SS Île de France The SS " Ile de France " was a French ocean liner built in Saint - Nazaire , France for the " Compagnie Générale Transatlantique " . The ship was the first major ocean liner built after the conclusion of World War I and was the first liner ever to be decorated entirely with designs associated with the Art Deco style . It was neither the largest ship nor the fastest ship , but was considered the most beautifully decorated ship built by the " Compagnie Générale Transatlantique " ( CGT , known also as the " French Line " ) until the . Construction and launch . The construction of the " Ile de France " was part of the agreement between the CGT and the French government dating back to November , 1912 . This agreement was for the construction of four passenger - mail ships , with the first ship named and the second , " Ile de France " . World War I delayed construction until the 1920s , with the " Paris " being launched in 1916 and not entering service until 1921 and the " Ile de France " during 1927 . The " Ile de France " was launched on 14 March 1926 at the shipyard Chantiers de Penhoët and was greeted by thousands of government and company officials , workers , press , and French citizens . The ship would experience fourteen months of fitting - out before it left the shipyards on 29 May 1927 for its sea trials . Interior . In 1926 , the CGT released an elaborate gold - covered booklet devoted entirely to the company ' s new ship . The illustrations depicted huge , ornate yet modern public rooms , female passengers carrying feather fans and smoking cigarettes , and passengers being led around the uncluttered sun deck . Never before had a ship had its own style of interior design like the " Ile de France " . During the past , ships had imitated the shore - style . The , the and the had all shown an interior that celebrated styles of the past and could be found in manors or châteaux situated on land . By contrast , the interiors of the " Ile de France " represented something new . For the first time , a ship ' s passenger spaces had been designed not to reproduce decorative styles of the past but to celebrate the style of the present . The ship ' s degree of modernity was unlike that of any ship previously . The first - class dining room ' s decor was simple . The dining room was also the largest of any ship , rose three decks high , and had a grand staircase for an entrance . In addition to the luxurious dining room , there was also a chapel with a neo - gothic style , a grand foyer which rose four decks , a shooting gallery , an elaborate gymnasium , and even a merry - go - round for the younger passengers . Every cabin had beds instead of bunks , and even many of the chairs aboard the " Ile de France " had a new design . As each of the major liner companies subsequently planned their next passenger ships , many of the planners visited this extraordinary and trend - setting French vessel . Maiden voyage and early career . After its sea trials , the " Ile de France " traveled to its home port of Le Havre on June 5 , 1927 . The novelty of Art Deco aboard a ship was an immediate sensation and the reaction of the visiting press would be evident by favorable reviews the next week . On June 22 , 1927 the " Ile de France " traveled from Le Havre for its maiden voyage to New York . Upon its arrival in New York it received great attention from the American media and thousands of people crowded the docks just to see the new ship . Her official accommodation was for 1 , 786 passengers , but her normal capacity was closer to 1400 . With a listed capacity of 537 in first - class , the " Ile de France " , like the and " Paris " , became fashionable . Captain Joseph Blancart and his chief purser , Henri Villar , became celebrities . With the contribution made by this splendid vessel , the CGT ended the year 1928 with record earnings . For the first time the company ' s receipts exceeded a billion francs , and half of this derived from the New York service , which had transported more than 90 , 000 passengers . Its popularity was such that by 1935 , the ship had carried more first - class passengers than any other transatlantic liner . The ship was popular especially among wealthy Americans . It quickly became the chosen ship of the youthful , the stylish , and the famous . But they did not choose it for its speed - it was about as fast as the " Aquitania " of 1914 , and no larger . Even though the " Ile de France " was not the fastest vessel in the world , it briefly pioneered the quickest mail - system between Europe and the United States . In July 1928 , a seaplane catapult was installed at the ship ' s stern for trials with two CAMS 37 flying boats that launched when the ship was within 200 miles , which decreased the mail delivery time by one day . This practice proved too costly , however , and in October 1930 the catapult was removed and the service discontinued . In 1935 the " Ile de France " and the " Paris " were joined by a new mate , the new superliner " Normandie " . With these three ships the CGT could boast of having the largest , fastest , and most luxurious ships traveling the north Atlantic . But this was not to endure , and two events ended the CGT ' s new prosperity . The first occurred on April 18 , 1939 , when the " Paris " was destroyed by fire while docked in Le Havre . The