Belle Poule (A650)

History

Caravan Belle Poule (A650) built and launched in 1932 as a brown and blue water training ship for the French Navy before World War II. Her design was inspired by fast offshore fishing boats used in Nordic waters.

This brig has proven to be an elegant vessel and has been in service around the world for over 200 years. Taking this design inspiration, Belle Poule measures 123 feet (37.5 meters) from bow to stern, and her beam (beam) is 7.4 meters (24 feet, 3 inches).

Weighing 225 tons, she drew just 12 feet (3.65 meters) of water under the keel. A compact form, she had a small crew of only an officer, captain and a crew of 12 to 15 people.

While their main role in the French Navy is to train naval cadets, their size limits participants to about 20 cadets at a time - surrounded by cramped quarters.

In normal sea conditions, Belle Poule's crew can operate the sails from the main deck without going upstairs. The sail plan used on Belle Poule (like her sister ship Etoile A649) is seven sails.

Two sails on the bowsprit are attached to the yard at the foremast, and then a larger downsail can be seen at the foremast. The foremast is shorter than the mainmast and has a large foremast near the deck with a gaff topsail on it.

The main mast has a wooden mast that holds the topsail at the top of the mast and the mast mainsail below. The underside of the gaff mainsail is also connected to a wooden boom along the length of the sail. This four-sided design doubles the sail area of ??the jib.

WWII began in September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland (the Soviet Union joined later that month to complete the conquest). In the summer of 1940, the Germans then invaded neighboring France. The French navy felt the pressure and began diverting ships to foreign ports.

Decided to send Belle Poule and Etoile to the UK. Once there, the British Admiralty took control of the ships and France was on the verge of surrendering to Germany. When members of the Free French Forces arrived in England, they took control of their ships.

The Germans pushed the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and French troops all the way to the coastal town of Dunkirk, and the situation looked dire.

During 11 days in May 1940, 215,000 British and 123,000 French soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk on British naval ships and many private ships arriving from Britain. Piloted by free French sailors, Belle Poule and Etoile arrived with the fleet to evacuate the beleaguered Allied forces from the French coast to British safety.

The evacuation was an overwhelming success as thousands of souls would live to fight for another day. Many more were killed in battle, along with irreplaceable tanks, small arms and artillery. In recognition of this service under the Free French Army during World War II, Belle Poule and Etoile received the ability to fly the French flag with the Cross of Lorraine.

In 1945, after the war, the Belle Poule and her sister ship returned to France.

The tall ship Belle Poule has been sponsored by the French city of Pauillac since 1978. The two ships continued to serve the French Navy by training naval cadets in seamanship. The ships, flying the French flag, call in many ports around the world.

The vessel was on display at OPSAIL in New York City during Fleet Week 2012.

Image courtesy of JR Potts, AUS 173d AB.

Specification

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Performance

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