The Great White Fleet Visits France

Home>The Cruise>The Med>Villefranche-Nice

January 12th to 28th, 1909 - Nice/Marseilles, France

With the Second Division, Admiral Wainwright sailed directly to Marseilles with the Georgia and Nebraska arriving on the 15th.

On January 16th the New Jersey and Rhode Island also arrived in Marseilles. Their reception was raucous and enthusiastic with French warships surrounding the fleet in the harbor. The Minnesota, Vermont and Kansas arrived at Nice and proved to be a great attraction to the community. W. D. Hunter, the American Consul at Nice, paid an official visit to the squadron on January 12th. The crews were given shore leave and the offices were entertained by many social events.

Captain F. F. Fletcher, commanding the battleship Vermont, entertained January 14th at dinner on his vessel the officers' wives who had arrived at Nice, Mrs. Fletcher among the numer. Captain John Hubbard, of the Minnesota, with Captain Fletcher and other officers, was present at a reception given by Mrs. Dulany Hunter, wife of the American Consul at Nice.

These two cards were mailed by sailors of the fleet while visiting Villefrance, one from the Nebraska and one from the Georgia mailed from a sailor signing "W.W.". Both cards display ship cancellations.

These three photographs of Nice are from a collection from a sailor onboard the USS Kansas. This collection provides a rare glimps of this port visit.

In these three original photographs are from left to right: A scene of Monaco, A Monaco Castel, and a pricture of the coast of Monte Carlo.

Many officers took leave in Marseilles and Villefranche to visit Paris and various destinations in Italy. The above photos are from the collection of E. L. DeMoss, USS Kansas. This group is all taken at Villefranche with the Kansas arriving in the harbor and phtographs of the ships and city. At the top, is a phto showing a group at the French-Italian border with a guard and the one on the right the main casino at Nice, France.

These two cards are from the collections of Milton Willard and Miss May Phelps. Milton Willard was onboard the USS Georgia, while the card received by May Phelps are from an unknown officer on one of the ships.

One of the nicer cards I have found from Marseilles was are card sent from Ben Bentifeld, USS Rhode Island. It is part of the Ben and Nellie collection, one of the finer collections of cards that I have found between a sailor and his girlfriend. The card has a small pouch attached to the front and is annotated with a coded message "29-0-52" from Ben to Nellie. This code was used on many of the cards between this couple.

This card was mailed from the USS Kansas and canceled onboard the ship. The view shows a street scene in Nice, France. Cancels from the ships during these port visits are scarce given the equipment arrived for use in Cairo on January 1, 1909.

At Left: A card from "Your Cousin" aboard the USS Nebraska and Canceled January 22, 1909.

At Right: A card from Lawrence Thompson, USS Georgia while visiting Marseille, France. The card is canceled on January 21, 1909 with a USS Georgia shipboard cancel.

[Home][The Cruise][The Ships][The People][Series Cards][Mail & Collectibles][Facts]