La Recherche

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john sefton
Posts: 1816
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

La Recherche

Post by john sefton » Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:55 pm

On the 13th of June 1838, the French corvette "La Recherche" left Le Havre in France, bound for Northern Scandinavia. On board there were several French scientists and artists, who, together with Scandinavian colleagues, should explore the coastal regions of the High North and the surrounding oceans. The expedition should last for almost three years. The research included geology, botany, marine-biology, astronomy, terrestrial magnetism and northern lights - but also subjects like linguistics, cultural history and anthropology.
In the years 1838-40, "La Recherche" travelled far and wide in the High North. The corvette visited Northern Norway, the Faroe Islands, Svalbard, the White Sea and the Kola Peninsula, and people from the expedition made several trips through Scandinavia and Russia.
The scientific leader of the expedition was the French surgeon and naturalist Joseph Paul Gaimard (1796-1858). Gaimard had participated in naval expeditions before the "Recherche expedition," and in 1835 he visited Iceland. The next year he returned to Iceland as the leader of a scientific expedition, sponsored by the French government, and performed scientific studies in Iceland and Greenland. The results of these studies were published in "Voyage en Islande et au Greenland," a work of nine volumes, one of them with geographical illustrations. This was the first "La Recherche Expedition."

The scientific results from the second "La Recherche Expedition" were published in "Atlas Pittoresque" in the period 1842-1855 with the title: "Voyages de la Commision scientifique de Nord: en.Scandinavie, en Laponie, au Spitzberg et aux Feroe, penant les annees 1838,1839 and 1840 on board the corvette La Recharge). The work consisted of 26 volumes with text and 5 volumes with illustrations and maps.

The scientific research was extensive, and covered in accordance with the spirit of the time - a series of natural scientific and cultural historical subjects. But the main-reason that we still remember the expedition today is the extensive amount of artwork, which was produced during the trip to the North. In those days, artists always participated in this kind of expeditions. Their task was to document scientific discoveries, to draw maps and-describe the surrounding environments.
The second "La Recherche Expedition" was no exception from this tradition. The artists on board "La Recherche" were: Auguste Mayer (1805-1890), who also participated in the first Recherche expedition to Iceland and Greenland; Charles Giraud (1819- 1892); Barthelemy Lauvergne (1805-1871) and Francois Auguste Biard (1799-1882). Biard was not an official member of the expedition and therefore only got one of his pictures in "Atlas Pittoresque".

During the entire trip and on travels through Scandinavia, the artists drew and painted the strange environments they visited. Most of these pictures were later converted into lithographs and published in "Atlas Pittoresque". The pictures are valuable contributions to the Nordic cultural history, especially the pictorial descriptions from the Norwegian northwest-coast, Lapland, Svalbard and the Faroe Islands. Also Mayer's pictures from Iceland and Greenland, from the first "Recherche expedition", are cultural historical treasures, and three of these pictures were published as stamps from the Icelandic Post some years ago.
The pictures, chosen for the Faroese homage to the "La Recherche" artists were made by Barthelemy Lauvergne. The Faroese Post has chosen two motifs from his Faroe series. The first stamp depicts the corvette "La Recharge" with the island of Nolsoy in the background. The second stamp depicts.the majestic mountain "Skaelingsfjall.
One of the lithographs (Skaelingsfjall.) was made by Sabatier, based on an original drawing by Lauvergne, while the other one is made by Lauvergne himself.
More pictures and information regarding the "La Recherche expedition" will be available on: www.faroesstamps.foin connection with the stamp issue.
Anker Eli Petersen

Postverk Foroya
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aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: La Recherche

Post by aukepalmhof » Tue Jul 17, 2018 4:01 am

Built at Cherbourg as a wooden hulled corvette for the French Navy.
26 January 1833 laid down.
02 December 1834 launched
16 January 1835 named La RECHERCHE one of the Prévoyante class.
Tonnage 380 ton, Dim. 31.57 x 8.88 x 3.37m
Armament 12 – 18 carronades and 2 – 6pdrs.
Crew?
23 March 1835 commissioned.

26 April 1835 sailed out from Cherbourg under command of Tréhouart in search of the Frence explorer Blosseville who was missing with his crew in the Arctic in 1833, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_de_Blosseville on board the La LILLOISE, but they did not find anything of the missing ship and crew.
02 November 1835 sailed from Cherbourg to Brest.
27 December 1835 sailed from Brest for Senegal, French Guiana and Martinique, returned to Cherbourg on 26 March 1836.
15 December 1836 used for hydrographic surveys in Cayenne and the West Indies, returned Brest 28 February 1837.
1838/40 thereafter used for polar expeditions interrupted by a voyage to Martinique from 24 November 1838 – 25 February 1839.
24 April to 14 September 1841 made an expedition voyage to Iceland.
03 May 1842 sailed from Cherbourg for an expedition voyage to Iceland under command of Duparc.
1845 Refitted in Brest to a transport, armament reduced to 2 – 4 guns and crew reduced to 39 men.
16 January 1846 recommissioned in Brest.
25 October 1846 sailed from Brest, stationed at Senegal, 1850 stationed in Gabon.
02 June 1850 sailed from Gabon to France.
27 July 1850 arrived in Brest from Senegal.
24 August 1850 decommissioned.
05 March 1854 arrived at Brest from Cherbourg.
August 1854 damaged at El-Fioro, Iceland, repaired on site.
13 September 1854 left Lorient towed by the GASSENDI for L’ile d’Aix with Russian prisoners of war.
1854 After a new expedition to Iceland she departed for Africa.
16 February 1856 sailed from Brest to Senegal.

01 March 1860 decommissioned in Gabon.
22 May 1860 at Gorée, Senegal.
09 June 1860 sailed from Gorée to Gabon.
24 December 1861 arrived at Gabon from Ivory Coast.
10 August 1862 arrived at Gabon.
23 December 1862 decommissioned in Gabon.
11 April 1863 struck from the navy list.
1864 till 1867 used as a store hulk in Gabon.
1868 Scrapped at Gabon.

Source: http://www.dossiersmarine.org/c-c2.htm
Attachments
recherche.jpg
recherche in nolsoarfjord.jpg

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