Ile de France
1926
(Mercator M-480)
- Type: Passenger
- Displacement: 43,450 tons
- Dimensions: 793 x 92 x 32 ft.
- Machinery: Steam turbines, quadruple screws 52,000 SHP = 23 knots
- Passengers: 1658 (670 cabin class, 480 tourist class, 508 third class)
- Builder: Chantiers de l'Atlantique (Penhoet), St. Nazaire, France, 1926
- Service: Built for the French Line's Le Havre-New York service. Maiden voyage Jun 1927. After last prewar trip to New York, moved to Marseille, May 1940, then to
Singapore via Cape Town. Taken over by British and requisitioned as troopship, Nov 1940,
with capacity of 8000, managed and crewed by P&O. Management switched to Cunard in
Jan 1944. Up to Jul 1945 she travelled over 500,000 miles and carried 485,000 military
personnel. Returned to France, Sep 1945, and used to repatriate U.S. and Canadian troops
from Europe, and later POWs from the Far East. Released back to CGT and restored as a
passenger ship, 1947-49. Resumed transatlantic service, 1949-58. Sold to Japanese
scrappers and renamed Furanzu Maru, late 1958. However, before scrapping, she
was used by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and temporarily renamed Claridon for use in
film The Last Voyage, which included a controlled explosion scuttling off Japan.
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