French_ship_Eure_(1886) Knowpia

	Vaucluse, sister-ship of Eure
History
France
Name	Eure
Namesake	Eure river
Laid down	11 March 1884
Launched	5 April 1886
Out of service	8 August 1901
General characteristics
Class and type	Meurthe-class aviso
Tons burthen	1600 tonnes
Length	64 metres
Beam	10.5 metres
Draught	4.9 metres
Propulsion	650 shp steam engine
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	12 knots
Complement	107 men
Armament	6 × 140 mm guns; 2 × 90 mm guns; 4 × 37 mm Hotchkiss guns;

Eure was a Meurthe-class aviso of the French Navy. She was launched in 1886. She is notable as having claimed territories of the Southern Indian Ocean for France, including the Kerguelen Islands in 1893. She continued to serve in the Pacific until 1901.

Career edit

Construction of Eure began in 1886 at the Ateliers et chantiers du Havre. She was part of a 1885 order comprising six other avisos of the same class (Meurthe, Drôme, Aube, Durance, Rance and Manche), designed as mixed sail and steam ships. Eure was launched on 5 April 1886, and commissioned on 14 August 1890 at Rochefort, where she was based.

President Sadi Carnot sent Eure on a mission to claim the French Southern and Antarctic Lands for France. On 1 January 1893, Eure entered Baie de l'Oiseau, North of Kerguelen Islands. Commander Lieutard, the commanding officer, held a ceremony at Port-Christmas the next day, where a copper plaque inscribed « EURE - 1893 » was set. He repeated this in various locations of the archipelago in the following 15 days. Eure continued her claims at île Saint-Paul on 22 January 1893, and at île Amsterdam on 24 January, before returning to Réunion and Madagascar.

Port-Christmas on 2 January 1893
Port-Gazelle on 8 January 1893

In 1897, under Alphonse Lecuve, Eure toured New Guinea and Brisbane, finally arriving at Nouméa in New Caledonia. From then on, she was attached to the French Pacific Fleet.

Eure was decommissioned on 8 March 1901.

Commanding officers edit

1891-1897 : Commander Lieutard
1897-1898 : Commander Lecuve
August to October 1899 (interim): Captain Docteur
1899-1901 : Commander Vallée

Eure in Auckland Harbour in 1913

Use as a coal hulk edit

In 1911 Eure was stripped at Nouméa to become a hulk and sent to Sydney, where she was sold to the Northern Steamship Company in 1912. On 26 January 1913 she arrived at Auckland, towed by the steamer Ihumata.^[2] The hulk held up to 2,000 tons of coal.^[3] In 1939 she was towed to nearby Sulphur Beach and sold for breaking up, which was done by 1942.^[2] Masts from the ship still lay on the beach in the 1960s.^[4]

Citations edit

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Roche (2005), p. 201.
^ ^a ^b "Northern Steam Ship Company of Auckland - Vessel details". 19 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
^ "Northern S.S. Company. Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 May 1913. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
^ "Photograph: Masts of coal-hulk EURE (1886) on Northcote Beach, early 1960s". New Zealand Maritime Museum. Retrieved 28 January 2024.

References edit

Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 2. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922. (1870-2006)

External links edit

Forces maritimes 1718-1920, Service historique de la Défense, p. 65

[FOOTNOTERoche2005201-1] Roche (2005), p. 201.

[:0-2] "Northern Steam Ship Company of Auckland - Vessel details". 19 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.

[3] "Northern S.S. Company. Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 May 1913. Retrieved 28 January 2024.

[4] "Photograph: Masts of coal-hulk EURE (1886) on Northcote Beach, early 1960s". New Zealand Maritime Museum. Retrieved 28 January 2024.

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