"Veau" literally means calf (from which we get the English word veal) but when applied to a vehicle it means something gutless and without power, so "veau-marin" means "sea calf" and may be a pun on "sous-marin" or submarine. It is also reminiscent of "vache de mer" or "sea cow" (manatee) also probably not the name you'd choose for a new flying boat.
Absolutely, Matthew! And allow me to translate the header, which gives a little more background to this being a "sea calf"...
"In Europe during the 1920s, and especially in France, the commercial future of aviation seemed to be with flying boats. Ideas sprouted everywhere, and financiers followed it all very closely. The pathetic Saint-Raphaël competition of 1925 had hardly tempered even the wildest enthusiasm. Despite some big problems with motorisation, one kept building ever bigger and heavier machines, most often to the detriment of the most elementary aerodynamic features. The short history of the extremely rare RP.2 is a good example of this."
