French Gold Coins 50 Euro 2012, Great French Ships - The France
COLLECTION OF "GREAT FRENCH SHIPS"
The France (1962-1974) is one of the most famous French transatlantic ocean liners, icon of the art of the cruise throughout the 60s and 70s. The obverse of this coin displays the bow of the ocean liner, along with its name in a style reminiscent of transatlantic company posters of the time. On the reverse is a section of a porthole, crowned by ocean liner funnels with billowing smoke. In the centre of the coin, are the words "Les grands navires français".
Artist : Monnaie de Paris
Weight : 8,45 g
Diameter : 22 mm
Mintage : 1500
Metal : Gold 920/1000
Proof : Proof
Vintage : 2012
Face value : 50 Euro
Price (incl. taxes): 420.00 Euro
SS France was a Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, or French Line) ocean liner, constructed by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard at Saint-Nazaire, France, and put into service in February 1962. At the time of her construction in 1960 she was the longest passenger ship ever built, a record that remained unchallenged until the construction of the 345 metre RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004. France was later purchased by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) in 1979, renamed SS Norway and underwent significant modifications that better suited her for cruising duties. She was sold to be scrapped in 2006, and scrapping was completed in late 2008. As the SS Norway she was the flagship of the Norwegian Cruise Line from 1980 to approximately 2001.
SS France was the French Line flagship from 1961 to 1974, combining regular transatlantic crossings - six days and nights - with occasional winter cruises, as well as two world circumnavigations.
The ship was constructed to replace the line's other ageing ships like the SS Ile de France and SS Liberté, which by the 1950s were outdated. Without these vessels, however, the French Line had no ability to compete against their rivals, most notably the Cunard Line, which also had plans for constructing a new modern liner. It was rumoured that this ship would be a 75,000-ton replacement for their ships RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth. (This ship would eventually be the 68,000-ton RMS Queen Elizabeth 2.) Further, the United States Lines had put into service in 1952 the SS United States, which had broken all speed records on her maiden voyage, with an average speed of 35.59 knots (65.91 km/h; 40.96 mph).
At first, the idea of two 35,000-ton running mates was considered to replace Ile de France and Liberté. However, Charles de Gaulle (the future President of France) opined that it would be better for French national pride (which was flagging due to the then ongoing Algerian War of Independence) to construct one grand ocean liner as an ocean-going showcase for France, in the tradition of the SS Normandie. The idea of the liner caused some controversy, with some for and others against it, as its construction would be publicly funded, leading to raucous debates in the French parliament. The dealing lasted three and a half years, and though the letter commissioning the construction was finally signed by the Chairman of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, Jean Marie, on 25 July 1956, debate about the form, cost and construction schedule for the France lasted a further year.
Beyond the luxuries, the French Line had to also face the realities that transatlantic passenger trade was, at that time, forecast to decline due to increased air travel. Also, costs to operate ships were increasing, mostly due to prices of crude oil. Thus, the new ship would be larger than the Ile, but smaller and cheaper to operate than the Normandie. She would also only be a two-class liner, which would, like the recently built SS Rotterdam, be able to be converted from a segregated, class restricted crossing mode to a unified, classless cruising mode, thereby allowing the ship to be more versatile in its operations. Despite these requirements, she was still to be the longest ship ever built, as well as one of the fastest, meaning not only an advanced propulsion system, but also a hull design which would withstand the rigours of the North Atlantic at high speed. Hull G19 was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, in Saint-Nazaire, France, her keel being laid down on 7 September 1957. She was built in a non-conventional manner: rather than constructing a skeleton which was then covered in steel hull plating, large parts of the ship were prefabricated in other cities (such as Orléans, Le Havre and Lyon). The hull was fully welded, leading to weight savings, and had two sets of stabilisers fitted.
She was blessed by the Bishop of Nantes, Monseigneur Villepelet, and launched on 11 May 1960, at 4:15 pm, by Madame Yvonne de Gaulle, wife of the President, and was then named France, in honour both of the country, and of the two previous CGT ships to bear the name. By 4:22 pm the France was afloat and under command of tugs. President De Gaulle was also in attendance at the launch, and gave a patriotic speech, announcing that France had been given a new Normandie, they were able to compete now with Cunard's Queens, and the Blue Riband was within their reach. In reality, however, the 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) speed of United States would prove impossible to beat.
After the launch, the propellers were installed (the entire process taking over three weeks), the distinctive funnels affixed to the upper decks, the superstructure completed, life boats placed in their davits, and the interiors fitted out. The France then undertook her sea trials on 19 November 1961, and averaged an unexpected 35.21 knots (65.21 km/h; 40.52 mph). With the French Line satisfied, the ship was handed over, and undertook a trial cruise to the Canary Islands with a full complement of passengers and crew. During this short trip she met, at sea, the Liberté which was on her way to the shipbreakers.
