The five-mast Tall Ship France II was originally constructed at the Gironde yards in Bordeaux in 1911. At the time, France had one of the largest tall ship fleets in the world, and the France II was the tallest. It was 150 m long, 17 m wide and had 6,350m of sails.

Since 1913, she transported Caledonian nickel. The owner decided to associate commodity trading with the public's new-found passion for luxury ocean cruises by furnishing the ship with a grand piano, a library, a dark room and, for the first time in the world, sea water therapy equipment. Armed with two canons, France II surmounted all odds during World War I by regularly skirting the three symbolic Capes: Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope, and Cape Leeuwin.

In 1916, the owner, Mr. Prentout died. His successors decided to remove the helices and engines of the ship to encourage full use of its sails. On a calm sea on July 11, 1922, the great ship ran aground at the Ouano reefs in New Caledonia. She would remain a familiar silhouette for the next twenty years to those passionate about the sea. In 1944, American bombers destroyed the wreck signaling the death of the greatest tall ship ever built.
There currently are plans to reconstruct the France II. An estimated 1,200,000 MAN-HOURS will be required for the reconstruction of the greatest Tall Ship in the world.

Price: $190.00