WesWorld

This idea has totally been stolen from Hood's A Year in the Life of a Ship. I liked the concept so much that I determined to steal, er, imitate it. Hopefully it provides a good counterpoint to the original rather than distracting from it.

The Deployment of the Polynésie:
Oversees service with the French Navy, meaning deployment away from Metropolitan France or North Africa, comes with several different benefits and costs. The French Navy earmarks certain ships for long-term overseas deployment and mans them with volunteer officers and sailors, all of whom agree to an extended enlistment period. In exchange, both officers and men are paid as if they were one rank higher for every month they spend deployed overseas. They also receive preferential consideration in their promotion boards. Since 1937, the Marine Nationale has additionally offered the option of a small stipend to bring wives and children to live at the ship's overseas base.

The officers and sailors of the Polynésie number between 230 and 300 men (although space for fifty marines is also provided aboard). The ship has been assigned to Capitaine de frégate Adrien Chauveau, a twenty-one year veteran of the Marine Nationale. Capitaine Chauveau has served a total of ten years on overseas service, most recently as the first officer, and then acting captain, of the corvette Meuse. Chauveau's executive officer for this deployment will be Lieutenant de vaisseau Marius Lamour, an officer with fourteen years of service in the Marine Nationale, who will be on his first overseas deployment. The ship's chief engineer is Lieutenant de vaisseau Victor Laporte, a fifteen year officer who previously served aboard the coast defense battleship Petain in Indochina. Lieutenant de vaisseau Antoine Nogues, with thirteen years service, is the ship's gunnery officer.

The Polynésie was laid down in January 1943 and completed in December of the same year. The ship is designed as a Frégate de surveillance, with the role of patrolling French possessions in the Pacific Ocean. She is armed with two twin 130mm/L54 semiautomatic dual-purpose guns, both mounted forward, and four twin 57mm/L60 automatic anti-aircraft guns. Prior to her deployment overseas, the ship will spend several months deployed in the Mediterranean Sea conducting training, as well as a spate of port calls. In June, the ship will leave for her new homeport in the Pacific Ocean, either Noumea or Papeete.

Frégate de surveillance Polynésie, Specifications: (Link)
Dimensions:
-- Length: 135 meters (443 feet)
-- Beam: 15.2 meters (50 feet)
-- Draft: 3.8 meters (12.5 feet)
Displacement: 3,540 tons normal
Armament:
-- Main Battery: 4x130mm
-- Secondary Battery: 8x57mm
-- AA: 8x15mm MGs
Machinery: Sulzer marine diesel engines, 15,000 kW
Speed: 26.5 knots at full-load displacement
Range: 11,500 nautical miles at fifteen knots
Crew: 229 plus up to 50 marines
Support Craft: [1]
-- Two EDA-55 landing craft
-- Two Vedette Rapide 19m torpedo boats
-- One 10.4t Minesweeping Launch
-- Other small boats



Notes:
Note [1]: An airplane can be embarked aboard in place of one of the landing craft. At the present time, however, the Polynésie does not carry an aircraft.

January 1 (Saturday)
Capitaine de Fregate Adrien Chauveau officially took command if the Polynésie today in a short ceremony held pier-side. Capitaine Chauveau has spent the last seven months overseeing construction of the Polynésie.

January 2 (Sunday)
Chief Engineer started main diesel engines for first time today. Engines ran for half hour, producing electricity for the entire ship. Engines were then deactivated and the ship returned to shore power. The Deck Division began taking on half load of fuel.

January 3 (Monday)
Fueling continues at slow pace; only half of fuel is ordered for initial shakedown and trials. Meeting of senior officers, led by Capitaine Chauveau. Officers select the ship's motto: "Je les maintiendrai." ("I will maintain them.")

January 4 (Tuesday)
Main diesel engines started again. Ship moved by tugs to victualling pier. Crew began taking on stores at 1320 hours.

January 5 (Wednesday)
Ship moved under own power for the first time today; did not leave harbour. Capitaine Chauveau visibly irritated by Capitaine Blandin of frigate Sans Reproche, also currently undergoing trials; Blandin is six days senior and stuck Chauveau with pier duty. Sans Reproche crew additionally left twenty-nine crates of supplies including 100mm ammunition on victualling pier and declined to move it. Crates block ability to bring supplies aboard ship.

January 6 (Thursday)
Commenced active sonar pinging tests at 0130 hours. Deck officer of Sans Reproche appeared at 0135 hours to ask for sonar testing to cease. Capitaine Chauveau agreed and asked Sans Reproche to clean up their crates on the pier. Sans Reproche work crew had pier cleaned by 0900 hours.

