Kirjahaku

The largest ship ever built for the transatlantic route to Canada was the 'Empress of Britain'. But it wasn't just size that made the 'Empress' Britain's greatest liner - her interiors were the finest ever seen on the Canadian route. Designers from W. Heath Robinson to Edmund Dulac created sumptuous interiors while the naval architects of John Brown's at Clydebank designed the exterior. In winter, the 'Empress of Britain' became the most luxurious cruise ship, undertaking world cruises to such exotic locations as Hong Kong, Cuba, Singapore, and South America. In 1941, her career was to be cut short by a lone German bomber that straddled her with bombs. She caught fire and was left to burn, being finished off by a U-boat. It was a tragic end for Britain's greatest liner.

On an icy cold day in February 1942, while undergoing conversion into a troopship, the former French Line flagship, Normandie, the most glamorous liner ever to sail the North Atlantic, was destroyed by fire and a legend was born. Normandie was designed in the midst of the Depression and was built as a showcase of French art and design. Costing over $60 million, she was literally State of the Art. While the conversion was underway, a pile of lifejackets caught fire. The untrained staff could not control the ensuing blaze and the NY Fire Brigade pumped in millions of gallons of water in a vain effort to put out the flames. Only a few hours after the first flames she was a burnt out hulk and capsized at her berth. The loss of the Normandie was one of the most tragic liner losses. Her artwork was second to none and her design was way ahead of any of her competitors. She has been sorely missed since.