Lesson plan
SS Champlain
SS Champlain was a cabin class ocean liner built in 1932 for the French Line by Chantiers et Ateliers de Saint-Nazaire, Penhoët. She was sunk by a mine off La Pallice, France, in 1940—one of the earliest passenger ship losses of the Second World War. Although not as well remembered as her larger fleetmates, the Champlain was the first modern ocean liner and embodied many design features later incorporated into the French Line's SS Normandie. Her interiors were designed by René Prou who decorated spaces on several earlier French Line ships, including the cabin motorship . When she made her début in June 1932, the Champlain was the largest, fastest, and most luxurious cabin class liner afloat. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Champlain was pressed into evacuee work, transporting refugees from Europe to the safety of North America. This included many European Jews escaping Nazi Europe. Vladimir Nabokov and his family were passengers on the last voyage to New York in May 1940. It was on the return trip that the Champlain met her fate. On 17 June 1940, the liner struck a German air-laid mine while swinging at anchor in the waters off La Pallice, France, near Île de Ré, and quickly heeled over on her side. A few days later the German submarine U-65 fired a torpedo into the hulk –– possibly to finish her off, as much of the ship lay above water level.…
Article summary
SS Champlain was a cabin class ocean liner built in 1932 for the French Line by Chantiers et Ateliers de Saint-Nazaire, Penhoët. She was sunk by a mine off La Pallice, France, in 1940—one of the earliest passenger ship losses of the Second World War. Although not as well remembered as her larger fleetmates, the Champlain was the first modern ocean liner and embodied many design features later incorporated into the French Line's SS Normandie. Her interiors were designed by René Prou who decorated spaces on several earlier French Line ships, including the cabin motorship . When she made her début in June 1932, the Champlain was the largest, fastest, and most luxurious cabin class liner afloat. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Champlain was pressed into evacuee work, transporting refugees from Europe to the safety of North America. This included many European Jews escaping Nazi Europe. Vladimir Nabokov and his family were passengers on the last voyage to New York in May 1940. It was on the return trip that the Champlain met her fate. On 17 June 1940, the liner struck a German air-laid mine while swinging at anchor in the waters off La Pallice, France, near Île de Ré, and quickly heeled over on her side. A few days later the German submarine U-65 fired a torpedo into the hulk –– possibly to finish her off, as much of the ship lay above water level.…
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.