Began taking on half-load of 130mm and 57mm ammunition. All consumable supplies stowed.

January 7 (Friday)
Finished taking on all consumable supplies. Vice-Admiral Gensoul toured ship but did not stay for dinner. Tugs moved ship to outer harbour.

January 8 (Saturday)
Ship went to sea for first time, departing Marseilles at 0755 hours in the company of escortier rapide Le Lorrain, also working up. Conducted general maneuvers and evolutions up to twenty-three knots. Returned to pier by 1720 hours.

January 9 (Sunday)
Eighteen new sailors arrived on train from Toulon in response to captain's request for more crew. Senior officers turned in reports dealing with the first trial cruise.

January 10 (Monday)
Capitaine Chauveau and yard foreman undertook extensive inspection of ship beginning at 0700 hours and finishing at 1900 hours. Two hundred and seventy-nine defects were identified for the yard to fix. Capitaine Chauveau refused to sign for delivery of the ship until the defects were fixed.

January 11 (Tuesday)
Moved alongside yard fitting-out pier to begin fixing defects.

January 12 (Wednesday)
Remained at pierside under control of yard workers.

January 13 (Thursday)
Capitaine Chauveau and first officer Lamour travelled by car to Toulon to meet with Vice Admiral Gensoul. Afterwards, they met with the families of the crew in Toulon to discuss protocol for deployment to Pacific Ocean. Ship remained at pierside under yard control. Gunnery officer (Lieutenant Nogues) conducted non-fire gunnery practice

January 14 (Friday)
Ship remained at pierside under yard control. Took on supplies and refilled fuel tanks to half-full. Six crates of supplies disappeared from pierside overnight. Crew of Sans Reproche suspected.

January 15 (Saturday)
Ship remained at pierside under yard control. Capitaine Chauveau irritated at yard foreman since it would take a crew of ten about three hours to finish the remaining work, but yard workers won't work on Saturday or Sunday.

January 16 (Sunday)
Crew challenged Sans Reproche to an afternoon football match. Final score was Polynésie 3, Sans Reproche 2.

January 17 (Monday)
Ship departed yard pier after four hours of yard work. Capitaine Chauveau determined to go straight to sea for exercises and "forgot" to transfer yard foreman ashore. Departed Marseilles at 1230 hours. Returned to port at 2300 hours.

January 18 (Tuesday)
Capitaine Chauveau signed for delivery of ship to the Marine Nationale, pronouncing vessel "satisfactory".

January 19 (Wednesday)
Commissioning ceremony scheduled for January 31st. Crew began painting the ship.

January 20 (Thursday)
Committee of sailors approached first officer Lamour regarding the acquisition and adoption of ship's mascot. First officer agreed.

January 21 (Friday)
Sailors' committee presented selection of black-and-white Epagneul Français puppy, to be named Toutou.

January 22 (Saturday)
Electronics officer complained to Capitaine Chauveau about malfunctioning primary DRBC-3B fire-control DEM unit. Capitaine put in paperwork for replacement.

January 23 (Sunday)
Capitaine Chauveau convened ship's company for religious services under newly-arrived ship's chaplain, Father Payet.

January 24 (Monday)
Shipyard delivered Polynésie's light craft complement: two EDA-55 landing craft and two Vedette Rapide 19m. Enseignes de vaisseau de première classe Louis Charrier and Simon Thomas assigned as vedette commanders; Second-maître Louis Vallet and Jean Baudouin assigned as landing craft commanders. Vedettes are informally named "Tornade" and "Cyclone"; landing craft informally named "Lucie" and "Alice".

January 25 (Tuesday)
"Lucie" sent on first mission at 0700 hours: retrieve DRBC-3B unit from Toulon and return it to ship for installation. Mission completed by 2100 hours.

January 26 (Wednesday)
New DRBC-3B unit installed with assistance from shipyard crane. Lieutenant Laporte (Gunnery Officer) conducts small arms drill.

January 27 (Thursday)
Ship remains at pierside completing repairs and prettifying prior to commissioning ceremony.

January 28 (Friday)
Capitaine Blandin of Sans Reproche visits ship and challenges crew to rugby match. Capitaine Chaveau agrees without asking if ship has rugby team. British merchant ship sailor kidnapped from bar to explain rugby rules to ship's rugby team, led by Second-maître Vallet and Father Payet.

January 29 (Saturday)
Ship's rugby team defeated by Sans Reproche rugby team 21 to 18. Father Payet suffers broken nose and wins admiration of entire ship.

January 30 (Sunday)
Senior officers spent night ashore entertaining guests, including Vice-Admiral Gensoul.

