France (ship, 1890)
 The France in the port of Dunkirk
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The French steel smooth decker France was the first barque in the world with five masts . She was the first of two tall ships of this name and is therefore also known as France I.
history
The France was built in 1890 by D. & W. Henderson & Son in Partick near Glasgow , Scotland , for the large French sailing company Antoine-Dominique Bordes & Fils (also Ant.-Dom. Bordes & Fils ), Dunkirk , in order to trade with Coal and saltpeter to be used between Europe , Brazil and Chile . Until the Potosi was built, she was the largest sailing ship in the world. After being launched on September 2, 1890, she made her maiden voyage in November 1890 under her captain Eugène Voisin via Barry ( Wales ) and Rio de Janeiro to Valparaíso . During this time she had up to 5,900 tn.l. Coal on board. In the saltpetre port of Iquique , the team succeeded in unloading 5,000 tons of coal and loading 5,500 tons of saltpetre in eleven days with the help of four steam loading cranes, setting a world record.
First major ship accident
On January 25, 1897, after a 79-day voyage from Iquique, the France, laden with 6000 tons of saltpeter, anchored off Dungeness ( England ) in the roadstead. Instead of the usual simple anchor light on the bow, she put another on the stern of the ship. During the night she was rammed amidships by the Blenheim , as its captain thought the France to be two ships or fishing boats between which he wanted to pass. He was able to initiate a turning maneuver at the last moment , but brushed hard against the starboard wall of the sailor. Lord Esher and the British Admiralty considered the non-standard stern anchor light in the negotiation before the British Maritime Administration as a " source of error that can cause or contribute to an accident ". The shipping company Ant.-Dom. Bordes & Fils never accepted this decision, but had to bow to it. According to some seafarers, after the repair , the France was not what it was before the accident. Nevertheless, she made her best trip on her next trip to Chile in 1898 from Prawle Point , South Devon (England) to Valparaíso in 63 days. This was followed by three more trips to South America (Valparaíso, Iquique) and back to Europe in less than 80 days per trip.
Downfall
On May 10, 1901, the France was under the leadership of Captain Forgeard on the voyage from England to Valparaíso. She got into a violent Pampero off the Brazilian coast . At the approximate position of 34 ° S, 48 ° W, the coal load slipped and could no longer be trimmed despite the greatest effort. The fact that the France was a very slender ship, i.e. had a tendency to heel with a delayed righting tendency , ultimately led to her capsizing . The entire France team was recovered from the German four-masted barque Hebe II of the Hamburg shipping company B. Wencke Söhne , which found the five-masted heavy listed floating in the sea off the Brazilian coast. After the happy rescue, the big barque was spotted deep in the water by the barque Josepha as an unmanned " ghost ship " with the lowest rocky cams before she disappeared forever.
technical description
The steel hull, measured at 3,784 GRT, was painted in a subtle "French gray" like all of the shipping company's ships. The Port band was in white with black bill portholes held that Rahnocken that mast caps and transom were also white. In its figurehead it was the Marianne as an allegory on France. The ship was divided into a main deck made of steel and wood and two steel lower decks, partial decks made of steel and wood served as the back and poop . The France carried her four lifeboats on the main deck. Particularly noticeable at this time were the steam winds on deck, which made work easier during loading and unloading and during sailing maneuvers . Floodable double bottom tanks increased the safety of the sailor by regulating the ship's stability . The five masts of France were made of steel, their yards of iron. She ran a standard rig with double Mars and Bramsails as well as royal sails . The hemp ropes that were still common at that time in standing and moving goods were mainly replaced by steel chains and ropes.
Others
The often mentioned loading capacity of 6,200 tons was never fully exhausted.
See also
literature
- Claude & Jacqueline Briot: Cap-horniers français 2: Histoire de l'armement Bordes et de ses navires . Le Chasse-Marée, Douarnenez 2003; ISBN 2914208286
- Hans-Jörg Furrer: The four- and five-masted square sailors in the world . Koehler, Herford 1984, p. 93; ISBN 3-7822-0341-0
- Basil Lubbock: The Nitrate Clippers . (Reprinted from 1932, 1953) Brown, Son & Ferguson, Glasgow 1976; ISBN 0851741169
Web links
- THE BLENHEIM-LA FRANCE COLLISION . Star, Putanga 5784, Jan. 30, 1897, 7
- France in the Miramar Ship Index
Footnotes
- ^ Basil Lubbock: The Nitrate Clippers. 1932