Documentary charting the design, service and demise of some of the world's greatest ocean liners. The Normandie was the most expensive and extravagant ocean liner ever built. A symbol of French national pride adored by the super wealthy, her designer was in fact a poor but brilliant Russian immigrant. His radical hull design made the Normandie the fastest liner on the Atlantic. However, when the United States entered the Second World War, the Normandie was seized by the Americans for use as a troopship. However, during the hurried works to convert the luxury liner for war duties, a devastating fire broke out onboard