Badge of the French sloop-escort ship DOUDART DE LAGREE
Date1938-1998
Object number00039638
NameBadge
MediumMetal
Dimensions30 x 40 mm
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Jean-Pierre Sourdin
DescriptionA badge from the French sloop-escort ship, DOUDART DE LAGREE.
This badge was donated by Jean-Pierre Sourdin who collected badges as souvenirs from visiting French naval vessels from 1938 to 1998. During each visit, the ship's Captain would hold a cocktail party on board and invite prominent French figures in the local community. As editor of Le Courrier Australien from 1954 to 1988 (a monthly French newspaper that has been distributed throughout Australia since 1892), Mr Sourdin was invited to the cocktail parties to generate press coverage on the French port visits. Mr Sourdin was presented with these cap tallies and badges as souvenirs of his visits on board.HistoryDesigned in the 1950s, these escort ships were frequently deployed to the remnants of the French colonies in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Commandant Riviere class frigates were eventually fitted with four Exocet missiles, which made them versatile warships given their powerful anti-submarine armament.
Laid down at Lorient on 24 March 1960, sloop-escort ship DOUDART DE LAGREE (F728) was commissioned for Marine Nationale on 1 May 1963. After service in Polynesia for the first nuclear tests, she entered the division of Pacific escort ships on 1 April 1968, joining COMMANDANT RIVIERE, ENSEIGNE DE VAISSEAU HENRY, AMIRAL CHARNER and PROTEST on missions for the Centre d'Essais du Pacifique. DOUDART DE LAGREE carried out 22 patrols in the Persian Gulf, assisting with the evacuation of foreign nationals in the east of Eden from 19 - 28 January 1986, and then during the embargo against Iraq. She also took part in the release of Kuwait, spending 13 days in the war zone from 17 - 30 January 1991. After steaming more than one million miles, DOUDART DE LAGREE was put in to special reserve on 28 October 1991 and disarmed on 24 July 1992 .SignificanceVessels of Marine Nationale (French Navy) have visited Australia throughout the twentieth century for rest and recreation, goodwill and to represent France at official celebrations such as Australia' s sesquicentenary and bicentenary. These visits remind us of the links forged by early French explorers of Australia such as Jean Francois Galaup, Comte de Laperouse, Nicolas Baudin, Louis - Antoine de Bougainville and Jules Dumont d' Urville .
