The Barque FRANCE built 1911

The France was a huge five-masted barque built in 1911 in Bordeaux by Chanteliers et Ateliers de la Girionde for Messers Prentouf and Leblond. A smaller vessel of the same name, built in 1890 by D. & W Henderson and Son, resulted in the later French ship often being referred to as France 11 or La France to distinguish her from the original France.

Chief designer Gustave Leverne planned a substantial steel hulled vessel with a length of 146.5m, a beam of 16.96 and a draft 8.5m. There was one other ship which just surpassed the France in hull length, overall size and sail area; the German built Preussen. However the French vessel held the record for the greatest cargo capacity at 5,633 gross tonnage and hence the claim to being the world’s largest merchant  sailing vessel

The France’s design also featured water ballast tanks, unusual for that time, and she was equipped with two Schneider diesel engines of 950 hp each, which were removed in 1919. Some would comment that she had a “depressed” appearance; with masts which were relatively short in relation to her length she had a cumbersome persona, especially when compared to other smaller, more elegant windjammers of the era.

With a massive steel hull, and masts, yards, and booms of steel tubing, the France’s fitout  was softened with timber lined decks  including  a gracious lounge, seven luxury passenger cabins, a library, a darkroom, and even a seawater therapy facility. Such generous amenities doubtless suited the five officers responsible for her (including a “second capitaine” unique to French sailing tradition), alongside the four mates and 40 – 45 able seamen taken on to keep her sails in order and the crew fed and cared for.

Initially intended for the nickel ore trade, when the France arrived in Whakaraupo Lyttelton Harbour on 25 June 1921, after a journey of 111 days from Newport in Wales, she was fully laden with 6,924 tonnes of coal for the local Railway Department. Lyttelton Harbour pilot, Captain Crawford, assisted Captain Laport to bring her into port. After unloading coal and reloading with wool, she sailed for Wellington in August, where tallow and pelts were added to her cargo. Departing for England on 5 September 1921, her return journey took just 95 days.

Source: New Farm History.   Gary A Collett

Photo: “France” at Mercantile Wharf, Teneriffe, Brisbane during an unscheduled visit in 1918