Operational history
La Touraine sailed on her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York on 20 June 1891[1] in just six days, seventeen hours and thirty minutes. During a transatlantic crossing in July 1892 she achieved a record speed of 21.2 knots over the measured mile, although she was never a Blue Riband record holder.
In 1893, one of her passengers was Bulgarian writer Aleko Konstantinov and he described the journey in his book To Chicago and Back. In May 1898, La Touraine was departing New York Harbor when she ran down eight United States Army soldiers in a rowboat who were planting mines to defend against attack during the Spanish–American War.[3][4] La Touraine did not stop or lower lifeboats; two soldiers drowned, while the other six, including Robert I. Rees, later a brigadier general, were rescued.[3][4]
On 2 March 1900, La Touraine ran down the sailing trawler 'Briton' of Brixham, Devon, in the English Channel near the Eddystone light. The trawler's entire five man crew was lost.[5]
From November 1900 to January 1902, La Touraine was refitted at Saint-Nazaire to. Her engines were overhauled, she had bilge keels installed, and two masts removed. The bilge keels helped further stabilize the ship. As a result La Touraine, was said to be "as smooth as an iron over a linen cloth." Her third-class passenger capacity was increased to 1,000. On 21 January 1903, La Touraine was damaged at Le Havre by a fire that destroyed her grand staircase, the first-class dining room, and her "de luxe" cabins, all of which were later rebuilt.[1] In 1906, La Touraine was still on the New York route, sailing opposite SS La Savoie and SS La Lorraine.[6] In 1910 her passenger capacity was reduced, accommodating 69 first-, 263 second-, and 686 third-class passengers.[1] On April 12, 1912 while on a transatlantic voyage La Touraine was one of a number of ships that related wireless radio warnings about icebergs to the RMS Titanic shortly before that ship's now-famous collision with an iceberg.[7]
In May 1913, she began sailing from Le Havre to Montreal via Quebec carrying only second- and third-class passengers.[1] In October 1913, while still on this route, she was one of ten ocean liners that came to the aid of the stricken Uranium Line steamer SS Volturno (1906) that had caught fire. During the rescue efforts, La Touraine came within 15 ft of colliding with the Red Star liner SS Kroonland, also participating in the rescue attempt.[8] La Touraine began her fifth and final round trip on the Montreal run in June 1914.[1]
At the outbreak of World War I, the French government took over many of CGT's liners—including La Touraine—for a variety of duties.[9] During the war, the German government established an intelligence and sabotage operation within the United States. On July 30, 1916, this campaign carried out the sabotage of the Black Tom pier in Jersey City, New Jersey, destroying the munitions depot there and causing severe damage to numerous structures including the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island complex.
At some point after being released from government service, La Touraine resumed Le Havre–New York service, and again carried first-class passengers, until March 1915.[1] After the German invasion of France in April 1915, CGT shifted its base of operations to Bordeaux;[9] La Touraine began Bordeaux–New York service at that time, remaining on that route until September 1919, when the end of the war allowed the resumption of departures from Le Havre. After resuming Le Havre–New York service, La Touraine carried cabin and third-class passengers only through her last voyage in September 1922.[1] With the post-war boom in North Atlantic traffic over,[10] CGT sold La Touraine. The liner was scrapped in Dunkirk in October 1923.[1]