second was on September 1 , 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland which began World War II and ended civilian transatlantic traffic . World War II . " Ile de France " was the last ship to leave France before the outbreak of war , departing from La Havre on the morning of September 3 , just hours before France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany . She carried 1 , 777 passengers , 400 more than her usual number . Most of the passengers were Americans , many of whom were tourists clamouring to leave France before the war broke out . During the voyage , the passengers were not only inconvenienced by the overcrowded conditions , but their activities were limited because the ship sailed with her lights extinguished . Other ships were not so lucky . The " Ile de France " arrived in New York harbor on September 9 , and while she was crossing the Atlantic Ocean , 16 vessels were sunk by torpedoes , mines , or gunfire . Once the " Ile de France " was berthed at its New York pier , her career as a passenger ship was temporarily ended . Since the French were not anxious to return the ship to its homeland , it was towed to Staten Island by ten tugs and was laid up after special dredging that cost $ 30 , 000 . Its crew of 800 persons was reduced to a security staff of 100 while it was inoperative for the next five months . Then during March 1940 , commanded by the British Admiralty , to which it had been lent , the ship was loaded with 12 , 000 tons of war materials , submarine oil , tanks , shells , and several uncrated bombers that were stowed on the aft open decks . On 1 May 1940 she departed for Europe , veiled in gray and black . From there , it traveled to Singapore where , after the Fall of France , it was officially seized by the British . In 1941 it returned to New York and made several crossings from the northeast as a troop ship such as the one on February 14 , 1944 , sailing from Halifax , Nova Scotia , to Greenock , Scotland , carrying among others the 814th Tank Destroyer Battalion . In August , 1942 , the three - funnelled Ile de France tied up alongside the Charl Malan Quay in Port Elizabeth . During one of her visits to the city she was subjected to one of the most mournful sites to befall this magnificent ship . Furniture , chandeliers , carpets , fittings , all the evidences of her former luxury , including hundreds of square feet of rare and beautiful panelling , were ruthlessly torn out and flung on the quayside as " she was gutted as thoroughly as a herring " . A small party of workmen fitted the luxury liner out as a floating prisoner of war camp , " with festoons of barbed wire sprouting from her decks and disfiguring her graceful lines " as the ship was prepared for the task of bringing POWs back from north Africa . In October , 1942 , the " Ile de France " was spotted off Port Elizabeth , by aircraft of the South African Air Force . While in the city she was converted into a troopship . The extensive alterations , the largest ever undertaken in the harbour , was completed in 1943 . Post - war career and demise . In autumn 1945 , the " Ile de France " was returned to the CGT after five years of military service with the British Admiralty . In honor of its wartime performance , the Southern Railway company named one of its locomotives " French Line CGT " . At first the " Ile de France " was used to ferry American and Canadian troops home . Then in April 1947 , the ship returned to its builder ' s yard at Saint Nazaire for a two - year restoration . The outcome included the removal of its third " dummy " funnel and an upturn of the straight black hull to meet its upper forepeak , in keeping with the new style of the CGT ' s ships beginning with the " Normandie " in 1935 . These changes increased the " Ile ' s de France " ' s gross tonnage to 44 , 356 . It traveled to New York on her first postwar luxury crossing in July 1949 . The " Ile de France " proved to be just as popular as before the war . In 1950 the ship received a new running mate , " Liberté " , the former German Blue Riband - holder . On July 25 , 1956 , the " Ile de France " had a major role in the rescue operation after the collision of the passenger liners and off Nantucket . Of 1 , 706 passengers and crew of the " Andrea Doria " , approximately 750 were transferred to the " Ile de France " during the approximately 6 - hour rescue operation . With the development of jet transport , and the decline of ocean travel , the CGT wished to dispose of the ship quietly . In 1959 the ship was sold to a Japanese breaker and departed Le Havre on February 16 . Before scrapping , the " Ile de France " was used as a floating prop for the 1960 disaster movie " The Last Voyage " with the name " SS Claridon . " During filming the ship was sunk partially , explosive devices were detonated in the interior , and the forward funnel was sent crashing into the deckhouse . The CGT sued the filmmakers to get an order to have the funnels repainted and prohibit the use of the name " Ile de France " from appearing in the movie . Eaton ' s Ninth Floor . In 1931 the ninth floor restaurant in Eaton ' s Department Store , Montreal , Canada , was styled after the first class restaurant aboard the ship . The store owner ' s wife had just traveled transatlantic on the liner and requested the style of the " Ile de France " .