January 31 (Monday)
Ship formally commissioned as a warship of the Marine Nationale. Vice-Admiral Gensoul provides Capitaine Chaveau with large battle flag.

Very interesting. I look forward to more.

The ship design intrigues me, so I'm curious to see what she does.

Quoted

Originally posted by The Rock Doctor
The ship design intrigues me, so I'm curious to see what she does.

I've liked the design since Jefgte first posted it on the Warship Projects board. It just was so awesome that I had to get it into my budget sooner or later.

It's a handy ship for an isolated station. If I had such things, I'd probably build something similar.

A great start. I hope we'll see some exotic locales during the next year!

Yep .... great story !!! Hope see some exotic pictures

February 1 (Tuesday)
Ship went to sea to conduct exercises. Departed Marseilles harbour at 0720 hours. At 0956 hours, DRBV-9 detecteur picked up aircraft at 20km; DRBI-2R confirmed aircraft altitude at 300m. Captain ordered Battle Stations Air Attack; ship reported readiness at 1003 hours. Overflown by Aeronavale fighters in wavetop practice attack at 0959 hours. Ship deemed sunk by rockets. Repeated drill at random points five more times throughout the day.

February 2 ((Wednesday)
At sea, 30 km east of Minorca at 0730 hours. Encountered SS Ville d'Alger at 1320 hours bound for Marseilles; ship passed close aboard. Captain Chauveau ordered rails manned and sounded ship's siren in salute. At 1430 hours, rendezvoused with naval tug Étangs de Sologne with target raft. Commenced gunnery target practice with 13cm main battery and 5.7cm AA battery.

February 3 (Thursday)
Returned to Marseilles at 1030 hours. Received gunnery score of 151/190 from yesterday's exercises. Lieutenant Nogues attributed the low score to the fire-control electronics.

February 4 (Friday)
Sailed to Toulon and docked at naval arsenal for inspection of electronic fire-control system; adjustments made.

February 5 (Saturday)
Departed Toulon for second stage gunnery trials. Rendezvoused with Étangs de Sologne and target raft at 1200 hours. Commenced gunnery target practice with 13cm main battery and 5.7cm AA battery. Returned to Marseilles.

February 6 (Sunday)
Ship remained at pierside; twenty-five crewmen received shore passes. Received gunnery score of 174/190. Capitaine Chauveau declared the score "good enough, with room for further improvement."

February 7 (Monday)
Departed Marseilles at 0400 hours. Per instructions from Commander Mediterranean Fleet, proceeded at fifteen knots to Ajaccio for port call; arrived at Ajaccio at 1600 hours. Launched "Lucie", "Alice", "Tornade" and "Cyclone". Welcomed by Ajaccio mayor.

February 8 (Tuesday)
Remained at pierside in Ajaccio. Officers held evening party on ship's foredeck.



February 9 (Wednesday)
Departed Ajaccio for Bizerte at 0900 hours. Conducted three simulated battle drills and one damage-control drill while underway.

February 10 (Thursday)
Arrived in Bizerte at 0700 hours. Welcomed by Contre-amiral Lapeyre. Capitaine Chauveau paid respects to the admiral, calling on his flagship De Grasse.

February 11 (Friday)
Departed Bizerte for Algiers at 1200 hours. Escorted part of the way by aircraft. Conducted two simulated damage-control drills, including simulated fire in engine spaces, while underway. Tracked aircraft using DRBV-9 detecteur.

February 12 (Saturday)
Arrived at Algiers at 1200 hours. Anchored inside the Jetée Nord.

February 13 (Sunday)
Remained at anchor in Algiers. Father Payet held services on foredeck, attended by sixty men. Ninety-one men given shore leave.

February 14 (Monday)
Departed Algiers for Marseilles at 1100 hours. Conducted general quarters drills, damage control drills, and air attack drills during the afternoon. After dark, conducted man overboard drill with life-sized dummy. Dummy retrieved in good time by the crew of the ship's main launch.

February 15 (Tuesday)
Arrived in Marseilles. Matelot breveté Roux given three days leave to visit his wife, who was injured in a bicycle accident and was recovering in Marseilles hospital.

February 16 (Wednesday)
Capitaine Chauveau visited Marseilles hospital to wish the wife of Matelot breveté Roux, injured two days ago while riding a bicycle, a speedy recovery.

February 17 (Thursday)
Conducted pierside damage-control drill. Received orders to depart February 21 for sea training port calls in western Mediterranean and Black Sea.

February 18 (Friday)
Matelot breveté Roux rejoins ship after three days leave. Crew engaged in loading of supplies, fuel, and other accoutrements in preparation for training cruise.

