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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Lafayette (APV-4)
ex
Lafayette (AP-53) (1941 - 1943)

Lafayette Class Transport

Built in 1935 as SS Normandie at Chantiers and Ateliers, St. Nazaire, Penhoet, France

Acquired by the US Navy, 27 December 1941

Renamed Lafayette and designated Naval Transport (AP-53)

Severely damaged from fire and capsizing, 9,10 February 1942, at New York

Uprighted, refloated on 8 August 1943, and towed to Brooklyn Naval Shipyard for lay up

Redesignated Transport and Aircraft Ferry APV-4, 15 September 1943

Struck from the Naval Register, 11 October 1945

Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 3 October 1946, to Lipsett Incorporated

Specifications:
Displacement 83,423 t.
Length 1,028'
Beam 117'
Draft 26'
Speed 30 kts.
Complement unknown
Troop Capacity unknown
Armament none

Propulsion

four steam turbines connected to four electric motors

four propellers

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Pre-WWII Merchant Service
	123k	Newspaper report of successful completion of sea trials for the French Lines ocean liner SS Normandie New York Times, May 6 1935	Tommy Trampp
	178k	SS Normandie docked at Le Havre, 27 May 1935. Press photo taken by Lebrun. Meurisse News Agency.	Robert Hurst
	286k	SS Normandie docked at Le Havre, circa 1935. Photo courtesy of Jean Ribéry.	Robert Hurst
	143k	SS Normandie inaugural voyage First Day Cover. Le Havre, 25 May 1935. Note the rare postage stamp./font>	Tommy Trampp
	77k	SS Normandie as she steams into New York Harbor on 3 June 1935 at the conclusion of her maiden voyage. Text and US Navy photo from "Great Liners at War" by Stephen Harding.	Robert Hurst
	126k	Post card image of SS Normandie entering New York Harbor, dated 4 August 1935.	Tommy Trampp
	81k	SS Normandie under way during her first year of operation in 1935. The ship was then modified to eliminate vibration aft, to enlarge some public areas, and to widen her bridge wings. Photo courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
	266k	Post card image of SS Normandie under way, date and location unknown. Photo from the book "Passenger Liners of the World Since 1893" (1979), by Nicholas T. Cairis.	Tommy Trampp
	239k	SS Normandie departing Pier 86 New York in 1936, while a crowd of well wishers jams the balcony above the pier.	Tommy Trampp
	214k	Front and back of SS Normandie commemorative of her Rio De Janeiro Brazil stopover in 1936.	Tommy Trampp
	77k	Post card of SS Normandie looking aft from the navigation bridge along the boat deck.	Tommy Trampp
	238k	Post card image of SS Normandie under way, date and location unknown	Tommy Trampp
	259k	Aerial view of SS Normandie underway, date and location unknown. Photo courtesy of Chantiers de L'Atlantique, From "The Liner: Retrospective and Renaissance" by Philip Dawson	Robert Hurst
092205342	65k	SS Normandie clears her berth in the North River as she begins her return voyage from New York to La Havre, France, 7 June 1938. New York Times", 8 June 1938 - Photo from New York Times Wide World Photo Service	Tommy Trampp
	206k	View of crowded dock to lower left, water and full length view of the French Lines ocean liner SS Normandie from Pier 88 with tug to right and Palisades in distance, north river, Manhattan, 14 September 1938. Photo by Berenice Abbott (1899-1991), New York Public Library's Digital Library digital ID 129b50d0-c60d-012f-37cd-58d385a7bc34. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection	Robert Hurst
	93k	Aerial view of SS Normandie steaming into New York Harbor, date unknown. Photo from citynoise.org	Tommy Trampp
	77k	SS Normandie sitting idle at her New York Harbor pier after being caught out by the outbreak of World War II. Alongside her is RMS Queen Mary, already painted in grey camouflage paint. Text and US Library of Congress photo from "Great Liners at War" by Stephen Harding.	Robert Hurst
	102k	SS Normandie at her New York Harbor berth with the grey painted RMS Queen Mary opposite. In the foreground RMS Queen Elizabeth is moved with the help of tugs alongside Cunard's Pier 90 shortly after her 7 March 1940 arrival. The smaller, two-funneled ship to starboard of Normandie is Cunard's second RMS Mauretania . Text and US Library of Congress photo from "Great Liners at War" by Stephen Harding.	Robert Hurst
