Paris
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:21 am
IN 1927 the French. postal authorities issued two stamps to commemorate the visit to France in that year of the American Legion, an organisation of American ex-servicemen. The stamps were on sale for a. limited period and consisted of the values 90 centimes and 1 franc 50 centimes respectively. The same design was used for both denominations and shows busts of the Marquis de Lafayette and GeorgeWashington facing inwards. In; the centre of the stamp is a composite scene depicting Lindbergh's 'plane, the "Spirit of St.Louis" in which he made the first trans-Atlantic flight from America to Paris, flying above the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique liner Paris, with the Statue of Liberty in the background.
The Paris was built in 1921 by Chantiers et Ateliers de St. Nazaire, and was the largest French liner of her day, her displacement being 35,198 tons and gross tonnage 34,569. Her imensions were: 735 ft. x 86 ft. x 59 ft., and her draft 32 ft. She was oil burning and had four quadruple-screw direct acting turbines of 45,000 h.p., giving her a speed of 22 knots. She carried 563 first class, 480 second class, 1,092 third class, and 1,118 steerage passengers; her crew,. numbered, 664. The Paris was on the Le Havre-Plymouth-New York service and reached New York from Plymouth in six days. Her appointments included several drawing rooms, a cafe terrace, children's theatre, cinema, gymnasium, chapel, shops, etc., etc.
On April 18, 1929, while on a voyage from Le Havre to New York with 300 passengers, she grounded in fog on the rocks on which Eddy-stone lighthouse is standing, but was refloated and proceeded to Plymouth. Shortly before this mishap, on April 8, the Paris ran on to the mudflats of the Brooklyn shore of New York harbour, also in fog, but refloated without damage. On April 19,1939, fire broke out on board while she was lying in dock at Le Havre and after an all-night struggle to save her she heeled over and sank alongside the quay.
There were two deaths as a result of this fire. M. Sourcille, chief of the Security Service of the Paris, was killed when he fell into one of the holds, and a fireman who also fell into a hold died of his injuries. At the time of the outbreak the vessel had on board art treasures for the New York World Fair. They were removed from the Paris only a few minutes before she suddenly heeled over. The Paris obstructed the entrance to the dry dock, where the Normandie was lying, and her masts and funnels had to be cut away to allow the Normandie egress. She became a total loss. It was a strange coincidence that the Normandie should eventually suffer a similar fate while lying in dock at New York.
SG458,9 Sea Breezes 7/48