SS Europa (1930)

The SS "Europa" (later SS "Liberté") was one of a pair of fast ocean liners built in the late nineteen-twenties for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) for the transatlantic passenger service. Her sister ship was the SS|Bremen|1929|2, and the two were very similar, though not identical (the "Bremen" was slightly larger, among other differences).

History

Europa and her sister were designed to have a cruising speed of 27.5 knots, allowing an Atlantic crossing time of 5 days. This speed enabled Norddeutsche Lloyd to run regular weekly crossings with two ships, a feat that normally required three.

The sisters were supposed to be completed at the same time, but the "Europa" suffered a serious fire during her fitting-out, and sank to the bottom. She was repaired and refloated, but the incident delayed her completion by several months.

During World War II she was in German hands and largely inactive. There were plans to use her as a transport in Operation Sealion, the intended invasion of Great Britain, and later conversion to an aircraft carrier. None of these plans came to pass, and in 1945, she was captured by the allies and used as a troopship. However, after it was discovered that the ship had infrastructural problems from years of neglect (defective wiring and hull cracks), she was pulled from this service.

After the war she was turned over to the French, who began to refit her for passenger service. In 1946 while being refitted, she snapped her moorings during a storm and ran into the wreck of the SS|Paris|3=2 and sank [http://www.ocean-liners.com/ships/europa.asp] . She was raised, and in 1950, made her maiden voyage under her new name, "Liberté", to New York. She was laid up in 1961 and scrapped in 1962.

External links

* [http://www.ocean-liners.com/ships/europa.asp Ocean-Liners.com Europa page]
* [http://www.greatoceanliners.net/europa.html The Great Ocean Liners: Europa/Liberté]
* [http://www.uncommonjourneys.com/pages/library/express.htm Ocean Express: The story of the Bremen and Europa]