Messageries Maritimes – Passenger liner arriving from Vietnam.

The French passenger liner SS La Marseillaise is seen arriving in Marseillaise from Vietnam during the 1950s.  She was the largest and most luxurious ship operated by  by the steamship company Messageries Maritimes. La Marseillaise operated between France and the Far East. The elegant vessel was launched in 1944 in the name of Marshal Petain (who was a French general who reached the distinction of Chief of State of Vichy France during the Nazi occupation).  SS La Marseillaise had the distinction of sinking on two occasions, the first time in France before being completed during WW II, and the second time after an explosion and fire off the island of Grenada when she had been sold off for Caribbean cruises. La Marsillaise, like many liners after WW II, had many careers with various names.