SS Europa (1928)
SS Europa prior to her maiden voyage | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Germany | |
| Name | Europa |
| Owner | Norddeutscher Lloyd |
| Port of registry | Bremen, Germany |
| Route | Bremerhaven-Southampton-Cherbourg-New York |
| Ordered | 1927 |
| Builder | Blohm & Voss shipyard, Hamburg, Germany |
| Launched | 15 August 1928 |
| Christened | 15 August 1928 |
| Completed | 22 February 1930 |
| Maiden voyage | 19 March 1930 |
| In service | March 1930 |
| Out of service | May 1945 |
| Fate | Captured by Allied forces and claimed as war prize by the US Navy |
| Notes |
|
| United States | |
| Name | USS Europa |
| Operator | United States Navy |
| Port of registry | Boston, USA |
| Route | Transatlantic |
| Acquired | 1945 |
| In service | 1945 to 1946 |
| Out of service | 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant Number AP-177 |
| Fate | Turned over to the French Line in 1946 |
| Notes | Served as a Troop Transport from Brest, France to New York, USA |
| France | |
| Name | SS Liberté |
| Operator | Compagnie Générale Transatlantique |
| Route | Le Havre-Southampton-New York |
| Acquired | 1946 |
| Maiden voyage | 16 July 1950 |
| In service | 1950 to 1962 |
| Out of service | 1946 to 1950, 1962 |
| Fate | Retired in 1962 and scrapped in 1963. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 49,746 GRT |
| Displacement | 55,500 long tons (56,391 t) |
| Length | 936.7 ft (283.5 m) |
| Beam | 101.7 feet (31 m) |
| Height | 150.6 feet |
| Decks | 12 |
| Installed power | Four steam turbines generating 105,000 shp |
| Propulsion | Quadruple propellers |
| Speed | 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Crew | 965 |
![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-09251,_Hamburg,_Probefahrt_der_"Europa".jpg){kind=link}
SS Europa, later SS Liberté IMO 5607332, was an ocean liner built for the German shipping company Norddeutsche Lloyd (NDL) to work the transatlantic sea route. Launched in 1928, she and her sister ship, Bremen, were the two most advanced, high-speed steam turbine ocean vessels of their day, with both earning the Blue Riband.
After World War II, French line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique was awarded the Europa as a war prize to replace the destroyed SS Normandie, which had caught fire and capsized at her moorings while interned by the United States in New York City. Europa was refitted at Le Havre and rechristened the Liberté, serving until the arrival of the SS France in 1961 as the premier liner in the Compagnie's fleet. She was laid up in 1962 and scrapped at La Spezia, Italy, in 1963.