February 19 (Saturday)
Executive Officer Lamour arranged for a movie showing tonight in the (currently empty) marine mess. Showed a French translation of the American film The Maltese Falcon.

February 20 (Sunday)
Capitaine Chauveau hosts Vice-Admiral Gensoul aboard ship. The captain ordered dinner prepared, but the Vice-Admiral wasn't feeling well and departed for shore at 1630 hours. The officers shared the dinner.

February 21 (Monday)
Departed Marseilles at 0700 hours for training cruise. Sailing via Mediterranean west, then south of Sardina and Sicily.

February 22 (Tuesday)
At sea. Rounded southern end of Sardina during the night, and cruised at fifteen knots throughout the day. Conducted three anti-aircraft drills and two damage control drills. Tracked for two hours by an Italian patrol aircraft from Sicily. At midnight, ship is approximately midway between Sicily and Malta.

February 23 (Wednesday)
At sea. Transiting the Ionian Sea at fifteen knots, course 095. Sea state six due to poor weather moving in from the west. Planned practice launch of motor torpedo boats was cancelled due to sea state. At midnight, ship is approximately one hundred kilometers southwest of Greece's Mani Peninsula.

February 24 (Thursday)
At sea. At midnight increased speed to 21.5 knots. Transited between Kythira and Antikythira into Aegean Sea. At 1600 hours, arrived off port of Athens; welcomed to Athens by Greek warship and pilot. Docked by 1740 hours. Port watch given twenty-four hours leave in Athens. Capitaine Chauveau entertains Greek Navy dignitaries and gives a tour of the ship.



February 25 (Friday)
Remained docked in Athens; starboard watch given twenty-four hours leave. Ship's agent delivered supplies and mail for crew. Matelot breveté Garnier received news of the birth of his first daughter. Capitaine Chauveau invited to dine with senior Greek naval officers.

February 26 (Saturday)
Conducted a ship open house between 0900 and 1600 hours for Greek civilians. Estimated six hundred civilians and thirty Greek officers toured the ship. In the evening, Capitaine Chauveau hosted the French ambassador to Greece and a group of guests at a party on the foredeck.

February 27 (Sunday)
Departed Athens at 1200 hours following a short service by Father Payet. By midnight, approximately 40km SSW of Skyros.

February 28 (Monday)
At sea; entered the Dardanelles. At 1700 hours, passed the resting place of battleship Bouvet. Summoned crew to quarters and observed a moment of silence while Capitaine Chauveau and Father Payet paid tribute to those lost with that ship. Continued on to the sea of Marmara at twelve knots, escorted by Byzantine gunboat.

February 29 (Tuesday)
Docked in Constantinople alongside Atlantean and Russian warships. Sixteen individuals from port and starboard watches who remained aboard ship in Athens were given twenty-four hours of shore leave.

March 1 (Wednesday)
At pier-side in Constantinople. Capitaine Chauveau departed ship with several other officers to join an Atlantean acquaintance for a trip to the Hagia Sophia.

March 2 (Thursday)
Ship delayed from departing harbour for two hours after Matelot Petitjean, one of the liberty men, was reported overdue to return to the ship. Before search parties could be convened, Petitjean telephoned from Constantinople Hospital, where he had been taken following an encounter with an irate Greek donkey.

Ship departed Constantinople at 1900 hours.



March 3 (Friday)
Arrived at Bulgarian port and naval base of Varna. Escorted into port by Bulgarian destroyer Kazanlak.

March 4 (Saturday)
Demonstrated the capabilities of the Polynésie to senior officers of the Bulgarian Navy, including the Bulgarian naval commandant of Varna, Kontradmiral Dimitri Radoslavov. Capitaine Chauveau hosted Kontradmiral Radoslavov and six other senior officers of the Bulgarian Navy for dinner.

March 5 (Sunday)
Remained at anchor in Varna. In the afternoon, open ship tours were offered at pierside; Bulgarian destroyer Kazanlak, docked at the same pier, also had an open house. Both ships registered approximately nine hundred visitors.

March 6 (Monday)
Departed Varna at 1200 hours en route to Constanta. Ship conducted man overboard and damage control exercises once clear of Bulgarian territorial waters in order to pass the time before our arrival in Romania. Crew washed and repainted a section of the main deck.

March 7 (Tuesday)
Arrived at Constanta at 0900 hours; exchanged salutes with Romanian destroyer Sboru. Docked at the Constanta Naval Base. Capitaine Chauveau dined with the commanding admiral of the Romanian squadron. Starboard watch given shore leave.

