and uncomfortable for her travellers, with some claiming that interiors gave them headaches. It was also here that Queen Mary triumphed over her French rival. Although also decorated in an Art Déco style, Queen Mary was more restrained in her appointments and was not as radical as Normandie, and proved ultimately to be more popular with travellers. As a result, Normandie at many times throughout her service history carried less than half her full complement of passengers. Her German rivals Bremen and Europa, and Italian rivals Rex and also suffered from this problem; despite their innovative designs and luxurious interiors, they made little profit for their respective companies. Contributing to this were international boycotts against Germany and Italy as the European geopolitical situation deteriorated through the 1930s. The Italian liners relied heavily on government subsidies, while the German Lloyd liners never received funding. In comparison, Normandie did not require government subsidies in service, with her income covering not only her operating expenses but generating revenue of 158,000,000 francs. In contrast, Cunard White Star's Britannic III, Georgic II, and much older Aquitania, along with the Holland America Line's , were among the few North Atlantic liners to make a profit, carrying the lion's share of passengers in the years preceding the Second World War. World War II The outbreak of the war found Normandie in New York Harbor. Looming hostilities in Europe had compelled Normandie to seek haven in the U.S. The federal government interned her on 3 September 1939, the same day France declared war on Germany. Soon Queen Mary, later refitted as a troopship, moored nearby. Then, two weeks later, Queen Elizabeth joined Queen Mary. For five months, the three largest liners in the world were tied up side by side. Normandie remained in French hands, with French crewmembers on board, led by Captain Hervé Lehuédé, into the spring of 1940. On 15 May 1940, during the Battle of France, the U.S. Treasury Department detailed about 150 agents of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to go aboard the ship and Manhattan's Pier 88 to defend it against possible sabotage. (At the time, U.S. law mandated the Coast Guard was a part of the Treasury during peacetime.) When the USCG became a part of the United States Navy on 1 November 1941, Normandies USCG detail remained intact, mainly observing while the French crew maintained the vessel's boilers, machinery, and