![[Flag of Bazin & Cie]](../images/f/fr~hfbaz.gif)
by Ivan Sache
Last modified: 2004-10-02 by ivan sache
Keywords: bazin | perier | gay | letters: bc (blue) | letters: b&p (red) | letters: b&lg (white) |
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Charles Bazin (1798-1879) and his cousin Auguste Bazin were merchants. The Bazin family was Protestant, of French origin, and settled back in Marseilles after having emigrated to Holland and Switzerland. In 1824, Charles, associated with Auguste, succeded his father in trade.
In 1831, the Bazin founded the first steam shipping company in Marseilles and opened a scheduled line between Provence and Italy, operating two paddle steamships. The Henri IV inaugurated the line Marseilles-Genoa-Civitavecchia-Naples. On 12 December 1834, the Henri
IV ran aground the beach of Orbitello, near Leghorn, with no casualties. The Sully, the sister-ship of the Henri IV, was launched on 4 April 1831 and pulled down in 1850.
In 1835, the Bazin line was extended to Malta and Piraeus (Greece), with
the paddle steamboat Pharamond. In 1841, the Charlemagne, then the
fastest ship in the world, sailed between Marseilles and Algiers in 45
hours. Bazin signed a contract with the French state for the service to
Algeria and Tunisia. On 5 July 1846, the Philippe-Auguste was the first iron ship
to sail on the Mediterranean Sea. The ship experienced a lot of
technical problems and its maintenance was extremely expensive. She was
sold to the Messageries Impériales in 1854.
In 1846, Bazin took Théophile Périer, who had founded the Compagnie de Navigation Théophile Périer in 1836, as a partner and the company was renamed Bazin & Périer. Lines to Tripoli, Alexandria and Beirut were opened, compensating for the end of the Algerian contract in 1852.
In January 1854, the company merged with the Compagnie Générale de Navigation à Hélice, founded by Léon Gay in 1852, and was renamed Bazin & Léon Gay. Gay brought his ships and his lines in the western Mediterranean sector, to Tangiers, Gibraltar, Mogador and the Canary Islands. The company then purchased bigger ships and opened lines to America and the Far-East. However, two of the three clippers with auxiliary engine bought in 1856 were lost, the Saint-Louis in Singapore in 1858 and the François Ier in China (or Greece according to certain reports) in 1861. Bazin could not adapt to the technical evolution of the second half of the XIXth century and sold in 1865 his company to Fraissinet.
The last ship purchased by Bazin was the Amsterdam, and her history is fairly representative of the beginnings of steam shipping. The ship was built in 1836 for the company Albrecht, sold in 1853 to the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi, and placed under Spanish ensign as the Francia. She was bought back by Albrecht in December 1853 and sold one year later to the Messageries Impériales. Bazin bought the ship in 1860 and sold her the same year to Garibaldi for the Sicilan fleet. The ship was later incorporated to the new Royal Italian Navy and eventually sold in America, renamed Franklin, and pulled down in 1870.
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 25 January 2004
Bazin & Cie (1831-1846)
by Ivan Sache
The house flag of Bazin & Cie is a white flag with a blue triangle on each corner and the blue letters BC in the middle.
Source: Paul Bois. Armements marseillais - Compagnies de navigation et navires à vapeur (1831-1988), published by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marseille-Provence [boi03].
Ivan Sache, 25 January 2004
Bazin & Périer (1846-1854)
![[Flag of Bazin & Perier]](../images/f/fr~hfbap.gif)
by Ivan Sache
The house flag of Bazin & Périer is a red flag with the red letters B&P in the middle.
Source: Paul Bois. Armements marseillais - Compagnies de navigation et navires à vapeur (1831-1988), published by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marseille-Provence [boi03].
Ivan Sache, 25 January 2004
Bazin & Léon Gay (1854-1865)
![[Flag of Bazin & Gay]](../images/f/fr~hfblg.gif)
by Ivan Sache
The house flag of Bazin & Léon Gay is a blue flag with the white letters B&LG in the middle.
Source: Paul Bois. Armements marseillais - Compagnies de navigation et navires à vapeur (1831-1988), published by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marseille-Provence [boi03].
Ivan Sache, 25 January 2004