90 years ago, Wednesday January 4, 1933, a spectacular fire destroyed the ocean liner “L’Atlantique”, whose port of departure was Bordeaux. Antoine Lebègue, author of Bordeaux des Paquebots, evokes the dramatic end of this sumptuous vessel.
In the night between 3 and 4 January 1933, the ocean liner “L’Atlantique”, which left Pauillac the day before at 6:47 in the morning, arrived off Les Casquets, north-west of Guernsey, while heading towards Le Havre to careen. . All normal when suddenly and mysteriously a fire breaks out in a first class cabin. Automatic sensing devices trigger the alarm. As soon as the commander René Schoofs and the crew, reduced at that time to 230 men, mobilized as much as possible but could not prevent the fire from spreading very rapidly.
The fire is all the more strange as “L’Atlantique” is a very recent ship. In the 1920s, the steamers of the Sud Atlantique company that provided the connection with South America from the port of the Moon, the “Lutetia” and the “Massilia”, launched in 1913 and 1914, began to age. They belong to a generation surpassed by the new ships built abroad, such as “Asturias” and “Alcantara” launched by the British in 1926. Faced with this increasingly dangerous competition, the Sud Atlantique decided to fight back. His ship is “L’Atlantique”, “one of the most beautiful French transatlantic liners, the most sumptuous of the South American lines”. Capable of carrying 1,208 passengers, this “king of the South Atlantic” stands out for its size (227.10 meters long) and, above all, for its innovations which foreshadowed the “Normandy” and ocean liners of the 1930s. central street”, called “Rue de la Paix”, which crosses the building for its entire length.
- The Atlantic in 1932 (archives)
From her maiden voyage in December 1931, she achieved significant success. The only disappointment for the Bordelais, she does not go to the docks of the Port de la Lune but has to stop in Pauillac because of her draft. If the Bordeaux people are disappointed, those of Pauillac are happy that their city has become the frontrunner, an asset because this role brings new services (supply and maintenance) that create entertainment and jobs. But their joy was short-lived, because on the morning of January 4, 1933, the situation became dramatic. Despite the speed and vigor of the crew’s reaction, neither the fire apparatus nor the pumps, which flooded the cabins, were able to bring the fire under control. Its diffusion is favored by the lacquered or painted panels that decorate the most luxurious parts of the transatlantic and by the drafts formed by the non-partitioned ceilings. A defect that was found on many French ships at the time. At around 4 in the morning an SOS is launched. At 8 the commander orders the evacuation.
- The Atlantic in Flames (archive)
Several ships rush to the aid of the liner which is drifting towards the English coast. They recovered the shipwrecked, with the exception of 19 missing, and landed two thirds of them at Cherbourg and at Brest for the others. A fight ensues between Dutch, German and French tugs to seize the building. Under truly heroic conditions, Captain Pichard and a sailor from the Compagnie des Abeilles manage to unfurl a tricolor flag on the wreck, which reverts to a French-flagged vessel and can be towed to the port of Cherbourg, where she remains for three years. .
In Bordeaux, this fire gave rise to a rumor: Sud Atlantique wanted to get rid of an insufficiently profitable unit. But accepting this hypothesis would mean ignoring the fact that the company has decided to build a new prestigious 212-metre boat, the “Pasteur” to replace it. A building whose design takes into account the lessons of “The Atlantic”; not only by reducing the draught, so as not to offend the sensibilities of Bordeaux, but above all by reviewing fire safety. In this regard, the end of “L’Atlantique”, which occurred eight months after the sinking of the “Georges Phillipar”, marks a turning point in the history of French shipbuilding, as evidenced by the fact that the commissioning of the “Normandie » be postponed one year to make the final modifications to prevent the risk of fire.
to know more :
The fire of the Atlantic Bernard Bernadac (1997)
Burgundy of the linings by Antoine Lebégue (1988)both exhausted
N°87 d’Empreintes, ocean liners in Bordeaux (2012) by Antoine Lebegueavailable at the Memory of Bordeaux (hotel of learned societies, place Bardineau in Bordeaux).
►Note that the Naval Film Festival) will organize a session partly dedicated to “The Atlantic” on Wednesday 25 January at 4pm at the Chartreuse de Caudéran at 4pm (info 06 66 05 63 34)
