 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Champollion |
| Namesake | Jean-François Champollion |
| Owner | Messageries Maritimes |
| Route | Marseille-Alexandria |
| Builder | Sociéte Provençale de Constructions Navale,La Ciotat, France |
| Yard number | 149 |
| Launched | 16 March 1924 |
| In service | September 1925 |
| Identification | Radio Call Sign: FOAO |
| Fate | Wrecked, 22 December 1952 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 12,263 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length | 158.5 m (520 ft) |
| Beam | 12.3 m (40.5 ft) |
| Draft | 2 m (6.7 ft) |
| Installed power | 10,000 ihp (7,500 kW) |
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 16.5knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| Capacity | 949 passengers |
| Crew | 310 |
SSChampollion was a Frenchocean liner built during the 1920s for theMarseille, France-Alexandria, Egypt, route. During theSecond World War it served as atroop ship before resuming commercial service in 1947. On December 22, 1952,Champollion ran aground offBeirut due to a navigation error in heavy seas and broke up. 15 people were killed.
SSChampollion was ordered, with theMariette Pacha, for the Egypt-Syria fast route by the Contractual Services of theMessageries Maritimes from the Provencal company of naval constructions inLa Ciotat. The ship waslaunched on March 16, 1924, in the presence of Luynes d'Auteroche, great-grand-nephew ofJean-François Champollion and PresidentGeorges Philippar.
The ship had a capacity of 949 passengers. 188 in first class, 135 in second class, 128 in third class, and 760 in the tween deck. The luxurious decoration of this boat refers toEgypt and toJean-François Champollion, very popular decorations after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. Among the artists who participated in its decoration: the painter Mathurin Méheut. Her sister ship theMariette Pasha, named in tribute to the Egyptologist Auguste Mariette-bey, benefited from a similar decoration, but much less beautiful and less luxurious. They are both assigned to the Egypt-Syria rapid line (Alexandria, Port Said, Beirut). TheMariette Pasha was never modified and wasscuttled on August 21, 1944, cut in two by explosives in the port ofMarseille.
The SSChampollion career as atroopship came to end in 1947 between Marseilles and Indochina, and it was also a ship of Jewish emigrants, going fromMarseille toState of Palestine before the war, with nearly 1000 passengers, including more than 700 Jewish children in 1946.
On Monday, December 1, 1952, at 12.30 p.m., theChampollion set sail with 120 crew members and 111 passengers on board under the command of Captain Henri Bourne in Marseille for her next voyage toBeirut. Three weeks later, on December 22, 1952, the ship reached Lebanese waters in stormy seas. The captain was asleep at the time.
With the Al Manara lighthouse out of order, theChampollion headed for another light that turned out to be the airport beacon, 15 kilometers south of the port ofBeirut. When the crew noticed the mistake, it was already too late. The ship ran aground off the coast of the suburb of Khalde, only about 600 meters from the beach. The stranded ship broke apart in a wind force 8 to 9 and a list of 20 to 30 degrees to starboard. 15 people drowned trying to swim ashore. Several ships and also the Lebanese army participated in the rescue attempts. The wreck was sold to the Lebanese National Engineering and Trading Company and wasscrapped beginning on 22 December 1952.[citation needed]