HSNH51 - LE PAQUEBOT PASTEUR. De l’ATLANTIQUE au BREMEN

PUBLICATION on December 20, 2024.

The odyssey of the Pasteur has already been told but it deserves to be completed by putting it in perspective with that of its predecessor, L’Atlantique.
L’Atlantique, the second largest French liner in 1931, is one of the most innovative, luxurious and extravagant ships of the time. Unfortunately, its “floating hotel” design does not allow it to withstand the terrible fire that will destroy it after only 15 months of service.
Its successor, the Pasteur, is a modern, robust and efficient ship. The British, as connoisseurs, will keep control of it throughout the Second World War, then Pasteur will be very active in the service of the French army. Finally, the NDL will make it its “flagship” on the North Atlantic line under the name Bremen. In all, 41 years of intensive service.
This H.S. is illustrated with a beautiful series of photos, many of which have never been published. Many of the documents come from a private collection and for the Pasteur cover the period of the summer of 1939 when it was in final fitting out, in preparation for its maiden crossing.