Author Topic: French Cannonière in Indochine (Read 7126 times)

italwars · « **on:** November 05, 2014, 12:20:31 AM »

At least i find an interesting info to try to scratchbuild a French Colonial Gunboat

http://lignesdedefense.blogs.ouest-france.fr/media/00/01/3612280039.jpg

von Lucky · « **Reply #1 on:** November 05, 2014, 11:00:14 AM »

Nice picture, I'm thinking of doing something similar for my Amazon setting.

Traveler Man · « **Reply #2 on:** November 05, 2014, 03:45:50 PM »

Interesting picture, thanks for sharing.

Calimero · « **Reply #3 on:** November 05, 2014, 07:11:55 PM »

I'm pretty sure the Yang-Tsé is in China... and not in Indochine (Vietnam)

Nice find anyhow

Arthur · « **Reply #4 on:** November 06, 2014, 01:33:48 AM »

Yup. The Olry was one of the many gunboats deployed by the western powers on the Yang-Tse river in China in the wake of the 1900 international expedition. It was never used in Indochina.

Those of you with an interest in the subject may want to click on the link below for a history - in French - of the Olry's deployment in China between 1901 and 1910 :

http://jpmc.malsagne.perso.neuf.fr/canonnieres/canonnieres/francaises/cano-olry.htm

More period photographs can be found here :

http://jpmc.malsagne.perso.neuf.fr/canonnieres/documents/divers/photos/olry1.htm#olry1m

italwars · « **Reply #5 on:** November 07, 2014, 02:20:16 AM »

Arthur...je vous remercie beaucoups...je suis passioné de l'Histoire militaire coloniale Francaise..photos trés belles..

But please..can you adress me to some web sources depicting , also, Cannonières, Chalands armés ecc..for Chari, Niger, Dahomey, Indochine...just to have an idea for scratchbuilding a simple, quite small, boat..for a handful of laptots, tirailleurs ...i also have difficulties in choosing how to arm such a fluvial boat..i suppose, for wargame purposes (TSATF) , just with a 37mm revolving hotckiss ..and what else?
thanks so much
Pier

Arthur · « **Reply #6 on:** November 10, 2014, 06:13:16 PM »

I'm no gunboat expert and I don't really know that much on the subject, but a quick Google search can turn up a great deal of info, usually from French or French-language websites (cannonière france Chine, Indochine or Afrique worked well for me).

Cannonières actually came in all shapes and sizes, many of them being converted civilian vessels. In Indochina and the Tonkin, the French used a wide variety of boats, from Aviso-class paddle steamers such as the Pluvier to armed river steamers such as the Eclair. Armament was usually limited to a couple of guns as these boats were not expected to fight any serious naval opposition. The Pluvier apparently had only two revolver cannons while the chaloupe-cannonière Hache boasted one 160mm gun and a 40mm one.

L'Eclair :