	139k	SS Normandie, 20 August 1941, while laid up at the French Line's Pier 88, at New York. She had been in the custody of the U.S. Coast Guard since the fall of France to the Nazis in June 1940. US National Archives, RG-80-G. Photo # 80-G-410223, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
Lafayette (AP-53)
	165k	*Namesake* Marie Joseph du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette -- born at Chateau Chavaniac, Auvergne, France, on 6 September 1757 -- entered the French Army at the age of 14, and six years later left France to assist the American colonists in their fight for independence from Great Britain. His military contributions to the victory of the Americans were climaxed by the final campaign in which his skillful maneuvering played a major part in the defeat of the British at Yorktown. Taking the gratitude of the American people with him, he returned to France in 1781 and later aided his own people in the disturbed days of the French Revolution. As commander of France's eastern Army, Lafayette was captured by the Austrians in August 1792. He was imprisoned for five years, and released after Napoleon's rise to power. For the rest of his life he actively participated in movements for liberty and freedom in France and the world. He died in Paris on 20 May 1834. Photo: Marquis de Lafayette. Portrait by Charles Wilson Peale, 1781 Images of American Political History	Bill Gonyo
	75k	Lafayette (AP-53) after catching fire at New York harbor, 9 February 1942. Those areas of her hull and funnels not yet ravaged by the flames clearly reveal an angular, muted-tone pattern camouflage. US National Archives photo.	Robert Hurst
	290k	Water pours from the sides of the listing Lafayette (AP-53), the former French liner *Normandie, 9 February 1942, as she burned at her pier at the foot of West 50th Street, in Manhattan, New York City. Fireboats, tugs and firefighters from shore poured thousands of gallons of water into the ship. Many of the workmen who had been making Lafayette* ready for naval service were trapped by flames between decks. Acme Newspictures Inc.	Dave Wright
	65k	Lafayette (AP-53) burning in the evening of 9 February 1942 at Pier 88 after nearly completing conversion to a Navy transport. The fire has spread the length of the superstructure, and the ship is listing because of the water from the firefighting tugs that were attempting to protect the lower parts of the ship and the pier. US National Archives, RG-80-G. Photo # 80-G-5324, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
	123k	Lafayette (AP-53) with fires unchecked burns in New York harbor, 9 February 1942. Wirephoto.	Tommy Trampp
	44k	Lafayette (AP-53) after rolling over on her port side, with her funnels laying on the frigid, debris-clogged water, with hundreds of firefighters, civilian workers and military personnel watching in stunned silence. Text and US Navy photo from "Great Liners at War" by Stephen Harding.	Robert Hurst
	128k	Lafayette (AP-53) on her port side looking toward downtown Manhattan.	Tommy Trampp
	127k	Lafayette (AP-53) on 22 February 1942 fully capsized in her berth at Pier 88 shortly before salvage operations began with the removal of her superstructure. US National Archives, RG-80-G. Photo # 80-G-410243 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
	156k	Lafayette (AP-53) fully capsized in her berth at Pier 88, probably within a few days of the fire. Photo courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
	133k	Lafayette (AP-53) fully capsized late February 1942. Portions of her armament are visible, including two 3"/50 guns forward of the bridge and a 20mm gun on the bridge wing. US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 51197, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
	86k	Lafayette (AP-53) on her port side, winter 1942.	Tommy Trampp
092205343	129k	Lafayette (AP-53) on her port side in her ice-filled berth at Pier 88, New York City during the winter of 1942. "Mud, Muscle, and Miracles: Marine Salvage in the United States Navy". 2nd Edition. Captain Charles A. Bartholomew, USN, and Commander William I. Milwee, Jr., USN, (Ret.). U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Naval Sea Systems Command, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C., 2009.	Robert Hurst