March 8 (Wednesday)
Remained at anchor in Constanta. Port watch given shore leave. Capitaine Chauveau, Lieutenant Laporte, and Lieutenant Nogues travelled by car to tour a river gunboat of the Romanian Danube Flotilla; they returned after midnight.

March 9 (Thursday)
Remained at anchor in Constanta. Capitaine Chauveau received a report from the Romanian police about Matelot Jules Roche, who was involved yesterday evening in a fight in a local drinking establishment. Capitaine Chauveau called a captain's mast and, after hearing evidence, sentenced Matelot Roche to two weeks extra duties and a stoppage of shore leave.

March 10 (Friday)
Departed Constanta at 0730 hours for Sevastopol. Cruised at twenty-two knots to arrive at Sevastopol by 1700 hours. Traded salutes with Russian flagship. Capitaine Chauveau welcomed by Russian naval officers.

March 11 (Saturday)
Remained at anchor in Sevastopol. Ship's crew played two intense football matches against the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet, winning the first and losing the second (badly). Matelot Fontaine, team keeper, was knocked out during the second game after he attempted to stop a scoring attempt using his face. In the evening, Capitaine Chauveau hosted numerous senior officers of the Black Sea Fleet for an informal dinner and dance aboard the ship's forecastle.

March 12 (Sunday)
Remained at anchor in Sevastopol. Father Payet conducted services aboard ship; the crew of the French merchant ship MS Michigan applied for permission to come aboard for services.

March 13 (Monday)
Departed Sevastopol at 0700 hours in order to conduct joint antiship and antiaircraft gunnery exercises with two destroyers and one cruiser of the Russian fleet. "Tornade" and "Tramontaine" participated in the exercise with AAMG fire and three "dry" attack runs on the warships. Returned to Sevastopol at 2030 hours.

March 14 (Tuesday)
Remained at anchor in Sevastopol. Capitaine Chauveau joined the Russian officers for a post-mortem discussion of the gunnery exercises. The Russian officers were reportedly impressed with the accuracy and capabilities of Polynésie's 57mm/L60 secondary battery. Scored 119 out of a possible 125 (third of four) in the anti-surface gunnery drill, and 90 of a possible 95 (second of four) in the AA drill. "Tramontaine" was deemed to have scored two torpedo hits, and "Tornade" one hit, during the course of their individual drills.

March 15 (Wednesday)
Remained at anchor in Sevastopol completing refueling.

March 16 (Thursday)
Departed Sevastopol for Constantinople at 1100 hours.

March 17 (Friday)
Arrived at Constantinope at 0800 hours; did not anchor.

March 18 (Saturday)
Cruised in the Aegean. Conducted exercises while underway off the Alogeri Rocks, practicing launch and recovery of the "Tornade" and "Tramontane."

March 19 (Sunday)
Conducted religious services after entering the Mediterranean Sea. Turned northwest into the Ionian at noontime due to reports of foul weather there. Capitaine Chauveau wanted to conduct stormy-weather launch exercises for the light craft, but unfortunately conditions remained relatively peaceful throughout the afternoon. At sunset turned back southwest to pass south of Sicily.

March 20 (Monday)
Overflown once by Italian naval patrol aircraft. Capitaine Chauveau ordered 'Battle Stations Air Attack' as part of the day's training regime, but secured from stations after fifteen minutes when the Luigis did not return.

March 21 (Tuesday)
Cruised off eastern coast of Sardinia and Corse and arrived at Bastia.

March 22 (Wednesday)
Remained anchored in Bastia. Capitaine Chauveau hosted local notables at a party held on the forward deck.

March 23 (Thursday)
Departed Bastia at 0530 hours and passed around north cape of Corse. Arrived in Toulon by 1800 hours.

March 24 (Friday)
Spent the day at pierside, refueling all oil tanks, restocking all supplies, and conducting basic maintenance.

March 25 (Saturday)
Continued resupplying along pier. Capitaine Chauveau departed ship for three days leave.

March 26 (Sunday)
All ship's crew called to quarters by Lieutenant de vaisseau Marius Lamour (executive officer) at 0823 hours to fight fire on supply pier. Several containers of paint intended for Polynésie and contre-torpilleur Surcouf (across dock) caught fire due to unknown causes, and the fire expanded to other supplies still on the pier. Captain of Surcouf blamed Polynésie crewmen who were allegedly smoking cigarettes near the sight the previous evening. Both crews worked together to extinguish the fire and secure remaining undamaged supplies.

