FRANCE. The launching of the Hermione frigate - Rochefort 2012


Just two weeks after the ATM issue dedicated to Brest (see article >>>, also published in VARIABLE 25), Phil@poste released a new vignette événementielle, an edition commemorating an important, non philatelic, event. In this case, it is dedicated to the launching of the hull of the Hermione frigate, in Rochefort.
In July 1997, the Hermione - La Fayette association started the reconstruction of the mythical Hermione frigate, in the Rochefort Arsenal shipyards, in the region of Poitou-Charentes. The Hermione was the warship which allowed the Marquis de La Fayette to cross the Atlantic, to join the American insurgents in the struggle for their independence in 1780. The original frigate was also built in Rochefort, in 1778, and it took 11 months for completion. Since 1997, dozens of workers and artisan teams -cabinetmakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, sculptors ...- have participated in the reconstruction of this tall ship which is over 65 meters long. This is the largest replica of a traditional ship ever rebuilt in France. In 2012, after 15 years of work and a 25 million euro budget, the hull was completed, missing only the masts, sails, and modern navigational devices, so that the ship can repeat its trip to Boston, USA, in 2015.

To mark the launching of the hull of the Hermione, the city of Rochefort organized the 'Ville en Fête' festival, a holiday weekend, with numerous events, concerts and shows, and with the participation of more than 25 companies from different European countries.

Friday July 6th was, according to tidal conditions, the ideal day for the launching of the Hermione. During the afternoon, more than 60 boats participated in a big nautical parade on the Charente river.
In the evening, despite cold and unpleasant weather, the frigate came out, for the first time, from the Louis XV dry dock, and sailed up the river for a few hours, accompanied by different activities. On the morning of Saturday, July 7th, the ship went into Napoléon III, the neighbouring dry dock called, where the reconstruction work will continue with the installation of the three masts.
More than 65,000 visitors came that day to Rochefort. However, for security reasons, organizers limited access to the banks of the Charente to 50,000 visitors who had obtained a special pass, distributed at some locations along the river.

To celebrate this event, La Poste, in collaboration with the Hermione - La Fayette association and the amicale philatélique de Rochefort, released a vignette LISA, designed by Elsa Catelin.
The composition shows the Hermione frigate from the port side, with the stern castle, and a detail of the new figurehead - a wooden lion 3 meters tall, holding between its legs one shield with three fleurs-de-lis. This was created in 2011 because the original design was unknown.

The ATM was available from one of the IER LISA 2 postal kiosks installed in the Rochefort main post office (image below) on Friday July 6th and for a few hours, on the morning, of Saturday, July 7th.
La Poste prepared some posters announcing the issue in which the vignettes d'affranchissement were offered from 0.57 EUR, the current Lettre Verte postage rate. However, it was possible to obtain stamps in the postal kiosks starting from 0.55 EUR.

During the three days, La Poste installed a temporary post office next to the Porte du Soleil or de l'Arsenal, a few meters from the dry dock where Hermione was rebuilt. This area had limited access for VIPs and special guests on the 6th, but was accessible to the general public on Saturday July 7th and Sunday 8th.
In addition to the preprinted vignettes LISA with common postage values, visitors could also purchase other postal and philatelic products associated with the city and the region, such as lots of pictorial prefranked envelopes.

Inside one of the pavilions, next to a Hermione scale model, La Poste installed three IER LISA 2 postal kiosks, although most visitors acquired the vignettes directly from the philatelic stand. Such was the expected interest in this issue and the number of visitors, that Phil@poste produced 60,000 self-adhesive labels, in total, with this design.


A special postmark 'Mise à flot de la coque' (that could be translated as 'Hull launching'), dated July 6th and 7th, was also available. Unfortunately, the final result (right) was a poor copy of the delicate original design (left).

The amicale philatélique de Rochefort also installed a small stand next to the temporary post office, for the sale of two personalized stamps for domestic mail (right pictures) depicting the ship bow and stern, a presentation pack, some pictorial envelopes, and other philatelic material related to the launching of Hermione.

It was not the first time that La Poste released a stamp dedicated to this legendary ship. In June 2008, they issued the souvenir-sheet 'Bateaux célèbres' with images of 6 French historical vessels, among which is the frigate Hermione.

     
According to the program tariff scheduled in the IER LISA 2 distributors, on the date of issue, it was possible to obtain ATMs of this design with up to 20 different texts, as well as stamps with no text - only the face value.
Adjust label or imprint test

- For domestic mail the texts available are: ECOPLI - LETTRE VERTE - LETTRE PRIORITAIRE - MINI MAX - (for registered mail) R L1 - R L2 - R L3 - (registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt) R L1 AR - R L2 AR - R L3 AR.
- For international mail, the texts are: LETTRE PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONALE - PETIT PAQUET PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONAL - (for registered mail) LETTRE PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONALE R1 - LETTRE PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONALE R2 - PETIT PAQUET PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONAL R1 - PETIT PAQUET PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONAL R2 - (registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt) LETTRE PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONALE R1 AR - LETTRE PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONALE R2 AR - PETIT PAQUET PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONAL R1 AR - PETIT PAQUET PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONAL R2 AR.
Small face value programmed Inland economic mail
ECOPLI
Inland priority mail (J+2)
LETTRE VERTE 		Inland priority mail (J+1)
LETTRE PRIORITAIRE
International priority mail
LETTRE PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONALE 		Inland priority mail - Small parcel
MINI MAX
International priority mail - Small parcel
PETIT PAQUET PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONAL		 Registered domestic mail, first security level (16 EUR)
R L1


Maximum cards 'Mise à flot de la coque de l'Hermione'



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This page was created in August 2012 and last updated:  20.08.12 . English edition rewritten by S. Goodman (19.08.2012)