FRANCE (1952) Compagnie Generale Transatlantic "Flandre" Ship 50mm Bronze Medal 53.57 grams with Cardboard Case


Obverse: Female figure seated over arms of Flanders, facing right, different object relating to this region to the left, to the top and bottom FLANDRE / MARCEL RENARD

Reverse: FRENCH LINE / COMPAGNIE / GENERALE / TRANSATLANTIQUE

Edge: triangular mark of Arthus Bertrand BRONZE

Flandre was the CGT's first new ocean liner since World War II. She began her maiden voyage on 23 July 1952. It was considered a failure, as she suffered mechanical failures throughout the voyage. First, impurities in her bunker oil clogged her fuel lines. This rendered her essentially "dead in the water" for four hours while her fuel filters were cleaned out and her boiler furnaces restored to normal. This was repeated later in the voyage, after which Flandre's captain chose to reduce speed for the remainder of the voyage.

On arrival at the Quarantine Station at New York, she suffered a short circuit in her main electrical switchboard causing a near-complete loss of power. Nearly three hours later, she had enough power restored to raise her port anchor. A further three hours were required to raise the starboard anchor for her to continue.

Unlike most ocean liners' maiden arrivals, where they receive the traditional fireboat welcome while sailing under their own power, Flandre arrived in New York Harbor and received the traditional welcome while under tow by four Moran tugs, and running only one of her own twin propellers. Her funnel put out thick clouds of smoke, seeming to almost be straining as it was doing so. She was initially blowing her whistle as she arrived under tow, but after the whistle failed due to her limited power, the ship's siren was substituted. This lacklustre arrival garnered her the nickname "Flounder" by Manhattan dockers.

Flandre's return voyage was delayed to allow engineers to repair her engines. Following her return to France, all of her 1952 sailings were cancelled, and she returned to her builders for thorough repairs. Repairs would take six months, and she returned for the 1953 sailing season.

In her CGT career, her passenger configuration was changed several times, with Flandre running on the transatlantic route for nine months out of the year, and three months cruising with her near-sister Antilles. In 1967, she was withdrawn completely, and was sold to the Italian firm Costa Cruises, who renamed her Carla C.

The first assignment for the newly refitted Carla C was a charter for Princess Cruises, which marketed her as "Princess Carla" (the ship was not renamed). It was at this time that a set of producers originated the idea of the popular television-series The Love Boat aboard Carla C. Consequently, the first scripts were written on board the ship.

The ship proved problematic at first, after problems were found with the boilers. In 1974 and 1975, Costa replaced the boilers with Stork-Werkspoor diesel engines and Carla C was returned to service around the Caribbean, where she served until 1992.

In 1984, the ship underwent another major refit, to ensure safe travel for its passengers for many years to come. In 1986, Carla C was renamed Carla Costa. No other changes occurred with the name change.

Carla Costa was a common sight on the San Juan ship dock on Saturdays in that era, and her regularly scheduled route included Curaçao, Caracas, Grenada, Martinique, and Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

In 1992, Carla Costa was sold to the Greek Epirotiki Line, and renamed Pallas Athena, after the Greek goddess Pallas Athene. For the Epirotiki Line, she ran seven-day cruises from Athens to the Aegean Islands and Turkey. On 23 March 1994, Pallas Athena was destroyed by fire, which caused the superstructure and funnel to cave in on itself. She arrived at the Aliaga Company scrapyards on 25 December 1994, one of only two surviving CGT ocean liners.


Marcel Renard (1893-1974) studied first in Lyon under his father, the sculptor Leopold Renard, subsequently with Jean-Marie Boucher and Auguste Patey at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Renard produced several hundred works for the Paris Mint;

Renard also realized public monuments in the round, fountains and sculptures for the Salon International des Arts Decoratifs of 1925, which gave birth to the expression Art Deco. Marcel Renard won a gold medal at this event.

In addition to his work as a medallic sculptor, Renard created elaborate interior decors for luxury ocean liners, such as the Ile de France. In this capacity, he collaborated regularly with friend and colleague, the monumental sculptor Alfred Janniot (Rockefeller Center, Palais de Tokyo.) Renard also realized numerous interior decorations with the architect Roux-Spitz.

The Compagnie Generale Transatlantic series of medals is an attractive group, with interesting contributions not only from Marcel Renard, but also Raymond Delamarre, Jean Vernon and Maurice Delannoy.



Inv7601

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