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The France was the largest ship
built for the French Line at that time
and the first to be powered by steam
turbines. Although the French Line were
not yet competing to build the largest
ships, the France was one of the
fastest liners in service at that time,
only Cunards Lusitania and
Mauretania were faster. Her maiden
voyage from Le Havre - New York August
20th 1912 created a great amount of
interest as her luxurious interiors had
been designed in the style of Louis XIVs
palace at Versailles. The France
had to be put into Harland & Wolff in
1913 to have some design faults
rectified. This work involved changes to
her running gear to eliminate serious
vibration problems and alterations to her
hull as she rolled badly in heavy seas.
The French Navy requisitioned the
France at the outbreak of World
War One in 1914 to serve as an auxiliary
cruiser.
The navy soon found she was unsuitable
for that role as it took too much
precious fuel to keep her operating. This
led to the France being converted
to a troopship in 1915 for transporting
Allied troops to the war in Turkey
(Dardanelle's Campaign). As the number of
casualties in that campaign continued to
rise over the following months, she had
to serve temporarily as a hospital ship.
America’s involvement in World War
One from April 1917 saw her used to
transport US troops to the war in Europe.
The might of the US forces helped bring
the war to an end in November 1918, this
allowing the France to re-enter
service on the Le Havre - New York run
soon after. The emergence of the French
Lines 43,153-ton Ile de
France on the Atlantic run in 1927
led to the France being operated
as a full time cruises ship. With her
being unable to run at a profit as a
cruise ship on Mediterranean and West
Indies routes over the following five
years, she was withdrawn from service in
1932. The French Line laid the
France up at Le Havre until she
set out for the scrap yard at Dunkirk
April 15th 1935.
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