"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ"
๐ญ๐ฌ๐ต years ago ๐ง๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ'๐ maiden voyage began, on ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น ๐ญ๐ฌ๐๐ต ๐ญ๐ต๐ญ๐ฎ. After departig new ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ at ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ and making it safely through the complex tides and channels of ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ and the ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ง๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ disembarked the ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ pilot at the ๐๐ข๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ and headed out into the ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ญ. She headed for the French port of ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ, a journey of 77 nautical miles (143 km). The weather was windy, very fine but cold and overcast. Because ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ lacked docking facilities for a ship the size of ๐ง๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ, tenders had to be used to transfer passengers from shore to ship. The ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ operated two at ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ, the ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ and the ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ก๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ. Both had been designed specifically as tenders for the ๐ข๐น๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ-๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ liners and were launched shortly after ๐ง๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ. Four hours after ๐ง๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ left ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ, she arrived at ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ and was met by the tenders. There, 274 additional passengers were taken aboard โ 142 First Class, 30 Second Class, and 102 Third Class. Twenty-four passengers left aboard the tenders to be conveyed to shore, having booked only a cross-Channel passage. The process was completed within only 90 minutes and at 8 p.m. ๐ง๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ weighed anchor and left for ๐๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ with the weather continuing cold and windy.
The general idea behind this new 2D digital drawing belongs to ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐, I just recreated his vision of this historic moment. And I express my deep gratitude to the ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐น, for their help in creating this drawing. Their historical and technical advices are invaluable. Thank you.
This artwork was done in August 2019, and some you may remember the progress of it's creation, showed in a few WIP sketches. You can find some of them in the comments to this picture or in the "๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด" album. Unfortunately, due to various, often beyond my control, circumstances, I could not release this drawing earlier. But today's 109th anniversary looks like the perfect date for this.
Hope you like it. Enjoy and stay safe. ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ, ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ
