How Queen Mary Beat France's Superliner Normandie - The Epic True Story

Sometime in the late 1990s I attended a gala at the Carnegie Muesum in Pittsburgh to celebrate the acquisition of the magnificent art deco dining room doors from the Normandie. As I recall, the doors had been removed before the fire destroyed the ship. The loss of the Normandie that way was one of the saddest events in the history of ocean liners. Thank you Mike Brady for telling this compelling history of the transatlantic rivalry. The real epilogue is the story of S.S. United States crushing the record and now sitting as a rusting hulk in Philadelphia.

What happened to the Normandie still makes me sad.. what a waste..

You can always trust the French to build excellent and beautiful ships, from ocean liners to warships. Great video as always.

Nice video but I have to say there’s a lot of unhinged Normandie fans out there. It would be nice if you did a video addressing the Normandie’s flaws such as the over-the-top, off-putting decor (I don’t think anyone would want to eat dinner in a giant hall with a massive statute overlooking them) and the lack of accommodation and space for second and third class. The reactions alone from the “Normandie is the best liner ever!!!” crowd would be worth it.

If you still want to see the last remnants of the Normandie, the sign that once adorned the deck of the ship was moved to San Juan, PR to adorn the hotel Normandie which has a inspired design of the ship. Sadly and gladly, in 2016, the sign was removed to preserve it from future damage but the building still stands and its in the national register of historic places

Anglos Anglos, always Anglos, anglos wants to win on EVERYTHING, its just annoying

It was rigged!

In comparing the Normandie and the Queen Mary, my analysis comes down to one question: if you could have sailed on one of these liners which one would you chose? For me it would have been the Normandie without a doubt.

I live like 1.5 hours from Long Beach. I need to go visit the Queen Mary

Nice to see that France and Britain were learning healthier ways to manage their rivalry.

Oh man I HATE war

I believe the three-ship pattern was mandated by the economic advantage of having a ship leave port regularly on a particular day of the week. Three ships were required because the round trip took each ship three weeks, until they were able to complete the round trip in only two weeks.

The Normandie was in a class all its own. One of my favorite design features was they ran the exhaust from the engine room up the funnels around the sides of the ship instead of straight up. That allowed for enormous public rooms in the center of the ship that were unobstructed.

I don't know why they didn't seem to want to name ships after Queen Victoria. There must've been some, but not any famous ones. Why do you think that was? She was too much associated with the Victorian age, when the Brits arguably achieved their colonial achievements? Isn't it quite amusing that it was under a Queen that the English truly became the Champions of the World?

My Uncle came to the UK on the Queen Mary in WW2 when it was a troop ship. I walked its decks in the 1990s when it was a hotel by the Spruce Goose. Great experience.

It's wild that the Normandie was launched before the QM. I've always thought the Normandie looked more modern and progressive compared to the QM and QE1.

Everyone knows that your Frenchman, whilst a wonderful chap in many ways, lacks the steadfast character required of the true Jack Tar which comes from hundreds of years of eating beef, avoiding loose women and maintaining high standards of personal bodily hygiene! This, and the fact that the Normandie was up against a British ship, and therefore, the baggage of 100 years of nautical defeats at sea, made it impossible for the Normandie to win.
But three cheers for her crew and their plucky French spirit! What?

They got the blue ribbon for like a year or so

Thanks for this. The Aquitania is still my favorite ocean liner. The Isle de France second. I’ve been on the queen Mary a few times in California and it’s pretty amazing to think that 100 years ago. Such a thing could’ve been built.

I don't remember what ship exactly it was but I think it was the Normandie.

Some ship sunk and it was one of the ships responding to the distress. When it got to where the ship was they couldn't find anything so the captain decided to stop and turn on every light the ship had including the name placard that was high and center(seeing the photos of Normandie with that style is why I think it's the Normandy). With other smaller ships she created a block to easily recover the life boats in the water while also providing ease to people's minds seeing the big ship lit up.

The Queen Mary was dubbed the "Grey Ghost" during WW2 for her sheer size and speed carrying over 15000 american troops to Europe and back .
The Normandy may have been a beautiful ship, but the Queen did her country proud!!

"Sliced through the water like a knife through hot butter." 🤔

⚓

"like a knife through hot butter"? ;) Not "like a hot knife through butter"? Sorry, could not resist! :D

How is the Astoria (Stockholm) still running? It should have been scrapped 37 years ago!

It's like two jack asses trying to one up each other

The shame of it is, the Queen Mary is now a rusting hulk in Long Beach, California, not even good enough to be used as a hotel.
Now, as far as the ultimate in modern luxury, RMS TITANIC really wasn't that far behind. After viewing more documentaries about the construction and amenities of the world's most famous passenger liner, despite its grievous mishap, Titanic had innovations to beat all, including modern day cruise ships. The old gal has many secrets most of us are completely unaware of. Too many for any single video. Very, very surprizing. (Yeah, I said surprizing. It's California English, not American.)

You see the Normandie and the French line's last line the Le France and you wonder what happened to ship design.

The manic piano music that played constantly in the background added absolutely nothing to what was an otherwise interesting video.

Normandie was the most beautiful ocean liner ever made...

The concept for QM looks better than the finished version😅😂😂

I got an idea for a video the SS Poseidon

I've always liked Cunard ships and the Queen Mary is undoubtedly an icon, but the Normandie was just something else. I always thought that of the trio including the Queen Elizabeth, the Mary just looked a bit old fashioned and clunky.

In reference to the "blue ribbon", I wonder how fast nuclear aircraft carrier or sub can make the crossing.

Surely sea conditions play a huge part in a ships speed across the Atlantic, not to mention headwind/tailwind, the only fair test would be conditions such as Titanic enjoyed (up until THAT night!) But getting 3 or 4 days of zero wind and no swell right across the north Atlantic is not very likely!

Well .....o.k. given that another boat finally went faster ....lets observe right up front here and now ....didn't the French sort of have all that covered ....who could care less ....THISWASTHENORMANDE ❤ !!

My friend Mike
The saying is a hot 🔥 knife through Butter......

Lol a knife through hot butter

He says "in the world" at least 3 times in every video. I looked it up:
"The perception that British (and australian) people say "in the world" frequently is often exaggerated, but when they do use it, it's usually to emphasize the scale or significance of something, highlighting that it's considered one of the best, biggest, or most important globally; effectively adding weight to their statement by placing it in a wider context"

Queen Mary.2 😂

Queen Mary.2 😂

Every Queen mary class ship gangster until rogue wave

The Normandie débâcle got worse because the designer Vladimir Yourkevitch was there when the Normandie caught fire! He told them to let him on so he could open the sea cocks so she'd settle in the bottom of the dock so they could fight the fire and she would not Capsize! But the guard said to him "This is a Navy Job!" So he resigned and sat there and watched his baby burn! Sadly

Been enjoying your terrific videos. I've got two (2) oceanliner experiences to relate: 1967, aboard the SS France (I was 9 y.o.) we departed NYC sometime in the summer (my dad, stepmom, and my young cousin Ginger) and made our way to Le Harve but it might have been Southampton. After visiting London, Paris and Limerick, Ireland, we returned by plane. I have photos that I took of the bow of the France with a little Kodak Instamatic camera. I remember running amok around the ship and the fact that we had a butler named Claude.Then in 2004, after living in London for 6 years, my girlfriend and I return to the US aboard the QE2, on what I understand was the last transatlantic crossing for that ship on Dec 15 (or thereabouts)- a wonderful experience!