We reported last week (Fairplay24,18 March) that the Port of Marseilles would take legal action against Union Naval Marseilles yard workers who had trashed the port's head office and thrown tins of sardines at staff.rnBut there was historical method in this madness. In Marseilles, people will tell you that a sardine once blocked the port. In fact, it was a ship. In 1778, the British captured the officer of the marine infantry regiment from the French colony of Pondicherry in India. As part of a prisoner exchange, he was promised protection and sent home on an unarmed ship. After 10 months and nearing home, however, it was attacked by a British naval vessel and ran aground at the entrance to Marseilles' old port. And the name of that ship was Sartine.
展开▼