	93k	Lafayette (AP-53) on her side at her Pier 88 berth after having her upper works cut away to increase her buoyancy, and in early August 1943 the salvage crews were able to begin pumping water out of her interior. This image gives a good impression of the challenges faced by workers as they labored on the ship's heavily canted decks. Text and US Navy photo from "Great Liners at War" by Stephen Harding.	Robert Hurst
	70k	This is how Lafayette (AP-53) looked when she was refloated during the high tide at 4:30 P.M., 8 August 1943. AP Wirephoto	Ron Reeves
	183k	A U.S. Coast Guard Grumman J4F Widgeon flies over the wreckage of Lafayette (AP-53) at Pier 88, in New York harbor, 12 August 1943. U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 2009.006.096	Robert Hurst
	362k	A photomontage of a U.S. Navy Curtiss SO3C Seamew flying over the wreck of Lafayette (AP-53) at Pier 88, in New York harbor, 17 August 1943. U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 2009.006.097	Robert Hurst
	118k	Lafayette (AP-53), right center under salvage at New York City's Pier 88, circa 1942-1943. She had burned and capsized there on 9-10 February 1942. At right is *USS Seattle* (IX-39)*. US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # 80-G-1971*	Robert Hurst
	147k	Lafayette (AP-53) on her side at her Pier 88 berth during pumping operations in August or early September 1943. US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo # 80-G-K-3880	Mike Green
	103k	By 10 August 1943 Lafayette (AP-53) had reached an angle of 30 degrees. The ship partially visible at lower left is Cunard's RMS Queen Elizabeth, which is bristling with weaponry *Lafayette* would have carried had she made it into military service. Text and US Navy photo from "Great Liners at War" by Stephen Harding.	Robert Hurst
Lafayette (APV-4)
	122k	Salvage officer John Tooker of the Merritt Chapman & Scott Corp looks on as Supervisor of Salvage, Captain B. E. Manseau, USN turns *Lafayette* over to Captain H. McKittrick of the New York Navy Yard for a refit into an aircraft transport ferry that never happened. US National Archies photo # 80-G-44338 A US Navy photo now in the custody of the US National Archives, College Park.	Tracy White
	115k	Lafayette (APV-4) as seen by New Yorkers on 3 November 1943 as tugboats move her salvaged hull from Pier 88 toward the Navy drydock at Brooklyn Navy Yard, for planned conversion into a high-speed troop transport. Navy inspectors soon discovered that while the liner's basic hull structure was in remarkably good shape, nearly everything else was beyond economical repair. She was ultimately struck from the Navy list and scrapped. US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. 80-G-K-3864, courtesy Shipscribe.com. Text from "Great Liners at War" by Stephen Harding.	Mike Green and Robert Hurst
	270k	Tugs tow the righted Lafayette (APV-4) from her berth on the Hudson River, New York City, to dry dock for refitting and repair. Note the ships passing the Statue of Liberty, 3 November 1943. Fireboat at lower right is *CG-55024-F* US National Archives Photo # 80-G-87971, A US Navy Photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	David Wright
	37k	*Lafayette* was stripped of her superstructure and uprighted in 1943 in the world's most expensive salvage operation, to date. One of the largest operations of its kind in history succeeded in righting her, 7 August 1943. She was reclassified as an Aircraft and Transport Ferry APV-4, 15 September 1943 and placed in dry dock the following month. Extensive damage to her hull, the deterioration to her machinery, and the necessity for employing manpower on other critical war projects prevented resumption of the conversion program. With the cost of restoring her determined to be too great, her hulk remained in the Navy's custody through the end of World War II.	Tommy Trampp
	176k	Aerial view of Lafayette (APV-4), 28 June 1945, while laid up at the New York State Barge Canal Terminal Pier adjacent to the Todd yard at Erie Basin, Brooklyn. Note the large number of ships (Navy, Army, and merchant) under repair in the Erie Basin facility. US. Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. Unknown, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	MIke Green