FRANCE I METEOROLOGY and WEATHER SHIP 1959
Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2024 6:58 pm
The vessel on this stamp issued in 1974 by St Pierre et Miquelon was identified as the FRANCE I, in the foreground is most probably a motorized dory, she has a ruder but the old type of dory was a rowing boat, without a rudder.
The FRANCE I was built under yard no364 by Chantiers de la Mediterrannee, Le Havres as a meteorology and weather ship for service on the North Atlantic. She was owned by the French Government.
03 May 1958 launched as the FRANCE I, One sister FRANCE II.
Tonnage 1,886 grt, 640 dwt, dim.76.4 x 12.6m, length bpp.67.0m.
Powered diesel electric by two Paxman diesels, hp?, speed 14.5 knots
February 1959 completed. Homeport La Rochelle. IMO 5119155.
( I was in the sixties on a small Dutch reefer coaster and in a service sailing between all the ports from Kirkenes to the Lofoten, North Norway to Gloucester, Mass. with frozen fish, and for us was it difficult to have a weather forecast after passing Rockall, also a good position with only a sextant, when it is more cloudy in the winter on the North Atlantic than that you have a clear sky for using a sextant. At that time there were not GPS. The Ocean weather ships were a great help for us to find my position mid Atlantic, and a weather forecast.)
The following is from the French Wikipedia, translated by Google.
On December 31, 1985, at the end of its last station at Point Roméo, the meteorological frigate FRANCE Ⅰ arrived at the Port of La Pallice. Its career in the service of meteorology was over. Patrick Schnepp convinced the municipality of La Rochelle to buy the frigate to make it the flagship of the maritime museum of La Rochelle.
Historical
Launched in 1958, the NMS ( Stationary Meteorological Ship ) FRANCE I was built in Le Havres, at the Chantiers de la Méditerranée. It was based at the port of La Rochelle - La Pallice, and operated its first campaign in March 1959. The FRANCE 1 carried out its missions for 27 years. The main objective was the collection of meteorological data until the entry into service of meteorological satellites in 1985. It was then to operate long stations on the sites of formation and passage of the worst depressions off the Atlantic Ocean. Whipped by winds sometimes reaching 100 knots (180 km/h), rocked by 20-meter troughs, this ship, whatever the weather, fulfilled its mission for nearly 30 years, and made the rain and the good weather for the National Meteorology.
From 1959 to 1975, the ship operated its stations at Kilo, Lima and Alpha points, and assisted transatlantic air navigation , within the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organization. In 1976, the World Meteorological Organization gave a new framework to stationary Meteorological Ships. The points were modified: the FRANCE 1 was then to operate the station at the geostationary point R (or Romeo, 47°N-17°W), located 600 miles west of La Rochelle and reached in two and a half days in good conditions.
The changeover, carried out between twenty-four and twenty-six days alongside its sister ship the FRANCE II (launched in 1959), was a moment eagerly awaited by the crew, especially since the newcomer brought mail and fresh food. Among the missions of this ship, meteorological observations represent a large part of the work. But other services were provided. Hydrological surveys, ornithological observations for monitoring bird migrations, observations of marine mammals and above all assistance to ships and people in danger as well as training students from the meteorology school.
The ship was owned by the State but was manned by the Delmas Vieljeux shipping company, the flagship of the French merchant navy. The company provided 35 sailors, from the captain to the sailor and the cook. The nurse and the medical officer were seconded from the military hospital in Rochefort. The national meteorology provided a team of 8 people, including women in the 1980s, and civil aviation provided 8 technicians from 1959 to 1975.
The ship is 90 percent visitable, from the engine room to the wheelhouse!
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/FRANCE_I_ ... %A0%201985
Source: Miramar and internet.
St Pierre et Miquelon 1974 1.60Fr. Sg 524, Scott?
The FRANCE I was built under yard no364 by Chantiers de la Mediterrannee, Le Havres as a meteorology and weather ship for service on the North Atlantic. She was owned by the French Government.
03 May 1958 launched as the FRANCE I, One sister FRANCE II.
Tonnage 1,886 grt, 640 dwt, dim.76.4 x 12.6m, length bpp.67.0m.
Powered diesel electric by two Paxman diesels, hp?, speed 14.5 knots
February 1959 completed. Homeport La Rochelle. IMO 5119155.
( I was in the sixties on a small Dutch reefer coaster and in a service sailing between all the ports from Kirkenes to the Lofoten, North Norway to Gloucester, Mass. with frozen fish, and for us was it difficult to have a weather forecast after passing Rockall, also a good position with only a sextant, when it is more cloudy in the winter on the North Atlantic than that you have a clear sky for using a sextant. At that time there were not GPS. The Ocean weather ships were a great help for us to find my position mid Atlantic, and a weather forecast.)
The following is from the French Wikipedia, translated by Google.
On December 31, 1985, at the end of its last station at Point Roméo, the meteorological frigate FRANCE Ⅰ arrived at the Port of La Pallice. Its career in the service of meteorology was over. Patrick Schnepp convinced the municipality of La Rochelle to buy the frigate to make it the flagship of the maritime museum of La Rochelle.
Historical
Launched in 1958, the NMS ( Stationary Meteorological Ship ) FRANCE I was built in Le Havres, at the Chantiers de la Méditerranée. It was based at the port of La Rochelle - La Pallice, and operated its first campaign in March 1959. The FRANCE 1 carried out its missions for 27 years. The main objective was the collection of meteorological data until the entry into service of meteorological satellites in 1985. It was then to operate long stations on the sites of formation and passage of the worst depressions off the Atlantic Ocean. Whipped by winds sometimes reaching 100 knots (180 km/h), rocked by 20-meter troughs, this ship, whatever the weather, fulfilled its mission for nearly 30 years, and made the rain and the good weather for the National Meteorology.
From 1959 to 1975, the ship operated its stations at Kilo, Lima and Alpha points, and assisted transatlantic air navigation , within the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organization. In 1976, the World Meteorological Organization gave a new framework to stationary Meteorological Ships. The points were modified: the FRANCE 1 was then to operate the station at the geostationary point R (or Romeo, 47°N-17°W), located 600 miles west of La Rochelle and reached in two and a half days in good conditions.
The changeover, carried out between twenty-four and twenty-six days alongside its sister ship the FRANCE II (launched in 1959), was a moment eagerly awaited by the crew, especially since the newcomer brought mail and fresh food. Among the missions of this ship, meteorological observations represent a large part of the work. But other services were provided. Hydrological surveys, ornithological observations for monitoring bird migrations, observations of marine mammals and above all assistance to ships and people in danger as well as training students from the meteorology school.
The ship was owned by the State but was manned by the Delmas Vieljeux shipping company, the flagship of the French merchant navy. The company provided 35 sailors, from the captain to the sailor and the cook. The nurse and the medical officer were seconded from the military hospital in Rochefort. The national meteorology provided a team of 8 people, including women in the 1980s, and civil aviation provided 8 technicians from 1959 to 1975.
The ship is 90 percent visitable, from the engine room to the wheelhouse!
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/FRANCE_I_ ... %A0%201985
Source: Miramar and internet.
St Pierre et Miquelon 1974 1.60Fr. Sg 524, Scott?