Conference : La Flore, the birth of a frigate

La Flore was one of the last great sailing ships of the French Navy, built at Rochefort in 1847.
Outdated by the great innovations of the 19th century, which included the introduction of steam propulsion, explosive shells and armour, she was threatened with obsolescence even before she was launched.

The crew reached the Pacific, and a young officer joined them on a stopover in Valparaiso: Midshipman Julien Viaud was to become the writer Pierre Loti during this campaign, drawing inspiration for his first novels from Easter Island and Polynesia.
In 1876, La Flore became a training school for midshipmen and spent several years cruising the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, welcoming another great writer, Jules Verne from Nantes, during a stopover in Vigo.

Alban Lannéhoa, a naval officer, will take you on a tour of this latest chapter in the history of sailing frigates, on the eve of an unprecedented metamorphosis in the French Navy.
This is a compendium of naval, scientific and literary history from the second half of the 19th century.

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