List of active French Navy ships
This is a list of active French Navy ships.[1][2][3] The French Navy consists of the 87 vessel strong Force d'action navale (Naval action force) and the 9 submarines of the Forces sous-marines (Submarine force). Primary assets include 1 Nuclear aircraft carrier, 3 amphibious assault ships, 3 air-defence destroyers, 8 anti-submarine destroyers, 5 general-purpose frigates, and 6 surveillance frigates. The submarine force consists of 5 nuclear attack submarines and 4 nuclear ballistic missile submarines. To support the Force d'Action Navale at sea, the French Navy uses 3 replenishment oilers, 17 mine countermeasure vessels and 8 support ships. In addition to the above units, it operates 17 patrol ships, 5 survey vessels, 4 experimentation ships, 4 ocean tugboats and 14 training vessels.
The French Navy does not use the term "destroyer" in vessel names. Instead, surface combatants of the first rank (such as the Aquitaine class) are named "frigates", though they are registered as destroyers (with hull numbers "Dxxx").
Submarine fleet (Forces sous-marines)
Class | Picture | Type | Boat | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Triomphant class | Ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) | Triomphant (S616) Téméraire (S617) Vigilant (S618) Terrible (S619) | 14,335 tonnes | ||
Rubis class | Attack submarine (SSN) | Rubis (S601) Casabianca (S603) Émeraude (S604) Améthyste (S605) Perle (S606) | 2,660 tonnes | To be replaced by 6 Suffren class starting 2020.[4] |
Surface fleet (Bâtiments de combat)
Aircraft carrier
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aircraft carrier | Charles de Gaulle (R91) | 42,500 tonnes |
Amphibious warfare
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mistral class | Landing helicopter dock (LHD) | Mistral (L9013) Tonnerre (L9014) Dixmude (L9015) | 21,500 tonnes |
Major surface combatants
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Horizon class | Air-defence destroyer | Forbin (D620) Chevalier Paul (D621) | 7,050 tonnes | ||
Cassard class | Air-defence destroyer | Jean Bart (D615) | 5,000 tonnes | To be replaced by two Aquitaine-class AAW variants. | |
Aquitaine class | Anti-submarine destroyer | Aquitaine (D650) Normandie (D651) Provence (D652) Languedoc (D653) Auvergne (D654) Bretagne (D655) |
6,040 tonnes | ||
Georges Leygues class | Anti-submarine destroyer | La Motte Picquet (D645) Latouche-Tréville (D646) | 4,910 tonnes | To be decommissioned by 2022.[5] | |
La Fayette class | General-purpose frigate | La Fayette (F710) Surcouf (F711) Courbet (F712) Aconit (F713) Guépratte (F714) | 3,800 tonnes | To be replaced by FTI; three (La Fayette, Courbet and Aconit) to be upgraded, including addition of hull-mounted sonar[6] | |
Floréal class | Surveillance frigate | Floréal (F730) Prairial (F731) Nivôse (F732) Ventôse (F733) Vendémiaire (F734) Germinal (F735) | 2,950 tonnes | Class has anti-ship missiles removed and functions in a second-rank "surveillance frigate" role. |
Patrol
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Offshore patrol & support vessel | L'Astrolabe (P800) | 4,000 tonnes | Co-operated by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) Administration and the French Navy. | ||
D'Entrecasteaux class | Offshore patrol vessel | D'Entrecasteaux (A621) Bougainville (A622) Champlain (A623) Dumont D'Urville (A624) |
2,300 tonnes | ||
D'Estienne d'Orves class | Offshore patrol vessel | Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff (F789) Premier-Maître L'Her (F792) Commandant Blaison (F793) Enseigne de vaisseau Jacoubet (F794) Commandant Ducuing (F795) Commandant Birot (F796) Commandant Bouan (F797) | 1,250 tonnes | Originally entered service as avisos (sloops / light corvettes), reclassified as OPVs in 2012.[7] | |
La Confiance class | Offshore patrol vessel | La Confiance (P733) La Résolue (P734) La Combattante (P735) | 700 tonnes | ||
L'Audacieuse class | Coastal patrol vessel | La Glorieuse (P686) | 480 tonnes | To be decommissioned by 2020; to be replaced in 2022-25 period by 6 POM-type patrol vessels.[8][9] |
Mine countermeasures
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Éridan class | Minehunter | Cassiopée (M642) Andromède (M643) Pégase (M644) Orion (M645) Croix du sud (M646) L'Aigle (M647) Lyre (M648) Sagittaire (M650) Céphée (M652) Capricorne (M653) | 615 tonnes | ||
Vulcain class | Clearance diving | Vulcain (M611) Achéron (A613) Styx (M614) Pluton (M622) | 490 tonnes | ||
Antarès class | Sonar towing vessel | Antarès (M770) Altaïr (M771) Aldébaran (M772) | 340 tonnes | ||
Coastguard
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coastal patrol vessel | Malin (P701) | 1,300 tonnes | An ex-trawler. | ||
Lapérouse class | Coastal patrol vessel | Arago (P675) | 980 tonnes | An ex-hydrographic survey vessel. | |
Coastal patrol vessel | Fulmar (P740) | 550 tonnes | An ex-trawler. | ||
Flamant class | Patrol boat | Flamant (P676) Cormoran (P677) Pluvier (P678) | 390 tonnes |
These vessels operate in conjunction with the Maritime Gendarmerie.