Service history as SS France
The France's maiden voyage to New York took place on 3 February 1962, with many of France's film stars and aristocracy aboard.
On 14 December 1962, the France carried the Mona Lisa from Le Havre to New York, where the painting was to embark on an American tour.
She sailed the North Atlantic run between Le Havre and New York for thirteen years. However, by the beginning of the 1970s jet travel was by far more popular than ship travel, and the cost of fuel was ever increasing. The France, which had always relied on subsidies from the French government, was forced to take advantage of these subsidies more and more.
Using the ship's versatile design to its full potential, the CGT began to send the France on more cruises during the winter, which was off-season for the Atlantic trade. One design flaw, however, was revealed when the ship reached warmer waters: her two swimming pools, one each for first and tourist class, were both indoors; the first class pool deep within the ship's hull, and the tourist class pool on an upper deck, but covered with an immovable glass dome. The latter, perhaps, was the more aggravating in hot weather. She also had limited outdoor deck space, with much of what was available protected behind thick glass wind-screens; useful on the North Atlantic, but frustrating when blocking cooling breezes in the tropics.
Nonetheless, the France's cruises were popular, and her first world cruise took place in 1972. Too large to traverse the Panama and Suez Canals, she was forced to sail around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. That same year, with the destruction of the Seawise University (former RMS Queen Elizabeth) by fire in Hong Kong, the France became the largest in-service passenger ship in the world.
Still, as the opening years of the decade progressed, the cruise market expanded, seeing the construction of smaller, purpose built cruise ships which could also fit through the Panama Canal. Worse, in 1973 the Oil Crisis hit and the price of oil went from $3 US to $12 US per barrel. When the French government, at the end of the Trente Glorieuses, realized that keeping the France running would necessitate an additional ten million dollars a year, it opted instead to subsidize the then in-development Concorde. Without this government money, the French Line could not operate, and with a press release issued in 1974 it was announced that the France would be withdrawn from service on 25 October that year.
At that, the crew decided to take matters into their own hands: an eastbound crossing on 6 September, her 202nd crossing, was delayed several hours while the crew met to decide whether to strike then and there, in New York, or six days later outside Le Havre; Le Havre won, and the ship was commandeered by a group of French trade unionists who anchored the France in the entrance to the port, thereby blocking all incoming and outgoing traffic. The 1200 passengers aboard had to be ferried to shore on tenders, while approximately 800 of the crew remained aboard.
The strikers demanded that the ship be allowed to continue to serve, along with a 35% wage increase for themselves. However, their mission failed, and the night of the takeover proved to be the ship's last day of service for the CGT. It took over a month for the stand-off to end, and by 7 December 1974, the ship was moored at a distant quay in Le Havre, known colloquially as quai de l'oubli - the pier of the forgotten.
By that time the France had completed 377 crossings and 93 cruises (including 2 world cruises), carried a total of 588,024 passengers on trans-Atlantic crossings, and 113,862 passengers on cruises, and had sailed a total of 1,860,000 nautical miles.
First decommissioning
The mothballing of the France was met with dismay by much of the French population, resulting in a song by Michel Sardou, titled Le France.
The ship sat in the same spot for approximately four years, with the interiors, including all furniture, still completely intact. There were no plans to scrap the ship, or to sell it. However, in 1977 Saudi Arabian millionaire Akram Ojjeh expressed an interest in purchasing the vessel for use as a floating museum for antique French furniture and artworks, as well as a casino and hotel off the coast of the south-east United States. Though he purchased the ship for $24 million, this proposal was never realised, and others were rumoured to have floated, including bids from the Soviet Union to use her as a hotel ship in the Black Sea, and a proposal from China to turn her into a floating industrial trade fair.
In the end, the ship was sold in 1979 to Knut Kloster, the owner of Norwegian Caribbean Line for $18 million for conversion into the world's largest cruise ship. Just before the France was renamed Norway one last marriage was performed aboard the ship at the quay in Le Havre. The wedding was performed by Rev. Agnar Holme, the Norwegian Seaman's Priest. Greg Tighe, Director of Research and Corporate Development for NCL, was married to Lorraine Anne Evering (Tighe) in the France's chapel. Witnesses included the ship's Captain, and several members of NCL's management team. This marked the last marriage to be performed aboard the SS France, which had hosted hundreds of weddings over her transatlantic career.
By August of that year the Norway was moved to the Lloyd shipyards in Bremerhaven, Germany, where she would undergo renovations to the cost of $80,000,000 US.