Martinière (boat)

The Matrinière was a Navire cargo liner reconverted in Navire prison.

History

Built to Hartlepool in England, this British ship was launched in 1912 under the name of Armanistan for F.C. Strick & Co, Anglo-Algerian S.S. Co of London. It is then bought in 1913 by the German company Hamburg-Amerika Linie for its service in West Africa under a new name, Duala . In 1919, France takes possession of the ship under the war damagees and Martinière renames it before yielding it to the Nantes Company contracting napor navigation of the transport of the convicts following an invitation to tender launched by the ministry for the Navy and the Colonies in 1891.

In 1937, the ship becomes the property of the Transatlantic General Compagnie for the same function.

In 1939, the Martinière is resold with the National marine. Transformed into pontoon floating with Lorient the ship is run in 1940 by a British bombardment. The demolition takes place in 1955 with Saint-Nazaire.

Transport of convicts

Condemned to sorrows of bagne were gathered with the fortress of the Ile de Ré, with Saint-Martin-of-D, before being dispatched in Guyana.

In 1922 after 6 years of interruption of transport, the Martinière replaces the the Loire , torpedoed during the First World War, in the transport of the convicts of the Ile de Ré to the Bagne of Saint-Laurent-of-Maroni the sometimes while passing by Algiers. Genuine boat-cage, it twice a year carries out the crossing of France to the Guyana in approximately 3 weeks. Thanks to its weak Tirant of water it could go up the Maroni river to the penitentiary of Saint-Laurent-of-Maroni.

Transport conditions

To 670 off-set convicts pile up thoroughly of hold, in eight cages called “bagnes” in 4 false bridges. They sleep in hammocks and are entitled to a daily walk by group on the bridge. The food of the convicts was identical to those of the soldiers. Each cage is crossed by a network of piping to send extreme vaporblasts on the revolted convicts (used only once in 1938). The recalcitrant convicts can be put at irons or the disciplinary dungeon. the ship had an infirmary. The Martinière thus conveyed between the two wars more 7 000 convicts towards Guyana.

Commanders

Captain Rose tree until 1938

Source

Martinière (French Lines)

External bonds

convoys of convicts

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