Auxiliary fleet (Bâtiments de soutien)
Replenishment
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Durance class | Replenishment oiler | Var (A608) Marne (A630) Somme (A631) | 17,900 tonnes | Also equipped to fulfill the role of command ship. |
Intelligence, research and experimentation
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tracking ship | Monge (A601) | 21,040 tonnes | |||
SIGINT | Dupuy de Lôme (A759) | 3,600 tonnes | |||
DGSE diving support | Alizé (A645) | 1,600 tonnes | Also used to test new equipment and diving procedures. | ||
Lapérouse class | Mine-warfare experimentation | Thétis (A785) | 1,050 tonnes |
Survey
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oceanographic survey | Pourquoi pas ? | 6,600 tonnes | Operated by IFREMER (55%) and the French Navy (45%) with civilian crew.[10] | ||
Oceanographic survey | Beautemps-Beaupré (A758) | 3,292 tonnes | |||
Lapérouse class | Hydrographic survey | Lapérouse (A791) Borda (A792) Laplace (A 793) | 980 tonnes |
Tugboats
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UT515 class | Oceangoing tug | Abeille Bourbon Abeille Liberté | 4,000 tonnes | Operated under charter. | |
UT507 class | Oceangoing tug | Abeille Flandre Abeille Languedoc | 2,220 tonnes | Operated under charter. |
Support
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Support and pollution control | Argonaute Jason Pionnier Sapeur | 2-4,000 tonnes | Operated under charter. | ||
Loire class | Offshore support and assistance | Loire (A602) Rhône (A603) Seine (A604) Garonne (A605) | 2,960 tonnes |
Training
Class | Picture | Type | Ship | Displacement | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Training vessel | Rebel | 2,900 tonnes | Operated under charter.[11] | ||
Training vessel | Partisan | 2,340 tonnes | Operated under charter. | ||
Léopard class | Training vessel | Léopard (A748) Panthère (A749) Jaguar (A750) Lynx (A751) Guépard (A752) Chacal (A753) Tigre (A754) Lion (A755) | 470 tonnes | ||
Glycine class | Navigation training | Glycine (A770) Églantine (A771) | 295 tonnes | ||
Paimpolaise class | Sail training | Étoile (A649) Belle-Poule (A650) | 275 tonnes | Schooner. |
Other
- 17 x RPC12 harbour and coastal tugboats
For a complete list of Bâtiments de soutien (Auxiliaries) see Bâtiments de soutien at the official Marine Nationale website.
See also
References
- "Forces sous-marines" (in French). defense.gouv.fr. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- "Liste des bâtiments de combat de la Marine nationale par unité" (in French). defense.gouv.fr. 19 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- "Liste des bâtiments de soutien par unité" (in French). defense.gouv.fr. 21 October 2014. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- "La construction du prochain SNLE français débutera en 2023". Mer et Marine (in French). 2016-10-06. Archived from the original on 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
- "Une année charnière pour le renouvellement de la marine française". Mer et Marine (in French). 2019-01-11. Archived from the original on 2019-01-25. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
- "DCNS Wins French Navy La Fayette-class Frigate Upgrade Program". Navy Recognition. Archived from the original on 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- Between 2011 and 2017 heavy armaments have been removed.
- "Patrouilleurs de la Marine nationale - Sénat". www.senat.fr. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
- https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2019/12/socarenam-shipyard-selected-to-deliver-6-french-navy-opvs-for-overseas-territories/
- Forces de surface - Les bâtiments hydrographiques et océanographiques Archived 2013-07-19 at WebCite, defense.gouv.fr, Retrieved 28 June 2014
- "Le nouveau navire plastron de la Marine nationale arrive à Toulon". Mer et Marine. Archived from the original on 2016-01-16. Retrieved 2016-01-13.
External links
- (in English) French Navy - Guide Book 2011
- (in English) French Navy - Facts & Figures 2011
- (in French) Marine Nationale - List of ships
- (in French) Marine Nationale - Blogs for individual ships
- (in French) Net Marine
- (in French) Alabordache