The Normandie built in 1835, was a French

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

working in conjunction with her sister ship the ''Seine'' (1836) on the lower reaches of the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

. The route she serviced was between

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

and

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

via

Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honf ...

with secondary stops along the way. She gained fame by being a participant in the

retour des cendres The ''retour des cendres'' (literally "return of the ashes", though "ashes" is used here as meaning his mortal remains, as he was not cremated) was the return of the mortal remains of Napoleon I of France from the island of Saint Helena to Fran ...

("return of the ashes") of Napoleon to France.

Service

The ''Normandie'', was 178 french feet in length, 42 feet wide, and 12 feet high. She was over 190 tons, and could carry 1000 passengers. She was built in Le Havre by M. Lenormand. She was equipped with two low pressure engines of 60

horse power Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

each. The

oscillating cylinder steam engine An oscillating cylinder steam engine (also known as a wobbler in the US) is a simple steam-engine design (proposed by William Murdoch at the end of 18th century) that requires no valve gear. Instead the cylinder rocks, or oscillates, as the cra ...

s for both the ‘’Normandie’’ and the ‘’Seine’’ were built by ''Barnes Miller, Ravenhill and Co.'' of Glasshouse Fields,

Ratcliff Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames between Limehouse (to the east), and Shadwell (to the west). The place name is no longer commonly used. History Etymolog ...

e, London. The company had been stated in 1822 as ''Miller and Barnes''. In 1835 they won approval as a supplier of

Marine engines Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electri ...

to the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Barnes left the business that year to go on his own, and from that point the company was known as ''Miller and Ravenhill''. Robert Barnes (1798-1852) was a

godson In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...

. The Seine also from the same builder was smaller, 150 feet in length, her engines from the same maker were 40 horsepower each. She could carry 800 passengers. The ''Normandie'' (Captain Bambine) and the ''Seine'' (Captain Fautrel) were operated by a new company which began operating in 1835, ''Cie des paquetbots a vapeur sur la Seine (directors Jalliant and Viellard).'' They started the company with capital of 600,000 francs. Both vessels were primarily for passenger use, but they also carried cargo. On her first journet from Le Havre to Rouen it took her 6 1/2 hours, the fastest sailing to that date according to the Rouen newspapers. In the first six months of 1835 she carried approx. 2,600 tons of cargo. She commenced carrying passengers on a ferry service from

on 25 July 1835. The distance of the route was 150

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

s (approximately 100 English miles, which they often achieved in less than 7 hours. The fare for the full journey, and major stops (including Honfleur) was 10 francs and 6 francs for interim stops on the Seine. On board she had a house band, dressed in uniform, military in appearance, which was unusual at the time. The ''Seine'' made her maiden voyage carrying passengers on 15 April 1836. By May 1837 both steamers were picking up and laying off passengers at Honfleur, using rowing boats to ferry to the shore. On 10 December 1840 she had the honour of receiving the ashes

Napoléon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

from the Belle Poule at

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

. ''La Normandie'' whose crew were augmented by sailors from the company numbered 200, all in military style uniform, carried the coffin in a convoy of 5 steamers with great ceremony as far as the mouth of the River

Val-de-la-Haye Val-de-la-Haye () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography A forestry and light industrial village situated by the banks of the Seine, some southwest of Rouen on the D 51 road. A ...

, where it was transferred on 16 December to a small ship ''La Dorade 3'' (1840), which took Napoleon on to the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

suburb of

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is in the suburbs of the city of Paris, from the center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the city limits of Par ...

. As a souvenir of the event the company fixed a cast iron eagle to the back of the bridge and a balustrade was erected to enclose the space that the coffin took up.

The Dorades

The Dorades were small steamers which plied between Rouen (at the Quai de' Harcourt, opposite the hotel de Rouen) and Paris. The first came into service in 1839, and was followed by at least three others of the same name. at least 4 were in service by the close of 1840. They were built by a French engineer M. Cavé of Paris, and owned by a M. Rouvin. They were powered simple high pressure engines. Their great rivals on the Seine was a similar fleet the Etoile's. In 1844, the ''Normandie'' and her partner the ''Seine'' carried between Le Havre and Rouen almost 46,000 tons of cargo.

The railways

Among the first railway lines, the

Paris–Le Havre railway The Paris–Le Havre railway is an important 228-kilometre long railway line, that connects Paris to the northwestern port city Le Havre via Rouen. Among the first railway lines in France, the section from Paris to Rouen opened on 9 May 1843, foll ...

opened a section from Paris to Rouen on 9 May 1843, followed by the section from Rouen to Le Havre that opened on 22 March 1847. The railway from Paris to

opened in two stages; a branch line from Pont-l'Évêque on 7 July 1862, and the main line from Paris on 8 August 1889. Passenger numbers were to fall and the ''Normandie'' and ''Seine'' steamers would stop servicing the route in 1860.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Normandie (1835) Ferries of France Passenger ships of France Steamships of France Paddle steamers 1835 ships River Seine