NORMANDIE
QUEEN—The Normandie as she appe red before the fire of Feb. 9. 1942.
COMMONER—The proud, naked fire-slackened ship nosed about by tugs.
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By JOHN A. MOROSO. Ill
(/P) Newsfeatures
NEW YORK—Although she is
fire-blackened, rust-coated and
mossy at the waterline, the ghost
like Normandie still holds her
head as high as she did when she
was queen of the seas.
Her submersion in salt water
and its terrible corrosion have
failed to mar the superb sweep of
her graceful lines.
The Normandie is still water
tight. She lies on an even keel at
her grimy pier on Brooklyn’s un
attractive waterfront. Workmen
who spend their days “maintain
ing” her say she hasn’t leaked a
drop.
The Normandie’s skipper, Lieut.
George C. Haefner of Perrysburg,
Ohio, a jovial man of 53, has a
singular assignment as captain of
the Normandie and the only Navy
man assigned to her. He volun
teered to guide me through the
massive ship.
Once aboard it was a different
^ Normandie we saw—a drab, skel
eton-like sea monster.
The vessel is bare from her
promenade deck up. From her
bow to her stern—1,029 feet—the
Normandie is naked except for
an improvised wooden rail and
half a dozen wooden hatches that
cover holes where her stacks and
elevator shafts once were.
Below the promenade deck we
entered a mysterious cavern of
yawning holes. The eerie sound of
our voices echoed back and forth.
Dim lights added to the atmos
phere of mystery and desolation.
The main dining salon gave me
the feeling of being in a huge,
gutted tomb more than 200 feet
long.
Forty-second Street,” a place
where scores of stores once sold
gay passengers perfumes and
other things, was just a lot of
gaping spaces.
As we walked along our feet,
stirred up clouds of rust. It burned
our nostrils and choked us. Eleva- j
tor shafts and holes in the deck
plating made the journey hazard
ous. The deeper we penetrated the
f>
ship the easier it was to get lost—
and eventually we did.
It wasn’t too hard to get out
because workmen had chalked the
steel bulkheads with arrows lead
ing up and out.
The Todd Shipyard Corp. keeps
40 men aboard for such mainten
ance work as painting pipes and
deck plate with zinc chromate pre
servative but the amount of work
they have done is almost infini
tesimal.
I
As we entered the engine and
fire rooms it was apparent why
nobody wants the Normandie. Ex
pensive turbines and engines are
ruined beyond repair. Her 33 boil
ers are done for. Intricate wiring
is hopelessly fouled.
Officials have estimated it I
would cost more than $30,000,000
to replace the engines and to re
build the interior of the ship.
Herman Wiese, Todd superin
tendent of the maintenance crew
aboard, said the Navy converted
the Normandie to accommodate
22,000 trops, which would have
made her the largest trooper in
th^ world. The Queens Mary and
Elizabeth carry about 15,000 men.;
Waterfront reports say the Nor-;
mandie will be junked. Haefner
has recommended that she be con-1
verted into a barracks and train
ing ship, and this could be done
cheaply enough.
Others have suggested that shei
be used as a target to test t^ j
atom bomb’s effect against sea ob-1
jectives. Another idea was to make
her into a land-based aircraft car
rier.
The Navy apparentyl put an end
to such speculation on Sept. 20,1
when Assistant Secretary H.
Struve Hensel announced that the
Normandie had been declared
"surplus” and that she would be
turned over to the maritime com
mission.
Before the announcement Naval'
officials steered clear of all quer
ies about the future of the ship.
They admitted that raising andj
maintaining her had cost about
$11,000,000.
The Navy’s world famous sal
vage school was originated at the
Normandie’s Hudson River pier
after she burned and capsized or
Feb. 9, 1942, and from that school
have come some of the world’s
best divers and salvage men. They
cleared the battle-wrecked har
bors of Casablanca, Bizerte, Pal
ermo, Naples, Cherbourg and Ma
TO THE LADIES
FRIED OYSTERS
By CHARLOTTE ADAMS
2 dozen large oysters
Seasoned .flour ^ ^ ,
Beaten efig j
Soft bre^d crumbs l
Mayonnaise.
Pick over oysters very carefully.
Dry in r soft cloth. Roll in flour
nila.
The French Line says emphat
ically that it does not want the
ship. Thus she becomes the first of
I the super liners to head for ex
tinction and marks the end of a
mad era in shipbuilding when na
tions of the world competed in
building the largest and fastest
ships afloat.
The fast passenger plane is ex
| pected to sharply reduce passen
ger trade on ships like the Queens
Elizabeth and Mary. New liners
will be fast, medium-sized ships.
Thus the Normandie, built at a
cost of $130,000,000 in France, is
hardly worth a cent today.
which has been seasoned with a
little salt and pepper. Dip first
into mayonnaise, then into bread
crumbs. Then dip into beaten egg
and again into bread crumbs.
Shake off all loose bread crumbs.
Fry until golden brown in deep
fat. Drain on unglazed wax paper
or soft crumpled paper toweling.
POTATO PANCAKES
Uncle Sam says use more pota
toes. After you’ve served them
baked, boiled, creamed and fried,
you might try potato pancakes as
they are prepared by a famous
Swiss chef, Hermann Rousch, of
New York’s Belmont Plaza.
2 cups grated raw potatoes
Vi cup milk
1 well-beaten egg
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped onions
Add milk to the grated raw po
tatoes as soon as grated to avoid
darkening, then drain off.
Add other ingredients and
enough milk for a stiff batter.
Drop by spoonsful onto well
greased griddle. Brown.
I
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