LA FLORE 1847-1900

La Flore was one of the last great sailing ships in the French Navy and was started on the ways in 1847. Outclassed by the geat innovations of the XIXth century, represented by the explosive shell, the armor and the steam engine, she was threatned by obsolescence before even being launched
and owed her survival to an impressive transformation decided in 1858 allowing her to be lengthened and fitted with a steam engine. Launched in 1869, she was used with the novel designation as a “cruiser”, a nimble and tough vessel intended to wage war against ennemy commerce.

Sailing in the Pacific Ocean, she saw a young officer come aboard at Valparaiso : during this campaign, the midshipman Julien Viaud would become the famed writer Pierre Loti, who got the inspiration for his early novels in Easter Island and Polynesia. Becoming in 1876 the “Ecole d’application pour les aspirants de marine”, or Midshipmen training
school, La Flore cruised for several years in the Atlantic and the  mediterranean, picking up another great writer, Jules Verne upon the occasion of a call at Vigo. La Flore finally became the flagship of the Indan Ocean fleet and of the North Atlantic, becoming the privileged witness of major historical events of the XIXth century : the early conquests of the colonial era, the troubles surrounding the piercing of the Panama canal and the beginnings of American imperialism and up to escorting the statue of Liberty to New York.

Alban Lannéhoa, a naval officer, leads us in the discovery of this incredible condensed naval history both literary and scientific, of the second half of the XIXth century. This richly illustrated work of 168 pages completes in a useful manner, the reference story on the history of frigates in the French Navy in the post 1850’s era published by Hubert Berti and Jean Boudriot.

This last chapter in the history of sailing frigates, before the unprecedented metamorphosis of our navy is accompanied by two plans that will allow you to discover the details surrounding the des ign of this generation of vessels.

This study comprises 168 pages of text plus 220 photographs and two 1/100th scale drafts.

MAKE-UP OF THE BOOK

I. From privateering to the cruiser
The Rochefort inheritance
The 30-gun frigate
A double technological and
strategic evolution
The transformation
The launching

II The ship
Masts and sails
Steam
The furnishings
Steering

III The crew and life aboard
The officer staff
Warrant officers
The crew
Everyday life
Discipline
Handling the ship
Preventing damage

IV The first campaign (1870-1872)
The war of 1870
Peru and Chili
Easter Island
Polynesia
Honolulu and San Francisco
The return to France

V A training ship (1876-1879)
The training school
The education
The Saint-Michel III
A third busy campaign

VI The flying squadron (1881-1883)
Reforming the instruction
The Cherbourg naval review
A campaign with reduced ambitions

VII The Southren Seas
Crossing the line
The South Atlantic
On the emperor’s trail
The Eastern Mediterranean

VIII Madagascar (1882-1883)
The Malagasy question
Zanzibar and Nossi-Bé
Majunga
Tamatave
The Shaw affair

IX The North Atlantic (1884-1886)
The Panama canal
Liberty lighting the world
Quebec and New Orleans
Some photos
La Flore in the moments preceding her launch on February 27 1869. A numerous crowd watched the event.
SHD Rochefort

Author : Alban LANNÉHOA