rescue of the 'Georges Phillipar' mail steamer art, 1932

This ship was launched on 6 November 1930 in Saint Nazaire, a sister ship of the Felix Roussel and very close to the Aramis, intended for the Far East line. Shortly thereafter it experienced significant problems including, on 30 November 1930, a fire in the refrigerated holds, due to a short circuit. Similarly, the commander would report a delay in the installation of an electrical panel that the Veritas company had found improper.

The ship made a first inaugural cruise from Saint Nazaire to Marseille, with stops in Lisbon and Ceuta from 20 to 26 January 1932. 

She left Marseille on 26 February 1932 for the first commercial trip to Saigon, Vietnam, and burned in the night of 15 to 16 May 1932 in the Gulf of Aden on the return trip. It persisted a few days off Cape Guardafui, causing the death or disappearance of 52 people, including renowned journalist Albert Londres. 

The castaways were gathered by the Russian oil tanker Sovietskaya Neft (in the foreground of the artwork by Jean Pierre Paoli) and English freighters Mashud and Contractor and then transferred aboard the Andre Lebon, rerouted for the occasion. Reference was made at the time to the possibility of a criminal act, although it was most likely another subsequent accidental fire caused by a short circuit which set fire to highly flammable decorative elements.

Length: 171.50 metres
Width: 20.80 metres
Gross Tonnage: 17359 tonnes
Deadweight: 10,200 tonnes
Displacement: 21,448 tonnes
Passengers: 196 first, 110 second, 90 third 90, 1200 rationnaires
Propulsion: 2 diesel engines from 10 Sulzer two-stroke cylinders
Power: 11,000 hp
Speed: 16 knots
2 propellers
Two square funnels.

More