Pre-Wwii French Navy Documentary Film " Toulon Heavy Squadron Cruise " Part 1 49934 (1938)

Synopsis

This 1938 film entitled "Croisière d'escadre" / "Squadron Cruise" provides a rare look at the French Navy prior to WWII, before it was decimated by both the Royal Navy and its own leaders -- in both cases to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Axis. The film was made with assistance of Lt. Camille Blot, a recipient of the Order of Legion of Honor (21st june 1946) of the Blot family of naval officers the members of which are still serving in the French Navy, cameramen Le Noan and Hebert. The film portrays a short training cruise of the Toulon Heavy Squadron, commanded by Vice Admiral Jean Decoux, from the Toulon base through the Straits of Gibraltar, stopping by Casablanca and Agadir to the Grand Canary Islands and back to Toulon via Spain. Shown are life onboard ship, live fire artillery training exercises, the customs and sights of the French North Africa and the French protectorates therein, a visit to the Caïd or Pacha of Agadir – Si Laceh Brahim Tamri who was serving as Pacha at the time, the sights and people of Spain. In the film appear the Bretagne-class dreadnought-era battleship, Duquesne-class heavy cruisers, the Suffren-class heavy cruiser, the Algérie heavy cruiser, Bearn aircraft carrier in the port of Toulon, the Chacal-class destroyers and other miscellaneous ships.:49 A sailor in his cabin, the prow of the aircraft carrier Béarn can be seen through the open porthole. He's writing a letter to his parents... 1:22 View upon the bay from the…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

17 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage