Ile de France

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shipstamps
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Ile de France

Post by shipstamps » Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:29 pm


ILE DE FRANCE,„Cie Gener4ale Transatlantique, Havre, built by Atel. de St. Nazaire. Gross 44,356; net 21,494; dwt., 12,245 tons. Length 792'11”; beam 91'11"; draught 34'1". Fitted with catapult ramp at stern, 1928, for aircraft mail carrying by Lufthansa planes. Stamp is from a photograph now in Lufthansa archives. Ship broken up in Japan, 1958. (Falkland Islands, 1974, 16p, SG303).

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aukepalmhof
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Re: Ile de France

Post by aukepalmhof » Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:05 am

Built as a passenger liner under yard No R5 by Chantiers & Ateliers de St Nazaire, St Nazaire for the Cie. Générale Transatlantique (French Line) Le Havre.
14 March 1926 launched under the name ILE DE FRANCE.
Tonnage 43.548 gross, 21,963 net, 12.245dwt, dim. 230.96 x 27.96 m.
Powered by four geared Parsons steam turbines, manufactured by builder, 60.000 hp. four propellers, speed 23.5 knots.
Passenger accommodation for 537 first, 603 second and 646 third class passengers, crew 800.
After her sea trials she sailed to her homeport Le Havre on 05 June 1927.

At that time she was sixth largest liner of the world, and also the first ship what was fitted out with gravity davits. A three-funnel ship.
All her public rooms were decorated in a modern French style, in which her popularity was such that by 1935 the ship had carried more first class passengers than any other transatlantic liner.

22 June 1927 she sailed for her first transatlantic maiden voyage from Le Havre via Plymouth to New York.
July 1928 was she fitted out with a catapult for launching of a mail plane, and on 13 August 1928 in a position 400 mile from New York the first water-plane was launched.
30 October 1930 for the last time a water-plane was launched from the ILE DE FRANCE which landed at Le Havre.
January 1930 the catapult was removed from the ILE DE FRANCE.
1932 Refitted and passenger accommodation altered to 670 first class, 408 tourist and 508 third class passengers.

From 01 September 1935 on her outward voyage the vessel made a call at Southampton instead of Plymouth, but on the homeward voyage she made a call at Plymouth.

1936 Her first class passenger accommodation renamed in cabin class.
01 September 1939 she sailed from Le Havre for New York and after arrival there she was laid up at Pier 88.

01 May 1940 she sailed again from New York lent to the British by the French, she was loaded with 12.000 tons of war supplies and three uncrated bombers stowed on the open deck aft bound for Britain, then she sailed with French troops via Cape Town to Saigon, when France capitulated in June 1940 she was still in de Far East and arrived at Singapore on 30 June.
06 July 1940 taken over by the British Navy, and most of the French crew were repatriated.
1940 Under the British Ministry of Shipping/ M.O.W.T and managed by P&O Steam Navigation Co.
Refitted in a troop transport at Singapore Quarters for 4.300 troops and armed with two vintage 5 inch guns on either side of the stern and with 8 Vickers anti-aircraft guns on the upper deck.
Now under British flag and under command of Capt. W.L. Pocock she sailed from this port 21 March 1941 for Sydney Australia, where she arrived on 03 April.

The next day she was taken to the Cockatoo Docks and Engineering to complete the refitting in a troopship.
Then she took part in convoy US10 together with MAURETANIA, NIEUW AMSTERDAM, QUEEN MARY, and QUEEN ELISABETH.
The ILE DE FRANCE embarked 3.271 Australian troops.
At 0.700 a.m. on 11 April the five troopships sailed from Sydney, first to Fremantle, in Fremantle a other 778 Australian troops embarked on the ILE DE FRANCE, it was then a very crowded vessels and very uncomfortable for the troops, the vessel could not cope with so many men on board. After sailing from Fremantle and coming in the tropic waters across the India Ocean the heat made life on board even more terrible.
26 April the ILE DE FRANCE arrived at Colombo, 6 May she heaved in her anchor and together with the MAURETANIA and AQUITANIA she headed for the Red Sea.
She arrived in PortTewik, Egypt on 12 May and waiting then at anchor an other four days, before she embarked her troops.
Then for some time she was used in the Suez Shuttle sailing with troops from Durban to Port Tewfik, sometimes from Colombo or Bombay.
01 February 1942 she embarked again Australian troops at Port Tewik bound for Bombay where she arrived on 06 February where her troops disembarked.

When Australia was threaten by the advancing Japanese forces, some Australian troops were returning home in Operation Pamphlet, and one of the ships used was the ILE DE FRANCE taken on board troops at Port Tewik, sailing from there on 28 January 1943 with on board 6.531 troops and 675 crew.
Via the Chagos Group for bunkers and fresh water the convoy arrived on 18 February at Fremantle, sailing from there on 20 February for the last leg of the voyage to Sydney where the convoy arrived on 27 February.

