This Wednesday, September 14, the program ” Favorite monument of the French presented by Stéphane Bern rewarded the transatlantic ferry terminal and the Le Redoutable submarine from Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. It is this set that has won the prize of the favorite Monument of the French, in front of thirteen other exceptional sites.
Normandy, proud of the transatlantic station and Le Redoutable
The vote took place at the beginning of the summer. Normandy has mobilized widely to defend these jewels of know-how. The transatlantic ferry terminal is still today the great Art Deco monument from France and the redoubtablebuilt by the DCAN (Direction des constructions et armes navales, now the Naval Group), was the very innovative first submarine nuclear-powered ballistic missile.
The Transatlantic ferry terminal hosted the Titanic
The transatlantic ferry terminal housed a marine terminal and a railway station in operation from 1930 to 1960.
To welcome travelers departing from the port of Cherbourg, there was first a wooden hut which was replaced by a stone building in 1912. This station included a dining room and a waiting room. The liners then remained in the harbor of Cherbourg and the passengers joined them on board shuttles. The station then accommodates up to 8 cruise ship stopovers per day. It is here that the last 274 passengers embarked on the titanic.
In 1928began work on the transatlantic ferry terminal, led by the Norman Rene Levavasseur. The station is built in reinforced concrete, light bricks and concrete stones imitating granite. It consists of a 240m long train hall and a large building housing the ferry terminal. This building, surmounted by a 70m bell tower in height, includes a gigantic hall of lost steps with on the entire perimeter the offices of the shipping companies as well as shops, a customs room and the large lounge.
– Jean Pivain Collection
The construction, surmounted by a 70m bell tower in height, includes a gigantic hall of lost steps with on the entire perimeter the offices of the shipping companies as well as shops, a customs room and the large lounge. Nine gangways and cranes allow passengers and goods direct access to the liners.
The train hall can accommodate up to four trains and two ocean liners can dock at the dock simultaneously.
Much of the station is destroyed in World War II. It loses its campanile.
– US National Archives & Records Administration
In 1948the station was partly rebuilt and redecorated by the initial decorator Marc Simon, respecting the Art Deco style. The work was completed in 1952 and passenger traffic, including many celebrities, resumed. Prestigious liners like the Queen Mary and the queen elizabeth land there regularly.
Today, the ferry terminal still regularly welcomes the most prestigious liners such as the Queen Mary 2 and she visits herself. You can walk around the hall of lost steps, the large living room, the gigantic staircase, still see the rails of the trains that came there. She hosts the city of the sea.
– The City of the Sea A.Picot Transatlantic Maritime Station
The Redoutable Submarine
The Redoubtable is everything first French ballistic missile nuclear submarine, SSBN. General de Gaulle ordered its construction. It is at thearsenal of Cherbourgthen principal submarine construction sitewhich will be entrusted with the realization of the project.
For the Redoutable, we started from scratch.
Jean-Rene Lelias, a former submariner, worked on the construction and testing of the submarine. He tells us how the Redoutable was built.
In 1967 the Redoubtable did his tests. He is admitted to active service in 71. After sailing for 20 years he is disarmed and installed in the City of the Sea to become a museum.
➤ The Redoutable submarine can be visited at the Cité de la Mer.