In the early 1930s, the "Europa" was the fastest ship on the Atlantic. But the start of the luxury liner is bumpy. The "Europa" burns down before the maiden voyage.
State-of-the-art, luxurious and very fast:On August 15, 1928, the passenger ship "Europa" was launched at the Hamburg shipyard Blohm + Voss. The shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd wants to use the elegant ship with its characteristic low funnels as a fast passenger ship on the transatlantic route to New York. Nine passenger decks for around 2,000 passengers are available, a ballroom and a winter garden should ensure an entertaining crossing.
Big fire destroys almost finished ship
But shortly before the "Europa" is put into service, on March 26, 1929, a major fire breaks out on board. The ship was on fire for almost 20 hours, so much fire-fighting water got in that it sank to the bottom. The "Europa" is almost completely destroyed, but the shipyard and shipping company decide to repair the ship. The work lasted only eleven months and the cause of the fire was never clarified.
An airplane can take off from on board, bringing letters and other mail to their destination before the ship.From Europe to New York in four and a half days
On March 19, 1930, the ship left for New York on its maiden voyage. The "Europa" travels from Cherbourg in France to New York in just four days, 16 hours and 48 minutes. This makes her a little faster than her sister ship "Bremen", breaks the record for the fastest Atlantic crossing and receives the "Blue Riband" for it. However, she later has to return the award to the "Bremen".
Start of airmail with "sling flights"
A special feature of the "Europa" is on the upper deck between the funnels:a catapult that allows seaplanes to take off. From there, planes loaded with mail take off several hundred kilometers before the ship arrives at the port of destination. The so-called centrifugal flights shorten the postal route by one to two days.
The "MS Europa" built in 1999 is a successor to the ship scrapped in 1962. Troop transport and refugee ship
With the beginning of the Second World War, the luxurious ship no longer serves as a passenger ship, but as accommodation for German marines. Later, the "Europa" was converted into a troop carrier. In March 1945, shortly before the end of the war, the ship took refugees from Swinemünde to the Bay of Lübeck and to Kiel. After the war, the USA confiscated the "Europa" and later handed the ship over to France as reparations. There it was converted and operated as "Liberté" until 1961 for a French shipping company between Le Havre and New York. In 1962 the ship was scrapped in La Spezia in northern Italy.
"MS Europa":luxurious successor
The "Europa", launched in 1928, was the third ship of this name belonging to North German Lloyd. Three more passenger ships of the same name followed. The sixth in the series, the cruise ship "MS Europa", built in 1999, still sails the seas for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, the "Europa 2", built in 2011, is considered one of the most luxurious ships in the world.
08/15/2018 2:31 p.m
Editor's note:We made a mistake in the first version of this article. The great fire that almost destroyed the "Europa" did not occur in 1919, but on March 26, 1929. We apologize for this error.