March 27 (Monday)
Toulon Base Commander held inquiry into yesterday's pierside fire. No damage was sustained by either Polynésie or Surcouf, but a staff vehicle was moderately damaged and fifteen thousand two hundred francs of supplies were irreparably damaged or destroyed, including all toilet paper intended for both ships. Inquiry determined that the fire was likely started by a smouldering cigarette left on the pier, but the investigative committee declined to place individual blame.

One Polynésie crewman reported health issues due to smoke and fume inhalation. This was determined to be due to improperly donning the required safety gear (breather mask). Additionally, two crewmen reported their safety gear to be defective. Lieutenant de vaisseau Lamour ordered the gear to be discarded and replaced immediately.

March 28 (Tuesday)
A new supply shipment was delivered to the pier today with replacements for the supplies damaged or destroyed in Sunday's pier fire.

March 29 (Wednesday)
Capitaine Chauveau returned from his leave this morning, and received a briefing about the pierside fire. Capitaine Chaveau declared his intention to award Matelot Simon Guitry, a seaman of the deck division, with a medal of distinguishment for his leadership in fighting the fire.

March 30 (Thursday)
Received orders to depart tomorrow for cruise to Gibraltar and Tangier for port calls and continued training.

March 31 (Friday)
Departed Toulon for Gibraltar at 0730 hours.

It seems sailors can't be trusted the world over.

April 1 (Saturday)
Conducted training at sea. In the morning, launched "Lucie" and "Alice" landing craft and practiced transfer of men at speeds up to four knots. In afternoon, launched vedettes under command of Enseignes Charrier and Thomas. Vedettes practiced four torpedo attacks with Polynésie steaming at speeds up to twenty-three knots. After refueling the vedettes in the evening, extinguished lights for fifteen minutes so vedettes could practice dusk attack.

April 2 (Sunday)
Father Payet conducted services at sea in the morning. In the afternoon, conducted gunnery exercise (non-firing) with 57mm battery. Ship currently is cruising in Alboran Sea south of main Mediterranean shipping lanes; North Africa coast usually visible to the south.

April 3 (Monday)
Anchored in Gibraltar at 0950 hours; saluted the garrison of The Rock with 57mm guns. Capitaine Chauveau called on British admiral commanding the 1st Composite Squadron, stationed at Gibraltar. Eligible members of Starboard Watch receive 48 hours of shore leave starting at 1200 hours.

April 4 (Tuesday)
Remained anchored in Gibraltar. Capitaine Chauveau called on HMS Triumph for lunch with British Admiral commanding 1st Composite Squadron and Triumph's captain. Ship hosted party for military and civilian officials at 1900 hours.

April 5 (Wednesday)
Liberty men returned at 1200 hours; two seamen docked one day's pay for late arrival. Capitaine Chauveau ordered vedette "Tornade" to wait at pierside while Polynésie got underway. Errant sailors appeared at 1309 hours; claimed they had crossed the border into Iberia to visit female friends, and were detained when returning by lines at the security control points. Story corroborated with note from British border guard, which sailors had procured. Ship departed Gibraltar at 1300 hours; recovered "Tornade" at 1335 hours. Arrived and anchored at Tangier at 1945 hours.

April 6 (Thursday)
Remained anchored in Tangier. Eligible members of Port Watch given 48 hours shore leave. Capitaine Chauveau called on port captain.

April 7 (Friday)
Remained anchored in Tangier. Officers hosted party at 1900 hours for local military and civilian officials. Ship's mascot Toutou (Epagneul Français puppy) escaped from chief's locker during party and was found by a Muslim pasha drinking out of the ship's punch bowl. Toutou confined to Chief's quarters for ten days.

April 8 (Saturday)
Remained anchored in Tangier. Departure delayed until Monday, April 10th, due to discovery of leaking fitting in bilge pumps.

April 9 (Sunday)
Remained anchored in Tangier. Father Payet conducted services on foredeck. Engineering replaced bilge pump by 1800 hours and pumped three tons of water out of bilge.

April 10 (Monday)
Departed Tangier at 0630 hours, bound for Toulon via Straits of Gibraltar. Passing through straits at noontime, nearly rammed by Nordish-flagged Royal Dutch Shell tanker which was not following the right-of-way rules. Arrived at Iberian exclave of Ceuta at 1500 hours. Saluted garrison and anchored in the port. Capitaine Chauveau called on the Iberian port captain.

April 11 (Tuesday)
Remained at anchor in Ceuta. Thirty-one members of the crew given forty-eight hours leave. Capitaine Chauveau hosted local Iberian notables at a party held on the ship's foredeck.

April 12 (Wednesday)
Remained at anchor in Ceuta. Launched "Lucie" and "Alice" during dockside demonstration of Polynésie for local Iberian observers.

