WHEN the 20,000-ton Flandre was completed at Dunkirk in the early 1950s she was France's biggest-built liner since its liberation from German occupation during the Second World War.

The ship, which was said to rival Britain's Queens in elegance, spent 15 years in French Line service, operating first on the New York route and then to the West Indies.

Launched on October 31, 1951, the ship undertook a series of trials and made her first call at Southampton in July, 1952.

After the send-off ceremonies at Le Havre and Southampton the black-hulled Flandre experienced mechanical trouble on her maiden voyage and arrived in New York 22 hours late. Dockers nicknamed her the Flounder.

Flandre was never a big earner. In 1967 French Line sold her to an Italian company who renamed her Carla C and used her for cruising.

In 1986 the ship was renamed Carla Costa and six years later transferred to the Greek Epirotiki Line and changed her name to Pallas Athena. On March 23, 1994 a fire destroyed the ship. She was later broken up in Turkey.