The SS Lutetia was a notable steam ocean liner built for the Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique, completed in 1913. She was designed to meet the French government’s requirements for reliable transatlantic mail and passenger services, with specifications including a length of 176.4 meters (578.8 feet), a beam of 19.8 meters (64.9 feet), and a depth of 11.1 meters (36.4 feet). Her gross register tonnage (GRT) was initially 14,581, later revised to 14,783 GRT, with a net register tonnage (NRT) of 5,681, later adjusted to 5,830. She was powered to achieve a speed of approximately 18 knots, fulfilling the contract stipulations for her class of passenger liners. Launched by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire on 23 March 1913, Lutetia was part of a fleet intended to ensure a fortnightly mail service between Bordeaux and Buenos Aires, serving routes that included Vigo, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires. Her construction was part of France’s strategic effort to compete for South American mail routes, alongside ships like Gallia and Massilia. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Lutetia was requisitioned for wartime service, initially as a troopship in the Newport News Transport Force. Her role evolved during the war, serving as an armed merchant cruiser, a hospital ship, and transporting Russian troops to Salonika in 1916. After the war, she was refitted in 1919–20 and returned to civilian service, resuming her route operations from 1920. Throughout her civilian career, Lutetia completed 61 voyages to Buenos Aires until 1931, demonstrating her importance in transatlantic passenger and mail services. She underwent several modifications, including converting from coal to oil fuel in 1927. An incident in 1922 saw her striking a submerged wreck in the Gironde estuary, requiring dry-dock repairs. By the early 1930s, she was laid up following the entry into service of L'Atlantique, and her maritime career concluded when she was scrapped in England in 1938.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.