SS Europa (1928)

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.

Europa was built in 1928 with her sister ship SS Bremen to be the second 50,000–gross ton North German Lloyd liner. They both were powered with advanced high-speed steam turbine engines and were built with a bulbous bow entry^{[citation needed]} and a low streamlined profile.^{[citation needed]}

Europa and her slightly larger sister ship were designed to have a cruising speed of 27.5 knots, allowing an Atlantic crossing time of 5 days. This enabled Norddeutsche Lloyd to run regular weekly crossings with two ships, an operation that previously required three.^{[citation needed]}

The Europa was launched at Blohm & Voss shipyard, Hamburg on Wednesday, August 15, 1928. Europa was intended to be completed in spring 1929. However, on the morning of 26 March 1929, a fire broke out while still at the equipment dock. The fire raged all day and was only brought under control in the evening. The ship's turbines were damaged heavily in addition to significant damage to the remainder of the ship. After long discussions between builder and shipping company, it was decided to repair the ship. Within eleven months the ship was finished and completed on February 22, 1930. The cause of the fire has never been clearly identified.^{[citation needed]}

Europa made her maiden voyage to New York on 19 March 1930 taking the westbound Blue Riband from SS Bremen with the average speed of 27.91 knots and a crossing time of 4 days, 17 hours and 6 minutes. During the voyage many of her passengers were disturbed by the soot coming out of Europa's low funnels. The problem was corrected by raising the funnels by 15 feet, though decreasing her low profile. After they were raised, there were no more complaints. She held the Riband until Bremen recaptured it in June 1933.

Like Bremen, Europa had a small seaplane launched from a catapult on her upper deck between the funnels. The airplane flew from the ship to a landing at the seaplane port in Blexen.

The catapult was removed from both Bremen and Europa after a few years of service.