Last modified: 2017-05-31 by ivan sache
Keywords: corvette | commandant blaison (corvette) | commandant ducuing (corvette) |
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The corvette Commandant Blaison, launched on 7 March 1881, is specialized in coastal anti-submarine fighting. She served for instance to control the embargo imposed during the Gulf and Yugoslavian Wars.
The ship is named for Captain Georges Blaison (1906-1942). Retired from the Navy in 1940 for health reasons, Blaison joined the Free French Naval Forces and was posted to the Surcouf, then the biggest submarine in the world (3,300 t). Commanded by Blaison, the Surcouf, sailing without lights in the Caribbean Sea, collided with the American cargo ship Thomson Lykes on 19 February 1942. The accident claimed the 105 crew members of the submarine. Blaison was awarded, posthumously, the Medal of Knight of the Legion of Honour (8 March 1945) and the Medal of the Resistance (31 March 1947).
The pennant of the Commandant Blaison is a blue rectangular flag with a golden fringe.
The obverse of the flag is charged with the name of the ship, as AVISO* /
COMMANDANT-BLAISON (with dotted I's), surrounded by four fouled anchors pointing to the corners of the flag, all in gold.
The reverse of the flag is charged with the badge of the ship.
The badge of the Commandant Blaison, registered by Note 717 EMM/CAB on 3 November 1981, is a white disk bordered by a rope and the
name of the ship as AVISO (top) / COMMANDANT BLAISON (bottom), all
sable, charged with the municipal arms of Lapalisse placed over an
anchor or ending on top as a Cross of Lorraine and two swords argent
crossed per saltire.
The arms of Lapalisse ("Gules a stockade [palissade] azure) recalls
that Captain Blaison was born in this town. However, GASO ans Brian
Timms show the stockade argent.
Source: Net-Marine website
Ivan Sache, 19 May 2009
* It is difficult to translate aviso into English. The Oxford French Dictionary gives "dispatch-boat", but that sound rather old-fashioned. Some websites refer to them as "corvettes" and I suggest that this is better than "advice-boat".David Prothero, 20 May 2009
The corvette Commandant Ducuing, launched on 26 September 1981, is specialized in coastal anti-submarine fighting. She served for instance to control the embargo imposed during the Gulf and Yugoslavian Wars.
The ship is named for Captain Gabriel Ducuing (1885-1940). Appointed
captain in the merchant navy in 1911, Ducuing served in the Army, Air
Force and Navy during the Second World War. After the war, Ducuing
became a shipowner but remained active in the reserve, forming in 1930
the Fédération des amicales de marins anciens combattants (FAMMAC, Federation of the Associations of the Veteran Seamen). Ducuing's service in the reserve was extended until 1942 upon his request, while he should have eventually resigned in 1934.
In March 1940, Captain Ducuing was commissioned by the French
Admiralty to organize a post on Cape Gris-Nez (lit. "Grey Nose") to
watch the Pas-de-Calais, the narrow bottleneck separating France and
Britain. On 24 March, entrenched with his troop in the post, Ducuing
refused to surrender to a German officer. The next morning, Ducuing
ordered his men to destroy all the arms but the rifle he took with
himself and to withdraw to the cliffs; Ducuing was killed by a hail of German bullets just after having hoisted the French flag
on the post's flagstaff.
The pennant of the Commandant Ducuing is a red rectangular flag with a silver fringe.
The obverse of the flag is charged with the name of the ship, as AVISO* /
COMMANDANT DUCUING in white letters, surrounded by four blue fouled
anchors pointing to the corners of the flag.
The reverse of the flag is charged with the badge of the ship.
The badge of the Commandant Ducuing, registered by Note 008 EMM/ CAB/NP on 4 January 1983, is a disk framed by an anchor with its chain and a vertical sword, charged with the Commandant Ducuing (with her registration number, F795); the background represents the landscape of Cape Gris-Nez with the French flag hoisted over the post, recalling Commandant Ducuing's heroic act.
Source: Net-Marine website
Ivan Sache, 20 May 2009
* It is difficult to translate aviso into English. The Oxford French Dictionary gives "dispatch-boat", but that sound rather old-fashioned. Some websites refer to them as "corvettes" and I suggest that this is better than "advice-boat".David Prothero, 20 May 2009