SS Bretagne was an ocean liner launched on 20 July 1951 out of Saint-Nazaire; the second of two ships built for the Société Générale de Transport Maritimes (SGTM) which operated passenger lines out of Marseilles. Her sister ship Provence was launched a year earlier at Newcastle. Bretagne was constructed with three boilers and Provence with only two, making Provence less capable of increasing speed to counteract possible delays.