April 13 (Thursday)
Departed Ceuta at 1000 hours. Capitaine Chauveau announced scored gunnery exercises for April 14th off Toulon. Conducted exercises with 130mm and 57mm batteries throughout the morning. At 1400 hours, after departing Alboran Sea, conducted short anti-surface and anti-air gunnery shoot with practice ammunition.

April 14 (Friday)
Conducted gunnery shoot in the Gulf of the Lion, attended by Sans Reproche and two fleet tugs. Two retired Armee de l'Aire bombers "attacked" under remote control and were downed by 130mm and 57mm gunfire from Polynésie and 100mm gunfire from Sans Reproche. Arrived in Toulon at 2255 hours and docked.

April 15 (Saturday)
Remained at dock in Toulon. Received gunnery score of 178 / 190. Crew informed that Sans Reproche beat our score by one point. Some ill-feelings between the ships are evident.

Capitaine Chauveau announces that Polynésie shall deploy to the Pacific Ocean in one month, with the expected departure date of May 15th. The ship's planned base will be in Noumea.

Received six new sailors and one junior officer to bring ship up to full complement. Notable is the new officer, Enseigne de vaisseau de deuxième classe Édouard Theisman, son of the President of France. Ensign Theisman has recently graduated from the Ecole Navale.

April 16 (Sunday)
Father Payet conducted morning services on the foredeck; all crew and some families attended. Capitaine Chauveau spoke after the end of Father Payet's homily regarding deployment information to Noumea. After lunch, unloading of the ship continued and completed by 1430 hours.

April 17 (Monday)
Ship remained at dock in Toulon. Admiralty ordered unloading of major volatiles in preparation for drydock inspection and installation of stabilizer fins (not added during construction of ship). Unloading of ammunition and fuel began at 1300 hours.

April 18 (Tuesday)
Unloading of ship continued at pierside.

April 19 (Wednesday)
Ship moved into drydock for underwater inspection. All non-essential crew given seven days leave.

April 20 (Thursday)
Ship remained in drydock for underwater inspection. Pumping out of the drydock was completed by 1100 hours. Capitaine Chauveau and senior officers conducted five-hour visual inspection of hull along with DCNS representative. DCNS recommended scraping of the hull to remove buildup of marine parasites.

April 21 (Friday)
Scraping of hull and installation of stabilizer fins initiated by dockyard.

April 22 (Saturday)
Dockyard continued installation of stabilizer fins and scraping of marine parasites. DCNS representative instructed application of new anti-fouling paint to underwater hull.

April 23 (Sunday)
Scraping of hull completed by dockyard overtime shift.

April 24 (Monday)
Installation of stabilizing fins completed. Application of new anti-fouling paint started.

April 25 (Tuesday)
Remained in drydock. Dockyard continued application of anti-fouling paint.

April 26 (Wednesday)
Application of anti-fouling paint completed; dockyard begins flooding drydock. Crew returns from seven days leave. Capitaine Chauveau announced a final training cruise would take place prior to deployment, with the ship departing April 28th.

April 27 (Thursday)
Ship re-floated by 0930 hours. Moved back to victualing pier at 1200 hours. Loading of supplies, fuel, and ammunition started.

April 28 (Friday)
Remained at pierside in Toulon. Crew completed fueling and continued loading supplies.

April 29 (Saturday)
Crew completed loading of supplies. Ship moved away from the victualing pier to berth closer to naval headquarters.

April 30 (Sunday)
Departed Toulon at 0630 hours, bound for first exercise zone 40nm east of Majorca. Father Payet conducted mass between 1000 and 1100 hours. Arrived in area and began antisubmarine exercises in collaboration with submarine Thetis. Conducted sub-hunting exercises between 1400 hours and 2100 hours. After end of exercise, continued south towards Algiers.

anti-fowling paint? Are seagulls *that* much of a problem ?

They are in this part of the world.

Quoted

Originally posted by Kaiser Kirk
anti-fowling paint? Are seagulls *that* much of a problem ?

Anti-fouling paint.

Dear Mama and Papa,

I've barely had time to write you over the last three weeks since I arrived aboard the Polynésie. We are in a mad rush to prepare for deployment, which is now only fifteen days away - and we're still going to take a multi-day cruise to Arzew to train in antisubmarine warfare and landing craft, although the Polynésie doesn't yet have her assigned complement of marines. The word is, we're supposed to pick up a platoon either in Noumea or Indochina, so we'll be sailing all the way to the Pacific before we meet the rest of our shipmates.

