French Ship Gun Covering / Tompion - Who is RGJ?

[Freecloud]

Hello!  Since we're discussing French warships these last few days,  I thought this would be an apt question...though I completely understand if I get no answers because French warships aren't that popular, especially during the war-era.

I was looking at purchasing a ship gun covering / tompion for myself.  The one I'm interested thus far belongs to the destroyer l'Audacieux - a member of the famous Le Fantasque-class and a vessel that fought for the Vichy French at Dakar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dakar) before being scuttled at Toulon.  However, the seller and I are having trouble dating the item (I'm wondering if its war-era), mainly because of the manufacturer's mark: a mysterious RGJ.

This is the back of the l'Audacieux tompion with the RGJ:

I did some searching around and found that a lot of people (mostly French sellers) do not know of this RGJ.  However, he seemingly is also on ships that are more modern.

Below is one RGJ found on a ship built in the 1950s - the destroyer Cassard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_47-class_destroyer)

I don't know if I can find the answer to my question on this forum since French warships - war-era and otherwise - aren't everybody's big topic, but more heads is better than just my lone head.  I would appreciate it if somebody can find the identity of this mysterious person.

Additionally, finding out if the first tompion (the one for the Vichy French destroyer) is actually war-era in manufacturing would be a big help to me and the seller.

Thanks!

[kerensky914]

Wow.  I'm a bit of a French warship fanboi, but that's pretty far out in the weeds even for me.  Hope someone has some kind of answers for you.

[Fishrokk]

I would try the other direction - look for that particular signature in the context of metal/bronze casting.

[Crucis]

RGJ may be the initials of the artist who created the picture in the mold.

[Freecloud]

57 minutes ago, kerensky914 said:

Wow.  I'm a bit of a French warship fanboi, but that's pretty far out in the weeds even for me.  Hope someone has some kind of answers for you.

Thanks for your well-wishes.  This isn't so easy to find since a lot of groups aren't interested in French naval history during the war, especially since the country officially surrendered to the Nazis.  I run into a similar problem with my questions concerning the Italians...

 

49 minutes ago, Fishrokk said:

I would try the other direction - look for that particular signature in the context of metal/bronze casting.

Hmmmmmm...I might try that too.  Thanks!

[Freecloud]

2 minutes ago, Crucis said:

RGJ may be the initials of the artist who created the picture in the mold.

Hmmmmmm...that could be a possibility since the French produced a lot of tompions.  The tompions are still being manufactured for the French Navy today.

Do you think that the above tompion is war-era?  I kind of think so because it looks faded and I doubt the French would want to commemorate a Vichy French destroyer.

On the other hand, a modern version of this name exists in the French Navy.

Thanks again for stopping by!

[Crucis]

43 minutes ago, Battlecruiser_Yavuz said:

Hmmmmmm...that could be a possibility since the French produced a lot of tompions.  The tompions are still being manufactured for the French Navy today.

Do you think that the above tompion is war-era?  I kind of think so because it looks faded and I doubt the French would want to commemorate a Vichy French destroyer.

On the other hand, a modern version of this name exists in the French Navy.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Honestly, I have no idea if it's war-era.

Also, I suppose that it's possible that those initials are for the foundry that manufactured the tompions in the first place.  Just a couple of possibilities.

[SgtBeltfed]

Probably a foundry mark that was either part of, or did contract work for Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, where the ships were built. As Gironde is the name of the estuary the shipyard is located on, I'd guess the foundry also had it in the name if it was local. It was a fun little search, I might have found more if I could read french.

[Freecloud]

26 minutes ago, SgtBeltfed said:

Probably a foundry mark that was either part of, or did contract work for Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, where the ships were built. As Gironde is the name of the estuary the shipyard is located on, I'd guess the foundry also had it in the name if it was local. It was a fun little search, I might have found more if I could read french.

That is definitely something!  Thank you for searching.  

[Royeaux]

11 hours ago, Battlecruiser_Yavuz said:

 

This is the back of the l'Audacieux tompion with the RGJ:

Who the heck is that supposed to be?  Vercingetorix?

[Freecloud]

1 hour ago, Sventex said:

Who the heck is that supposed to be?  Vercingetorix?

I don't know, to be honest.

The name l'Audacieux is roughly translated to "the audacious one."

She's definitely not as famous as the Le Fantasque or the Le Terrible, but she at least did something during the war (admittedly on the Vichy French) instead of merely getting scuttled at Toulon.