SS La Touraine was an ocean liner

Ocean liner

An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...

 that sailed for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique

Compagnie Générale Transatlantique

The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique , typically known overseas as the French Line, was a shipping company established during 1861 as an attempt to revive the French merchant marine, the poor state of which was indicated during the Crimean War of 1856...

 from the 1890s to the 1920s. Built in France in 1891, she was primarily employed in transatlantic service on the North Atlantic. The liner was scrapped in Dunkirk in October 1923.

History

La Touraine was laid down by Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) in Saint-Nazaire

Saint-Nazaire

Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...

 and launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 21 March 1890. Built for France to New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 service, she was the fifth-largest steamer in the world at the time of her launch. She had a and measured 158.55 metre long between perpendiculars, and was 17.07 metre wide. Equipped with twin triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellors that drove her at 19 knots, she was outfitted with two funnels and four masts. La Touraine was initially equipped with accommodations for 392 first-class, 98 second-class, and 600 third-class passengers. La Touraine sailed on her maiden voyage from Le Havre

Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

 to New York on 20 June 1891.

In September 1892, a cholera

Cholera

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

 outbreak, traced to a United States immigrant brought aboard a German steamer, caused all steerage traffic to be suspended and CGT's New York traffic to depart from Cherbourg for the next two months.

From November 1900 to January 1902, La Touraine was refitted at Saint-Nazaire to . Her engines were overhauled, she had bilge keel

Bilge keel

A bilge keel is used to reduce the hull's tendency to roll. Bilge keels are employed in pairs . A ship may have more than one bilge keel per side, but this is rare. Bilge keels increase hydrodynamic resistance to rolling, making the ship roll less...

s installed, and two masts removed. Her third-class passenger capacity was increased to 1,000. On 21 January 1903, La Touraine was damaged at Le Havre by a fire that destroyed her grand staircase, the first-class dining room, and her "de luxe" cabins, all of which were later rebuilt. In 1906, La Touraine was still on the New York route, sailing opposite and . In 1910 her passenger capacity was reduced, accommodating 69 first-, 263 second-, and 686 third-class passengers. In 1912 while on a transatlantic voyage La Touraine was one of a number of ships that related wireless radio warnings about icebergs to the shortly before that ship's now-famous collision with an iceberg.

In May 1913, she began sailing from Le Havre to Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 via Quebec

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 carrying only second- and third-class passengers. In October 1913, while still on this route, she was one of ten ocean liners that came to the aid of the stricken Uranium Line steamer that had caught fire. During the rescue efforts, La Touraine came within 15 feet (4.6 m) of colliding with the Red Star

Red Star Line

The Red Star Line was an ocean passenger line founded in 1871 as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belgium...

 liner , also participating in the rescue attempt. La Touraine began her fifth and final round trip on the Montreal run in June 1914.

At the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the French government took over many of CGT's liners—including La Touraine—for a variety of duties. At some point after being released from government service, La Touraine resumed Le Havre–New York service, and again carried first-class passengers, until March 1915. After the German

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

 invasion of France in April 1915, CGT shifted its base of operations to Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

; La Touraine began Bordeaux–New York service in at that time, remaining on that route until September 1919, when the war's end allowed the resumption of departures from Le Havre. After resuming Le Havre–New York service, La Touraine carried cabin- and third-class passengers only through her last voyage in September 1922. With the post-war boom in North Atlantic traffic over, CGT sold La Touraine. The liner was scrapped in Dunkirk in October 1923.

External links

• La Touraine page at The Great Ocean Liners
• Pages relating to La Touraines rescue of survivors of the burning and sinking of from The burning of the 'Volturno:
  • Photos of La Touraine, information about crewmen aboard La Touraine that received medals for Volturno rescue
  • Photos of La Touraine, information about Volturno survivors rescued by La Touraine
  • More photos of La Touraine
  • Information on the construction of La Touraine from a contemporary source
  • More photos of La Touraine