SS Île de France

Common card · No. 219151

SS Île de France (literally Island of France in English) was a French luxury ocean liner that plied the prestigious transatlantic route between Europe and New York from 1927 through to 1958. She was built in Saint-Nazaire for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (or CGT, also known as the "French Line"), and named after the region around Paris known as "Île-de-France". Launched on 14 March 1926, she commenced her maiden voyage on 22 June 1927, as the first major ocean liner built after World War I, and the first ever to be decorated almost entirely in modern Art Deco style. Though she was neither the largest ship nor the fastest, she was considered the most beautifully decorated built by CGT, becoming the favored ship of the interwar era among the young, wealthy and fashionable elites. When World War II broke out she briefly served as a troop ship before all her luxurious fittings were removed for conversion into a prison ship. After the war Île de France resumed transatlantic operations...

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