ILE DE FRANCE

The Suez Canal at El Ambag to be exact and Donald Robertson and his trusty camera were there at the right time to record the passage of ILE DE FRANCE. I reckon this is a wartime shot so don't know just how much of a risk Donald was taking.
ILE DE FRANCE of course THE French liner after tragic NORMANDIE and was completed by Penhoet at St Nazaire in 1927.
In 1959 she was sold to Japanese breakers and renamed FURANZU MARU but not before she had a starring(?) role in a disaster film called THE LAST VOYAGE in which she suffered a violent explosion and eventually sank, her forward funnel collapsing on to her wheelhouse if I remember correctly. I had at one time a copy of the magazine SATURDAY EVENING POST with all the stills and photos taken on board during the making of the film- a gem I let slip over the years.
She was actually broken up at Osaka.

Source of Image: The late Donald Robertson now in collection