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History Blog

Media Monday: The S.S. Normandie Fire (1942)

2/7/2022

6 Comments

 
Picture
The U.S.S. "Lafayette," formerly the S.S. "Normandie," catching fire in New York Harbor, February 9, 1942. National Archives.
This week is the 80th anniversary of the destruction of the S.S. Normandie. On February 9, 1942, the S.S. Normandie, recently renamed the U.S.S. Lafayette, caught fire as civilian shipbuilders were trying to retrofit her as a troop transport. 
​The Normandie was the pride of the French ocean liner fleet. Built in 1935, she was the largest and fastest and most luxuriously appointed of the new ocean liners. But when war broke out in Europe she was in New York Harbor. When France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, the Normandie was held by the U.S. government in New York Harbor. Still owned and crewed by the French, she was not allowed to leave. On December 12, 1941, just five days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Normandie was officially seized by the U.S. government, and on December 27th she was transferred to the U.S. Navy, who re-christened her the U.S.S. Lafayette and began work on converting her to a troop transport. 

In the first class lounge, where varnished woodwork and flammable life jackets were still in place, sparks from a welding torch lit a stack of life jackets on fire. Sadly, the Normandie's complicated fire suppression system had been disconnected during the process, and the hoses brought by New York City firefighters would not fit the French connections. The blaze aboard the Normandie​ could not be stopped, and she rolled and sank at dock.
Picture
A U.S. Coast Guard Grumman J4F Widgeon flies over the wreckage of the USS Lafayette (AP-53) at Pier 88, New York harbor, on 12 August 1943. National Museum of Naval Aviation.
Despite an extraordinarily expensive salvage operation in August of 1943, the righted Lafayette had sustained too much damage to be easily repaired, and both war materiel and labor were short. The Lafayette was never repaired and sat in dry dock for the remainder of the war. She was officially stricken from Naval records in the fall of 1945, and the French didn't want her either. Some attempts were made by private individuals to save her, but none were successful. She was scrapped at Port Newark, NJ between October, 1946 and December, 1948. 

Despite this tragic end, many of her most beautiful interiors and artwork were saved and now reside in private collections and at museums around the world, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her whistle eventually ended up at Pratt Institute, and was used in the New Year's Eve celebrations until recently. 

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6 Comments
Roseann Jennings link
11/22/2023 10:34:01 pm

My dad was working on the SS Normandie the day it went on fire. He was 19 years old at the time. He jumped 5 feet onto a plank to save himself from the fire.

Reply
george sucato
2/6/2025 03:51:19 pm

Hi Roseann,
I'm writing a book about the Normandie. Did your dad ever talk about seeing fires on other parts of the ship besides the First Class Lounge? A lot of people, including me, think it was sabotage and not an accident. If you have any information on the fire i'd love to hear about it. Thank you, George Sucato

Reply
Catherine Salazar
7/8/2024 10:18:33 pm

Whenever I have seen a film or photos of a once glorious and large ocean liner being sunk or scrapped it makes me sad to see, as if it were a living breathing creature coming to the end of its life!

Reply
Gail Sohns
9/2/2024 04:54:27 pm

My husband's grandfather was able to acquire a metal bed frame from the Normandie after the fire. We now have it but can't get the right kind of nuts to put it together. The bolts are part of the frame, but the French nuts are missing.

Reply
John Houghtaling
2/18/2025 05:56:30 am

My dad was a deck hand on a Moran Tug boat during this event. He retrieved a child's high chair from the Hudson River which I still have.

Reply
PhilC
2/19/2025 10:37:38 pm

If you are going to tell the tragic end of the Normandie, I suggest you do so with all the facts. Including:
a) She wasn't the fastest ocean liner having lost the Blue Riband to the Queen Mary in 1938.
b) The flammable life jackets were brought on board and temporarily dumped in the main lounge, as part of the conversion process by the US Navy.
c) Normandie had a very good fire-protection system but it was switched off when the Navy began her hasty conversion to a troopship.
d) Normandie's designer offered to go aboard the blazing liner, and open the sea cocks so that she would sink on an even keel. This would have left her burnt out but still salvageable. The offer was refused by the US Navy Admiral in charge - Adolphus Andrews.
e) Andrews was never penalised for the mistakes (made under his command), which led to the destruction of the Normandie, denying the Allied use of a large and fast troopship.

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  • Visit
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    • Plan Your Visit
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      • Rescuing the River
    • Online Exhibits
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