This label, is attractively printed in sepia and depicts the Languedoc (330 gross tons), first ship of the Compagnie de Navigation Paquet which commemorated its centenary in 1960. The company is named after Nicolas Paquet, who, in 1860 chartered the Compagnie Generale Maritime's paddle-steamer Languedoc to run Spanish troops into Morocco. From this small start he developed a flourishing business, chartering the Languedoc for six months and then buying her outright. She was a handsome ship as the stamp clearly shows, with her clipper stem, two funnels and two masts.
She was built in 1847 at La Seyne for Cazalis and Company of Marseilles. Paquet, however, had her altered from paddle to screw, and ran her successfully, until 1869, when he sold her to breakers.
Label. Sea Breezes 4/61