As I've had some time to settle in, I thought I'd take the opportunity to mention a few of my shipmates. Capitaine Chauveau commands the Polynésie. He's a short officer - he might be taller than Mama, but not by much - from the region of Biscarosse. He's very formal and the first time I met him, I thought he was angry at me; but he just has a very dour and serious face. The enlisted men like him but do not love him; he works himself and everyone else hard, and he wants the Polynésie kept spotless in appearance. The only times I've seen him crack a smile is when his wife came aboard and when he awarded a long service award to one of the senior NCOs. I heard he's a talented fencer, too, so perhaps I'll have the opportunity to keep up my practice.

Our executive officer is Marius Lamour. If Capitaine Chauveau doesn't smile much, Lieutenant Lamour doesn't smile at all. I've been told by friends at the Ecole that "if the first officer isn't hated, he's not doing his job", and that seems to apply in this case. In spite of that, though, I think he tries to be a very fair and evenhanded officer in how he deals with the entire crew. So he's fair... but he's an even more demanding officer than Capitaine Chauveau. I understand that when he's alone on the bridge, he'll start quizzing the junior officers of the watch with questions from the manuals, asking them a dozen questions and then talking while they try to answer. His goal is to put pressure on the officers of the watch in order to cultivate coolness under pressure.

I share a cabin with another Enseigne de vaisseau de deuxième classe, Jean-Marc Blandin. He's the son of Capitaine Laurentin Blandin, who commands the frigate Sans Reproche. Sans Reprocheis Polynésie's "friendly rival", although I've gotten hints that the rivalry is not always as friendly as it might appear. (Before I arrived on board, Sans Reproche challenged Polynésie to a futbol match, which we won, and then a rugby match, which we lost.) In any case, Jean-Marc is the son of her captain. He's a pretty smart guy, and he works with the DEM fire-control equipment. So I can't tell you what he does, even if I knew. He's very quiet and doesn't join in with the other junior officers. I'm hoping that he'll open up a bit more once I get to know him.

My best friend so far is Enseigne de vaisseau de première classe Louis Charrier, who commands one of the two 19m vedettes de rapide, which is nicknamed the "Tornade". He has the cabin right next to mine, which he shares with another ensign, Simon Thomas. They're both pretty nice guys, though Louis is more outgoing. He said he tried to get into the Armee de l'Aire as a fighter pilot, but got turned out of pilot training because of airsickness. He says he likes to live at the extremes of everything, and loves making forty knots on a practice torpedo run in the "Tornade". He just recently sold his motorcycle (a really nice Gnome-Rhone) to buy this contraption called a rebreather, which he uses for diving. He showed me a few days ago how to use it, and I decided to use my incidental cash to buy a mask, some fins, and a rebreather of my own. Apparently there's a senior lieutenant here in Toulon, Cousteau, who invented the rebreather and tank, and has been teaching divers. He's unfortunately out of Toulon at the moment, so Charrier is going to teach me what Cousteau taught him.

My current station is with the deck crew overseeing the launch of the Polynésie's vedettes and landing craft. I've not gotten a lot of practice with the process yet, but it looks like it will be pretty challenging when the ship is in heavy seas or at speed. When the boats are ready to launch (fully fueled and manned), we open the two stern gates, unlock the launching trolleys, and then release the boats. I'm probably going have the opportunity to do it several (dozen) times over the next week, as we're going to do a lot of that during our upcoming training cruise. The ship has spent most of the last few weeks in drydock, with shipyard workers scraping off the buildup of barnacles, re-painting the underwater hull, and installing some stabilizers that weren't installed when the ship was constructed. We only just got her back in the water and loaded up before we needed to leave for our training cruise.

Papa, I know you told me that the joke is "never volunteer", but I'm afraid I did. No one had taken responsibility for keeping up the ship's library, and so we were looking at a long deployment with nothing to read but the ship's manuals and official documentation. So I volunteered to assemble a library for pleasure reading. I got a bunch of Verne novels at a used bookstore, a box of American penny dreadfuls, and nearly four boxes of comics (Reynard, Hergé, and all the Von der Heydt I could find). I'm still hunting used bookstores in my free time and buying up anything that looks vaguely interesting.

I hate to close so quickly, but Jean-Marc has the morning shift and asked me to turn out the light.

With love,

Enseigne de vaisseau de deuxième classe Édouard Theisman
MN Polynésie
Toulon, France
April 29th, 1944

One would think that Enseigne de vaisseau de deuxième classe Édouard Theisman would be able to find the works of that great French novelist of the sea Édouard Corbière; if not, perhaps the works of Frederick Marryat, Cecil Scott Forester, Rafael Sabatini or Emilio Salgari in translation. On a more serious note, some of the historical works of Raoul Castex would be in order.