FRANCE II - FRENCH - 1911

It is the year 1911, on the construction sites of the Gironde, in Bordeaux, the five-masted tall ship FRANCE was just recently commissioned by Prentout Armaments. Measuring 150m long, 17m wide, 6,350 m2 of sail, and 2-900hp Schneider engines.

Since 1913, she was assigned to the transport of Caledonian nickel, a new strategic angle that becomes fabrication of plates. On a calm sea on July 11 1922, the great ship ran aground at the Ouano reefs in New Caledonia. She would remain a familiar silhouette for the next 20 years to those passionate about the sea. In 1944 FRANCE II bombers destroyed the wreck signalling the death of the greatest tall ship ever built.