La FAVORITE

[aukepalmhof]

This stamp depicts five French ships on the road of St Helena, dressed overall with flags and the crews manned the yards as the coffin with the remains of Napoleon was brought on board the La BELLE POULE.
The ships depict on the stamp are from the left to the right the La FAVORITE, La BONNE-AIMEE, the frigate La BELLE POULE, L'INDIEN and the brig L’ORESTE.

Built as a wooden hulled corvette at Toulon for the French Navy.
November 1827 keel laid down.
11 June 1829 launched as the La FAVORITE, one of the CREOLE class.
Tonnage 757 ton, dim. 39 x 9.92 x 3.91m.
Sail area 1,573 square feet.
Armament; 20 – 30 pdr. carronades and 4 – 18pdr., when built.
16 June 1829 commissioned.

30 December 1829 she sailed from Toulon under command of Captain Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace (1793-1875) and a crew of 177 for a voyage to the Pacific to gather detailed information from the countries there were French traders and settlers could settle.
Via Senegal she sailed to the Island Bourbon where she arrives 01 April 1830, from there she sailed to Pondicherry, India and then via Madras and Yanason to Singapore where she arrived on 17 August.
Via Indo- Chinese ports where cholera and dysentery broke out on board on which many crew dies she set sail to Hobart, Tasmania where she arrived on 11 July 1830.
Via Sydney she sailed to the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, Laplace surveyed the Kawakawa River and a piece of land near the mouth he named Banc de la Favorite.
11 October the La FAVORITE sailed from New Zealand and she returned in Toulon on 21 April 1832.
07 July 1840 together with the frigate La BELLE POULE she sailed from Toulon under command of M. Guyet to St Helena to bring back the body from Napoleon to France.
08 October both ships arrived at St Helena, and after the exhumation of the body of Napoleon the remains were brought on board the BELLE POULE.
18 October both ships sailed from St Helena bound for France where she arrived 30 November 1840 at Cherbourg.

02 September 1844 the FAVORITE was stricken from the French Navy List and broken up.

St Helena 1990 20p sg 583, scott546.

Source: Watercraft Philately. French Explores in the Pacific by John Dunmore.
http://www.shipscribe.com/marvap/index.html

[Anatol]

The Favorite, commanded by Cyrille-Pierre-Theodore Laplace, arrived in the Bay of Islands on 2 October 1831 and left again on the 11th. On board was the artist François-Edmond Pâris, who was later to have a distinguished naval career, eventually achieving the rank of Admiral.
The purpose of the extensive journey of the Favorite was to investigate commercial prospects for French traders, particularly in Indochina. The ship left Toulon on 30 December 1829 with a crew of 177 onboard, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India, to various Southeast Asian ports, to the Dutch East Indies, and then to Hobart. The crew was plagued with dysentery which Laplace attributed to a decrease in wine rations.
Although the short visit to the Bay of Islands was designed to rest the crew before the long voyage back, some survey work was carried out in the Kawakawa River area. Sailing via Valparaíso and Rio de Janiero, the Favorite finally anchored in Toulon harbour on 21 April 1832.
Such were the sensitivities of the time that reports of the French survey work caused a flurry when reported in Sydney. The British Government sought clarification from the French as to their intentions. On 5 October, while the Favorite was still in the Bay, thirteen local chiefs with missionary assistance, petitioned King William IV to protect their land from further encroaches of this kind.
Laplace had been surprised to find how clearly unwelcome by Māori he and his men were. He came to the conclusion that a rumour had been spread that he had come to take possession of the Bay of Islands and to avenge the death of Marion du Fresne.
The stamp image is based on a watercolor by F. Roux: “La Favorite1830”.

Beliz 2019; 4$.
Source: https://fletchercollection.org.nz/artwo ... reka-pass/.