| The History of a Tall Ship | |
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Imagine… It is the year 1911, on the construction sites of the Gironde, in Bordeaux. The five-masted tall ship, FRANCE, was just recently commissioned by Prentout Armaments. |
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150 m long, 17 m wide, 6,350 m² of sails, and 2-900 hp Schneider engines, this technological gamble is at the cutting edge of innovation in naval conception and construction. "FRANCE"
has become |
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Mr. Prentout decides to simultaneously associate this activity with the public's new-found passion for ocean cruises by furnishing the ship with a grand piano, a library, a dark room and, for the first time in the world, sea water therapy equipment. Armed with two canons, FRANCE surmounted all odds during World War I by regularly skirting the three symbolic Capes: Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope, and Cape Leeuwin. |
In 1916, Mr. Prentout dies… His successors decide to remove the helices and engines of the ship to encourage full use of its sails. On a calm sea on July 11, 1922, the great ship ran aground at the Ouano reefs in New Caledonia. She would remain a familiar silhouette for the next twenty years to those passionate about the sea. |
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In 1944, American bombers destroyed the wreck signaling the death of the greatest tall ship ever built… |
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19/07/2004
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