Charles Roux

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Charles Roux

Post by shipstamps » Sat Nov 08, 2008 1:15 pm


The hospital ship Charles Roux is presumably the vessel represented on a 15 + 5 cents Red Cross stamp issued by France on August 18, 1918, according to the "Historical Album of the Red Cross Stamps of France" (1955). The stamp was the work of the artist Louis Dumoulin, commissioned by the French Post Office to design an entirely new postage stamp which would illustrate Red Cross activities. "The left-hand design recalls the dangerous missions of the hospital ship Charles Roux, which was equipped in the early part of 1915 by the S.S.B.M, and which brought many sick and wounded Servicemen through the Mediterranean from the Eastern Army sector.
A citation made on March 13, 1917, to the' Floating Surgical Hospital Charles Roux' recognised the outstanding work done by its medical personnel during the fighting in the Dardanelles, Salonika and in Corfu," states the Historical Album.
A triple-screw, steel vessel of 4,104 gross tons with dimensions 385.5 ft. x 45.6 ft. x 26.1 ft, the Charles Roux was built for the Cie. Generale Transatlantique in 1907 by the Chant. de 1' Atlantique at St. Nazaire. She was the first French turbine vessel and was named after Monsieur Charles Roux, the president of the C.G.T., who after his appointment in 1904 made many changes in the company, building a new fleet and making it one of the foremost shipping companies in the world. Although the leading British stamp catalogue describes the stamp as a" sinking hospital ship," the Charles Roux served throughout the war and afterwards returned to the C.G.T. service in which she ran until the end of 1936, before being broken-up.
SG378
Sea Breezes 11/59

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