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MARCEL BAYARD
Cyprus 1975 50m
Built 1961, Chantiers et Ateliers Angustin Normand
Length 387.1 ft. Breadth 51.3 ft. Depth 21.6 ft. Gross tonnage 4500
Named after a Submarine Cable Department chief engineer. Owned by the French PTT and used to maintain the French Atlantic cable network. In 1982 the ship caught fire and was completely gutted whilst undergoing repairs at La Seyne sur Mer. It happened the day before she was due to sail to Bermuda for maintenance work on the Atlantic cables. Sold to Spanish shipbreakers.
Reg Blain, who served on the Marcel Bayard when it was stationed in British Columbia, writes:
"In 1969 summer, this ship laid submarine Hydro cables from the British Columbia mainland to the islands.
"Previous to that, it had been stationed in St. John's Newfoundland for maintenance to the trans-Atlantic cable system.
"In 1969 they had a Newfoundland dog as their mascot."
CABLE WORK
1962 Oran - Perpignan
1965 TAT 4 French shore ends
1966 France - Corsica
1967 France - Morocco
1968 France - Israel
1969 France - Tunisia
1970 St Raphael - St Tropez
France - Lebanon
1972 France - Algeria
1973 France - Morocco
1974 ARIANE France - Greece
APHRODITE Greece - Cyprus
ADONIS Cyprus - Lebanon
1976 Palma - Algeria.

"Bill Glover/Atlantic-Cable.com Website"
http://atlantic-cable.com/stamps/index.htm

Cyprus SG449

29 June 1961 she was launched as the MARCEL BAYARD.
Tonnage 4,510 dwt.
Powered; diesel electric by four MAN diesels, 3,450 shp. which supply current to two electric motors, which are connected to two shafts, speed 14.5 knots.
She has four cable tanks and can carry about 2,900 tons of lightweight cable together with the many necessary repeaters and equalizers.
The hull was special strengthened so the vessel can navigate in northern water
Crew 106.
October 1961 delivered to owners.

The book Modern Shipping Disasters 1963-1987 by Norman Hooke gives on her loss as follows;
While at La Seyne, near Toulon, loaded with cable, a fire broke out on board the French diesel electric cable vessel MARCEL BAYARD on January 6, 1981, during welding work on an engine-room bulkhead. The fire spread through the vessel burning for two days before being considered extinguished. However, further outbreaks of fire occurred, causing the vessel to burn heavily. She subsequently sank at her moorings. After being declared a constructive total loss and sold. The wreck was raised on July 1 then subsequently towed to Valencia, Spain where she arrived in November 1981 and was scrapped by Aguilar y Peris.

Source: Merchant Ships built in 1961. http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz
Djibouti 1991 130f sg 1072, scott 690.