M/V Armorique I

Brittany Ferries purchased the ship in November 1975 for delivery in early 1976. Once delivered, she was refurbished and introduced on 4th March 1976 on the route linking Saint-Malo and Plymouth as Armorique, replacing in the fleet Prince de Bretagne.

On 5th June 1976, Armorique grounded off the coast of Saint-Malo, and had to go to Le Havre in order to enable repairs to her propelling system. She then launched the Saint-Malo – Portsmouth service on 17th June. During the following winters, she was always laid up in Saint-Malo. In 1978, she was refurbished again to be equipped with a Cinema, a Children play room and a new À la carte Restaurant.

On 17 March 1978, Armorique established the new route linking Roscoff and Cork, replaced in Saint-Malo by chartered Prince of Brittany. On 17th April, mastered by Captain Francis Gervin, she also established the new Plymouth – Santander service. Needing only 24th hours to sail between both ports, she launched the fastest route linking Spain to Great Britain. Armorique arrived in Santander the following day one hour behind schedule, after a not so quite crossing. According to retired engineer Joseph Gidouin, she kept rolling during the crossing, since she was not equipped with stabilizers. However, once arrived, Armorique had not been able to open her ramp, blocked, and crew had to work twenty minutes to repair the faulty ramp. She eventually opened, enabling her first customers to land in Spain, including 20 Rolls-Royce.

In 1982, Armorique was replaced on the Irish and Spanish services by the freshly delivered larger Quiberon, and was transferred to the Saint-Malo – Portsmouth service, alongside Prince of Brittany and replacing chartered Goelo. However, she grounded again in Saint-Malo on 18th September 1982, requiring new repairs.

Armorique operated the first 1983 Roscoff - Cork sailings, before operating the Saint-Malo service. On 2nd April 1983, a fire stroke in her car deck. If the fire was extinguished by crew members without help, the fire killed one person and injured 19 others.

During winter 1989, Armorique was chartered to Brittany Ferries’ subsidiary British Channel Islands Ferries for service between Poole and the Channel Islands. In December 1990, she was chartered by French Army to carry troops during the first Gulf War.

During the 1992 season, Armorique was transferred to a new Saint-Malo – Poole service (she has also operated a few crossings between Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and Poole | Portsmouth), Duchesse Anne operating alone the Saint-Malo – Portsmouth service. She was then chartered in during winter 1992-1993 by British Channel Islands Ferries again, before being laid-up and offered for sell in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin on 21st February 1993, following Val de Loire’s introduction.