1926 Silent Commercial for Ile de France cruise ship

For cruisers...1926 Silent Commercial for Ile de France cruise ship...great shots of ship and how passengers dressed...

Cool history...

Cool history...

THE ILE DE FRANCE WAS SCRAPPED IN 1960!

During autumn 1945, the Ile de France was returned to the CGT after five years of military service with the British Admiralty. In honor of its wartime performance, the Southern Railway company named one of its locomotives French Line CGT.

At first the Ile de France was used to ferry American and Canadian troops home. Then during April 1947, the ship returned to its builder's yard at Saint Nazaire for a two-year restoration. The outcome included the removal of its third "dummy" funnel and an upturn of the straight black hull to meet its upper forepeak, in keeping with the new style of the CGT's ships beginning with the Normandie in 1935. These changes increased the Ile's de France's gross tonnage to 44,356.

It traveled to New York on her first postwar luxury crossing during July 1949. The Ile de France proved to be just as popular as before the war. During 1950 the ship received a new running mate, Liberté, the former German Blue Riband-holder SS Europa.

On July 25, 1956, the Ile de France had a major role in the rescue operation after the collision of the passenger liners SS Andrea Doria and MS Stockholm off Nantucket. Of 1,706 passengers and crew of the Andrea Doria, approximately 750 were transferred to the Ile de France during the approximately 6-hour rescue operation.

With the development of jet transport, and the decrease of ocean travel, the CGT wished to dispose of the ship quietly. During 1959 the ship was sold to a Japanese breaker and departed Le Havre on February 16.

Before scrapping, the Ile de France was used as a floating prop for the 1960 disaster movie The Last Voyage with the name SS Claridon. During filming the ship was sunk partially, explosive devices were detonated in the interior, and the forward funnel was sent crashing into the deckhouse. The CGT sued the filmmakers to get an order to have the funnels repainted and prohibit the use of the name Ile de France from appearing in the movie.