La Belle Poule

'La Belle Poule' was a frigate, i.e., a three masts square-rigged war vessel intermediate between a corvette and a destroyer, which originally sailed as one of the vessels of the French Royal Navy. 'Cest un nom curieux pour un voilier', but it was the third war ship of the French Navy with that name (which is a metaphor of the whims and charms sailors can find in the waves and the wind). It was built in 1834, and in 1840 she brought back the ashes of the Emperor Napoleon I from Sainte Hélène to France under the command of the Prince de Joinville. It was later assigned to freight and passenger transportation.

 

'La Belle Poule' 2.80 x 1.80 m painted by Eduardo De Martino (1842-1912). Museo Imperial de Petrópolis, Brazil (detail). In: Coghlan, Eduardo A., 'El Aporte de los Irlandeses a la Formación de la Nación Argentina' (Buenos Aires, 1982), p. i. (detail).
St. Helena Maritime Heritage. Set of stamps issued 1990 (the 150th Anniversary of the transport of Napoleon's remains in 'La Belle Poule').
 

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