939, Scrapped in 1947
| Ship notes = 
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption = 
| Ship class = 
| Ship type = [[Ocean liner]]
| Ship tonnage = {{GRT|34,569}}, {{NRT|15333}}
| Ship displacement = 36,695
| Ship length = {{convert|768|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|85|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = 
| Ship draft = {{convert|31|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship depth = {{convert|68|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship hold depth = 
| Ship decks = 10
| Ship deck clearance = 
| Ship ramps = 
| Ship ice class = 
| Ship power = 
| Ship propulsion = 4 Parson's Turbines 46,000 hp
| Ship sail plan = 
| Ship speed = {{convert|23|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship range = {{convert|8,000|mile|km|abbr=on}} radius
| Ship endurance = 
| Ship test depth = 
| Ship boats = 54 Lifeboats, 1 Motorboat, 2 Service boats
| Ship capacity = * 3,241
** 563 first class
** 468 second class
** 2,210 third class
| Ship troops = 
| Ship complement = 
| Ship crew = 657
| Ship time to activate = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
'''SS ''Paris''''' was a French [[ocean liner]] built for the [[Compagnie Générale Transatlantique]] by [[Chantiers de l'Atlantique]] in [[Saint-Nazaire]], France. Although ''Paris'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] in 1913, her [[Ceremonial ship launching|launching]] was delayed until 1916, and she was not completed until 1921, due to [[World War I]]. When ''Paris'' was finally completed, she was the largest liner under the French flag, at 34,569 tons. Although not so large as the [[Olympic-class ocean liner|''Olympic''-class]] or the [[Imperator-class ocean liner|''Imperator''-class]] and not intended to challenge the speed record of the [[RMS Mauretania (1906)|''Mauretania'']], the ''Paris'', operated by the Cie Generale Transatlantique, was one of the finest liners put into service, at the time.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://web.greatships.net:81/paris.html| title=Great ships| access-date=18 May 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415220650/http://web.greatships.net:81/paris.html| archive-date=15 April 2007| df=dmy-all}}</ref> She was 768 feet long, 86 feet beam and 60 feet deep. On 31 feet draught, she displaced 36,700 metric tons <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gjenvick.com/OceanTravel/SteamshipLines/CGT-FrenchLine.html|title = CGT French Line History and Ephemera &#124; GG Archives}}</ref>

==History==
The ''Paris'' was intended to be the second of four new ocean liners which CGT entered into an agreement with the French government to build in November 1912. The agreement was partly prompted by the successful introduction of the ''[[SS France (1910)|SS France]]'' earlier that year. In return for mail subsidies from the French government, CGT planned to introduce the four new vessels in five-year intervals between 1912 and 1931. The plan was disrupted because of the First World War; after the war ended the agreement was revised so that CGT was obligated to build only three ships, the first of which was ''Paris''.<ref name="lyons">{{cite book| title=The Ile de France and the Golden Age of Transatlantic Travel| author=Thomas Kepler| publisher=Lyons Press| year=2021| page=11-12}}</ref> 

The construction of ''Paris'' began in the [[Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët|Penhoët shipyards]], in [[Saint-Nazaire]], in 1913. She was launched on September 12, 1916, mainly because her slipway was needed for more urgent war purposes. She sat in [[Quiberon Bay]] until 1919, when work resumed.<ref name="lyons"/> When completed, she was the largest French ocean liner afloat. She made her first crossing between [[Le Havre]] and New York on June 15, 1921, with [[Marshal Foch]] on board.

On 15 October 1927 in [[New York Harbor]] she ran into the Norwegian ''Besseggen'' of Skien that was at anchor on the road. This collision resulted in the loss of six Norwegian lives. All blame was put on the officers of ''Paris''.  On 7 April 1929, ''Paris'' ran aground in New York Harbor; she was refloated 36 hours later.<ref name=Times080429b>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Mishap to Atlantic liner |date=8 April 1929 |page=11 |issue=45171 |column=F }}</ref> On 18 April 1929, she ran aground again, this time on the [[Eddystone Rocks]], [[Cornwall]], [[United Kingdom]]. She was refloated two hours later, then anchored off [[Penlee Point, Rame|Penlee]], Cornwall, where 157 of her passengers were taken off by a [[ship's tender|tender]] and landed at [[Plymouth]], [[Devon]].<ref name=Times190429a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=French liner on rocks |date=19 April 1929 |page=18 |issue=45181 |column=C }}</ref> She was severely damaged by fire at [[Le Havre]], [[Seine-Maritime]], France, on 20 August 1929,<ref name=Times210829a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Casualty reports |date=21 August 1929 |page=20 |issue=45287 |column=C }}</ref> but repairs started on 11 September 1929. She also received a major overhaul and returned to service after being immobilized for six months.

During her career, she made crossings between New York and Le Havre, as well as cruises in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Following the entry into service of the {{SS|Normandie}}, the [[Compagnie Générale Transatlantique]] planned to operate ''Paris'' exclusively for cruises. However, on 18 April 1939 while she was moored in Le Havre a fire broke out in the ship's bakery and she capsized on the following day due to the quantity of water the firemen had used to extinguish the fire.

==Engines==
Designed originally to burn coal, it was decided in 1920 to make her an oil burner, and she carried 6,161 metric tons of fuel oil in double bottom and special tanks.

She had 15 double ended 8 furnace Scotch boilers, 17 feet 8 Inches diameter and 27 feet 5 Inches long, designed for a working pressure of 215 pounds and with a total heating surface of 37.620 square feet. They burn oil on the Howden Forced Draft system.