The ILE DE FRANCE was the rest of the war used as troop transport.
1945 Management taken over by the Cunard Line.
22 September 1945 returned to owners and again under French flag.
Made 5 round voyages from Le Havre via Southampton to Halifax with troops, then she sailed to Boston where she embarked paying passengers for Le Havre.
July 1946 made a voyage to French Indo China where she embarked French citizen for their return to French.
22 October 1946 sailed for her first transatlantic crossing with passengers after the war from Cherbourg with 1689 passengers, in the worn out accommodation of the troopship.
April 1947 arrived by the builder for a refit and modernizing, after two years she reappeared, with streamline funnels as a two-funnel ship.
Accommodation for 541 first, 577 cabin and 227 tourist passengers.
Tonnage 44.356 gross ton.
21 July 1949 she made her first voyage after the refit from Le Havre via Southampton to New York.
21 September 1953 she rescued the crew of the Liberian cargo vessel GREENVILLE in position 50N and 22 50W which was abandoned in sinking condition the day before.
26 July 1958 did she rescue 750 people of the lost Italian liner ANDREA DORIA after a collision with the Swedish STOCKHOLM during fog off the American coast.

10 November 1958 she sailed for her last voyage from New York via Plymouth to Le Havre where she arrived on 17 November.
After arrival laid up.
1958 Sold to Okadagumi Co. a Japanese shipbreaker at Osaka.
26 February 1959 sailed from Le Havre under the name FURANSU MARU and Japanese flag, arrived at Osaka 09 April 1959.
After she was sold and after arrival at Japan was she used by the American movie company Metro-Golwyn Mayer for the film “The Last Voyage” she was renamed CLARIDON.
During the filming she was partially sunk in shallow water, after the filming again raised and towed to the scrapyard before she was broken up the 3rd quarter of 1959 in Osaka.

She is showed on the stamps as before her refit in 1947.

Canada 1927 20c sg S5
Falkland Islands 1974 16p sg303
St Vincent 1989 10c sg1221. 1990 10c sg1564, scott1173
Paraguay SS label 1983 5g sg?, scott2089
Paraguay 1979 Gs25 MSsg?. scott?


Source: Across the Sea to War by Peter Plowman. North Atlantic Seaways by N.R.P.Bonsor. Blauwe Wimpel. Some websites. Register of Merchants ships completed in 1927.
Attachments
tmp25F.jpg
tmp260.jpg
Ile de france 1979.jpg
Last edited by aukepalmhof on Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:16 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Arturo
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Re: Ile de France

Post by Arturo » Thu Nov 20, 2014 3:02 pm

Ile de France

Grenada Carrieacou & Petite Martinique
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Arturo
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Re: Ile de France

Post by Arturo » Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:32 pm

Ile de France

Paraguay
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Ile De France.jpg

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aukepalmhof
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Re: Ile de France

Post by aukepalmhof » Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:14 pm

The vessel depict is the ILE-DE-FRANCE.

In August 1928, the French Post inaugurated a new way of mail transport: the catapult. An amphibious aircraft Lioré and Olivier (LeO H198) is installed on a launcher at the stern of the French liner ÎLE-DE-FRANCE. The latter connects Le Havre to New York and has a floating post office. About 700 km offshore, the plane is catapulted with mail. It allows the mail to arrive about 36 hours earlier than the arrival of the liner. The bulletin of posts No. 15 of 1928 reports the establishment of this service and introduces for this purpose an air surcharge of 10 F. A 1.50 F Pasteur and a 90 c Berthelot, a surcharge of 10 F by a printer of New York, will be used for the only return trip to Europe of August 1928. The illustration of the LISA shows the plane that was just catapulted from the ÎLE-DE-FRANCE August 23, 1928 at 6:55 French time, 154 miles west of the Scilly Islands. He carries with him correspondence stamped with the famous stamp surcharge of 10 F. It will land for the first time in Cherbourg for refueling. Then they flew to Paris and landed at Bourget the same day at 14:55. The mail carried was delivered the same day in Paris.

France 2018 0.80 Euro sg?, scott?
Source: French Post.
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2018 ile de france.jpg

HarryMaxuell
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Re: Ile de France

Post by HarryMaxuell » Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:32 am

Post card France
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France (Ile-de France).jpg
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FrenchShips
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Re: Ile de France

Post by FrenchShips » Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:53 am

Two un-issued stamps for Air mail.
idf1.jpg
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idf2.jpg
idf2.jpg (97.17 KiB) Viewed 1236 times

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