Former Normandie's list cut to 27.5 degrees the U.S.S. Lafayette, former French Luxury Liner Normandie, reaches this angle -- 27.5 degrees--during salvage operations at her Hudson River slip, New York City, Aug. 20. August 21, 1943. (Photo by Associated Press Photo). During World War II, Normandie was seized by U.S. authorities at New York and renamed USS Lafayette. In 1942, the liner caught fire while being converted to a troopship, capsized onto her port side and came to rest on the mud of the Hudson River at Pier 88