The USS Lafayette/SS Normandie Fire 1942

From the historic "Stillman Fires" film collection:

The SS Normandie was once the pride of the French Merchant Marine and was the largest, most luxurious oceanliner afloat when she came into service in 1935.

In September, 1939 the war in Europe had just begun and Nazi-German troops were invading France swiftly. The Normandie was safely in the neutral waters of New York Harbor when war broke out. The US Government allowed the ship to remain in the harbor... a refugee which most certainly would have been immediately used for Nazi naval military purposes if she were to return.

Shortly after war was declared between Germany and the US on December 11th, 1941 the US War Department and US Navy seized the french liner at her berth and immediately began to convert her from passenger liner to high-capacity troop transport. She was renamed USS Lafayette and painted battleship grey with camoflage shadowing.

Threats of Nazi sabotage loomed across the eastern seaboard, but work continued with vigilance. However on the afternoon of February 9th, 1942 those rumored threats seemed to have possibly become true when a mysterious fire broke out aboard the Normandie/Lafayette.

The fire spread quickly through the upper decks, forcing shipyard workers to evacuate the ship. New York city fireboats pumped thousands of gallons of water from the Hudson River into the ship to help battle the blaze, but the extreme weight of the trapped water within her decks caused her to list dangerously to port. By that evening, the monsterous ship laid on her side, resting on the riverbed completely capsized.

She remained for several years in this condition while naval workers slowly cut away her superstructure and pumped out water from her hull to slowly right her. By the time she was refloated, the war in Europe was drawing to a close and the ship was no longer needed for war duty. The Navy kept her as surplus until 1947 when she was finally sold for scrap.

Although Nazi sabotage was immediately named as the probable blame, the investigation redirected the blame to a combination of careless workers with an acetyline torch, flamable materials stored in poor locations adjacent to the worker's location, poor or non-functioning fire-fighting protection such as waterpumps, fire sprinklers or alarms.

It is rumored that the fire may have been intentionally set by the Mafia. "Lucky" Luciano's mob had control of New York's docks and labor unions. The destruction of the Normandie forced the government to realize how vulnerable the docks were to possible Nazi sabotage and led the US Navy and the FBI to negotiate a deal with Luciano (while he was in Prison) for his mob to manage security of the docks until the end of the war. In exchange, Luciano and other leaders were given the opportunity to live a free life outside the US in Cuba, South America or even back in free Italy where many American Mafia leaders swept into towns and cities to establish local governments. This agreement led to the Italian-American Mafia networks to grow internationally and become more powerful and more bloody than ever before during the 1960's and 1970's.

YES THIS CLIP HAS BEEN RE-UPLOADED... YOUTUBE DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO EDIT THE DESCRIPTION FIELD ONCE A CLIP HAS BEEN SUBMITTED AND I DID NOT HAVE THE DESCRIPTION FIELD FILLED OUT WHEN I ORIGINALLY UPLOADED THE CLIP. MY APPOLOGIES.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Normandie
• fire
• WWII
• New
• York
• oceanliner
• steamship
• troopship
• US
• France
• Navy
• Mafia
• FBI
• Lucky
• Luciano

[apejens44]

This is tragic footage....the most beautiful ship ever built.

[WhiteStarLine401]

Very beautiful ship that was years ahead of her time. Such a shame she came to such a tragic and premature end :(

[cunard61]

A victim of carelessness, and incompetance. Trying to rush a job that didn't need to be rushed. Had the US not lost this ship, we might have been able to shorten the war by invading Europe nearly a year earlier than we did. Very sad for all involved. I wonder who paid the French for the loss of their ship, insurance probably, but America was almost certainly sued for causing the loss to occur in the first place.

[RandallFlaggNY]

My grandfather, a senior chemical engineer, worked in the Lincoln building and had a front row seat for this cluster-*@$%.

The mob lit the match, and land lubber fireman capsized it.

The mob was sending a message to the Navy and FDR on who ran the docks, even in wartime.

[TwinPat90]

This video is almost a tragic metaphor for France's fall during WWII. At least the nation was liberated afterwards...the ship was just scrapped.

[LifeIsABigPuzzle]

Man, it must have sucked for the soldiers to climb that ladder onto the transport.

[venom3760]

If you are interested in the factual story of how the U. S, Navy engaged the help of the NY Syndicate, (Mafia), as a result of this fire visit this site:

GOOGLE; WRITER PADDY KELLY

[sbchelldiver]

(contd) this guaranteed her salvage, & a long & eventful & useful service to her Nation...one wonders what many great things would have happened to Normandie; Heroic war record as a War-winning transport, an even more spectacular & legendary career in the heady Postwar period, & perhaps final preservation as a monument & Art object, admired & revered by all...alas, it is but speculation & wishful fancy...

[sbchelldiver]

(contd) her hangardeck & its related machinery were gutted, & 50 workers were killed...damages amounted to 75 million 1960 dollars, & she had to be rebuilt from the hangardeck up. which set her back six months...the difference here was that the Navy had learned from its mistake on Normandie, & as soon as Constellation started to keel over, her seacocks were opened & she sank in her berth on an even keel, once the fire was out, she was dewatered & her engines escaped irreparable damage...

[sbchelldiver]

Actually, while the damage from fire was extensive, what sealed Normandie's fate was its capsizing & inmersion in water of her powerplant for several months; once righted, it was determined her engines were ruined beyond repair...less than 20 years later USS Constellation suffered a similar fire while fittingout, her electrical & information equipment were totally ruined,...

[Davis4037]

a welder said OOPS

[W123W116]

@351460 teh Normandie was equipped with a state of the art fire extinguishing system. Too bad it was turned of because of the conversions being made on the ship. Despite the offer of french constructors to help, US responisbles blew it and the beautifull ship was impounded and reduced to a pile of junk. France was more regarded as an Axis power at the time.