The four Parsons turbines developed 46,000 shaft horsepower and drive four propellers. The high pressure and intermediate pressure turbines were outboard, one on each side in separate compartments, and the two low-pressure elements were side by side in the large engine room amidships. These two were used for maneuvering and the arrangement of valves.

[[File:FMIB 37119 Une des Turbines du Transatlantique Paris.jpeg|thumb|One of the Parsons turbines on board ''Paris'']]

Abaft the engine room was a compartment containing the electric plant, three turbo generators of 450 KW each and a group of reserve sets of 60 KW each driven by oil engines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gjenvick.com/OceanTravel/SteamshipLines/CGT-FrenchLine.html|title = CGT French Line History and Ephemera &#124; GG Archives}}</ref>

==Interior==
At the time of her entry into service, the ''Paris'' "was hailed as one of the most luxurious liners on the Atlantic with facilities that no other liner could claim."<ref name="Kepler"/> ''Paris''{{'}}s interior reflected the transitional period of the early twenties, between the earlier preferred [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]], [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]], [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]], and [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] themes that were used in earlier liners built before World War I.  ''Paris''' interiors were also a fusion of [[Art Nouveau]] and [[Art Deco]]. Many important early French [[Art Deco]] designers worked on the interiors and furnishings such as [[Louis Süe]], [[Paul Follot]], [[René Lalique]], [[Suzanne Lalique-Haviland]] and [[Rene Prou]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Benton, Fontan del Junco, Zozaya, Wood|title=Modern Taste: Art Deco Paris, 1910-1935|publisher=[[Fundacion Juan March]]|year=2015|isbn=978-84-7075-629-0|location=Madrid|pages=178–181|language=English}}</ref>

The painter [[Albert Besnard]] decorated the dining room with "La Gloire de Paris" <ref>Catalog of the Besnard exhibition in Honfleur, 2008, by Chantal Beauvalot and "Souvenances", posthumous memories of [[Philippe Besnard]].</ref> and [[Georges Leroux]] made a large decorative panel for the smoking room: "Le Jardin du Luxembourg". The painter decorator [[Adrien Karbowsky]] also participated in the decoration of the ship's library, without forgetting [[Lalique]]. The decorating architect [[Louis Süe]] participated in the decoration of this liner.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Day|first1=Susan|last2=Süe|first2=Louis|title=Louis Süe, 1875-1968: architecte des années folles, associé d'André Mare |year=1986|publisher=P. Mardaga|page=17}}</ref>

The First-Class accommodations on ''Paris'' consisted of 141 single-berth staterooms, 163 double-berth, and 32 with room for 3 people. In addition, there were 89 suites consisting of bedrooms, drawing room, and bathroom. First-Class staterooms had novel features like private telephones, and most had square windows instead of portholes.<ref name="Kepler"/> The First-Class dining room occupied three decks at its center, with the main level on E-Deck and balconies on D-Deck.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3FFAQAAMAAJ&dq=ss+paris+dining+saloon&pg=RA1-PA669| title=New French Passenger and Mail Liner Paris| publisher=Marine Engineering| volume=26| year=1921| page=669}}</ref><ref name="Shipping"/> The room was topped by a softly illuminated glass ceiling and entered by means of an [[imperial staircase]] with a mirrored background.<ref name="Kepler">{{cite book| title=The Ile de France and the Golden Age of Transatlantic Travel| author=Thomas Kepler| publisher=Lyons Press| year=2021| page=12}}</ref>

On B-Deck were a series of public rooms including two saloons, the main First-Class staircase, and a reading room and library. The forward saloon, called the "Grand Salon de Conversation", was 75 ft. long x 45 ft. wide, with a 21 ft. high ceiling.<ref name="Shipping">{{cite web| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zSPmAAAAMAAJ&dq=ss+paris+dining+saloon&pg=RA7-PA42| title=The "Paris" and Her Commander| publisher=American Shipping| date=August 1924| access-date=2022-11-30| page=41-42}}</ref>

==Loss==
On 18 April 1939, ''Paris'' caught fire while docked in Le Havre and temporarily blocked the new superliner {{SS|Normandie||2}} from exiting dry dock. She [[capsize]]d and sank in her berth where she remained until after [[World War II]], almost a decade later.  A year after the war had ended, the 50,000-ton German liner {{SS|Europa|1928|2}} was handed over to the French Line as compensation for ''Normandie'' and renamed ''Liberté''. While ''Liberté'' was being refitted in Le Havre, a December [[gale]] tore the ship from her moorings and threw her into the half-submerged wreck of ''Paris''. She settled quickly, but in an upright position. Six months later ''Liberté'' was refloated and by spring 1947 she was in St. Nazaire for her final rebuilding. The wreck of ''Paris'' remained on the spot until 1947, when she finally was [[Ship breaking|scrapped]] on site.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/paris.html| title=The Great Ocean Liners| accessdate=18 May 2007| archive-date=1 October 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001181729/http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/paris.html| url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Paris_P_Le_Havre_1941.jpg|thumb|right|''Paris'' capsized in Le Havre, 1941]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Paris (ship, 1921)}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070522095746/http://www.garemaritime.com/theme.php?theme=SS+Paris Photos of the SS Paris]

{{Compagnie Générale Transatlantique ships}}
{{1929 shipwrecks}}
{{April 1939 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paris (1916)}}
[[Category:Ocean liners]]
[[Category:Art Deco ships]]
[[Category:Art Nouveau ships]]
[[Category:Ship fires]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of France]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1929]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1939]]
[[Category:1916 ships]]
[[Category:Ships of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique]]