Le Havre-New York by ocean liner: the extraordinary epic of a French transatlantic journey [fr]
Wednesday, June 15, 1864, 6 p.m. The ocean liner named "Washington", operated by the French company La Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, inaugurates the mythical line connecting the cities of Le Havre, France, and New York, United States. This journey marked the beginning of the great saga of French transatlantic liners, which, until 1974, made the French city of Le Havre a privileged gateway to the Big Apple and, more broadly, to the New World. This year, on June 15, 2024, we celebrate 160 years of the "French Line", an exceptional historic, maritime and port route between the cities of Le Havre and New York.
Painting by Lebreton depicting the liner Washington (CGT 1864) inaugurating the Le Havre-New York line on June 15, 1864." Author: Lebreton Louis. French Lines Collection.
At 6 p.m. on Wednesday June 15, 1864, the ocean liner named Washington left the port of Le Havre. This 105-meter-long liner is powered by paddlewheels. It carries 60 passengers and 500 tons of cargo.
"The departure of the transatlantic was very successful. The crowd gathered on the quays greeted her with cheers".
Le Figaro, June 17, 1864
The liner was operated by the French state-subsidized Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, founded 9 years earlier by two brothers and businessmen, Emile and Isaac Pereire.
The main aim of the company - and of France, then governed by Napoleon III - was to compete with the English, who in the 1830s had inaugurated the first crossings connectinh Great Britain to the United States.
The journey of the Washington liner to New York will take a total of 13 and a half days, with a 24-hour stopover in Brest. On Wednesday June 29, at 5 a.m., the Washington lands in the port of New York.
This journey was a key moment, marking the start of transatlantic connections between France and the "New World".
Indeed, from 1864 onwards, crossings between Le Havre and New York would become "a strategic activity involving diplomacy, trade, cultural exchanges, mail transport and, at the turn of the 20th century, European emigration".
Over the years, Le Havre became the point of convergence where thousands of working-class migrants embarked for the New World, hoping to make their fortune and try their luck in the United States.
Then, in the 1920s and 1930s, transatlantic lines really took off. At that time, the French Océane line was the largest in the North Atlantic!
Thanks to innovation, luxury and comfort for passengers on passenger liners started to improve. Gradually, the company began to target a different, more affluent type of customer. Passengers benefited from exceptional services: inside the ships, the decoration was sumptuous, the gastronomy "à la française" and the wine list too.
With technical progress, the journey to the United States took less time. From 13 days in 1864, it took just 4 days to reach the New World in 1935.
This was due above all to the construction by Compagnie Générale Transatlantique of an extraordinary ship: the Normandie, 313 meters long and able to carry over 1,800 passengers. When it entered commercial service, it was the largest ship in the world!
The ocean liner was inaugurated on May 23, 1935 by the then President of the French Republic, Albert Lebrun, accompanied by numerous other personalities, and the inauguration was a major media event. The maiden voyage to New York began on May 29, and the liner touched down in New York harbor 4 days, 3 hours and 2 minutes later. The ship was greeted with great pomp and ceremony in the Big Apple, receiving the "blue ribbon" for the fastest transatlantic liner. It then set sail again for Le Havre, where it arrived on June 12, 1935.
Unfortunately, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique came out of the Second World War very hard hit, losing two-thirds of its fleet, including the Normandie.
Only the commissioning of the famous liner France in 1962 - then the largest liner in the world! - restored the company’s reputation.
At the same time, the 1960s and 1970s saw a phenomenal boom in air travel. A plane from Paris could reach New York in just a few hours. An unbeatable time for an ocean liner.
That’s why, in the 1970s, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique gave up the transatlantic route and merged with other French shipping companies. The company shifted its focus to the more lucrative freight business. France, the Company’s last liner, was laid up and ceased sailing in October 1974.
During its 120 years of existence, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique and its liners acquired a strong reputation, making France proud and the United States admiring. Today, its heritage is preserved by the French Lines association, which has been preserving the Company’s archives and artefacts since 1995. In this way, the eternal "Transat" lives on in our memories, and its journeys have left an indelible mark on French-American history.
Bibliography:
• Gondoin, Stephane William. La grande épopée des transatlantiques français. Herodote.net. Accessible à : https://www.herodote.net/Ligne_Le_Havre_New_York-synthese-2426-513.php
• Compagnie générale transatlantique. France Archives. Accessible à : https://francearchives.gouv.fr/fr/facomponent/a21f7f86aae62db30685cf456be8fa6f89b2718e
• La grande aventure du Havre et des paquebots. Ville du Havre. Accessible à : https://www.lehavre.fr/actualites/la-grande-aventure-du-havre-et-des-paquebots
• Site de French Lines. Accessible à : https://www.frenchlines.com/