In 2000 St Pierre et Miquelon issued a miniature sheet of 10 stamps to commemorate the 20th Century – 1900 to 1950. One of the stamps shows conscripts leaving New York for Le Havre in 1915 onboard the CHICAGO.
CHICAGO was launched by Chantiers et Ateliers de St Nazaire at Penhoet on 5 November 1907 for Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (CGT). She entered service on 30 May 1908 with her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York.
GRT: 11127; NRT: 5871.
Dimensions: 508.4 x 57.8 x 3905 feet.
Engine by builder, twin screw 2 x 3 cyl tpl exp, 7938 IHP, 9 boilers giving a speed of 15.5 knots. She carried 1656 tons of coal which burned at 107 tons per day.
She carried 358 2nd class passengers and 1250 3rd.
CHICAGO made her last voyage to New York on 22 March 1915 as CGT thought it desirable to move their main terminal to Bordeaux due to the invasion of part of France by the German army. She commenced sailings from Bordeaux to New York on 16 May 1915 and in 1921 she recommenced sailings between Le Havre and New York.
On 13 October 1919 CHICAGO saved the passengers and the crew of the Fabre Line steamer VENEZIA which was on fire in the Atlantic.
In 1928 CHICAGO underwent a refit by Chantiers de la Gironde and was given extra ventilation below decks for the West Indies service. Renamed GUADELOUPE her first voyage under the new name was from St Nazaire to the West Indies and Central America.
In June 1931 GUADELOUPE ran aground outside Galveston but was refloated. She was laid up after a collision with the French warship CHAYLA which had broken her moorings during a strong gale while being broken up at St-Nazaire on 21 January 1934.
On 26 October 1936 GUADELOUPE was sold for breaking-up at St Nazaire.
St Pierre et Miquelon 2000 sg830, scott?
Sources: Merchant Fleets 30 – French Line (CGT) by Duncan Haws; North Atlantic Seaway Vol 2 by N R P Bonsor; Great Passenger Ships of the World Vol 1 by Arnold Kludas. Various internet sites.
Peter Crichton
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