French Navy – Wikipedia

The French Navy ( french : Marine nationale, light. ‘National Navy ‘ ), informally La Royale, is the nautical branch of the french Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most potent naval forces in the world, [ 4 ] ranking seventh in combined flit tonnage and fifth in number of naval vessels. [ 5 ] The french Navy is one of eight presently operating fixed-wing aircraft carriers, with its flagship Charles de Gaulle being the only nuclear-powered aircraft aircraft carrier outside the United States Navy, and the only non-American vessel to use catapults to launch aircraft. [ 6 ] The french Navy consists of six main components : the Naval Action Force, the Submarine Forces ( FOST and ESNA ), french Naval Aviation, the Navy Riflemen ( including Naval Commandos ), the Marseille Naval Fire Battalion, and the Maritime Gendarmerie. As of 2021, the french Navy employed 44,000 personnel ( 37,000 military and 7,000 civilian ), more than 180 ships, 200 aircraft, and six commando units ; [ 7 ] as of 2014, its reservation chemical element numbered roughly 48,000. [ 8 ] Founded in the seventeenth century, with precursors dating back to the Middle Ages, the french Navy is one of the oldest navies still in continual service. It has taken part in key events in french history, and played a critical function in establishing and securing the french colonial empire for over 400 years. As a blue-water dark blue, it operates a wide roll of fighting vessels, including diverse aeronaval forces, attack and ballistic projectile submarines, frigates, patrol boats and documentation ships, with the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle serve as the centerpiece of most expeditionary forces .

Origins [edit ]

The history of french naval power dates back to the Middle Ages, and had three venue of development :

Names and symbols [edit ]

The first true french Royal Navy ( french : la Marine Royale ) was established in 1624 by Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister to King Louis XIII. During the french Revolution, la Marine Royale was formally renamed la Marine Nationale. Under the First French Empire and the Second French Empire, the united states navy was designated as the Imperial French Navy ( la Marine Française Impériale ). Institutionally, however, the dark blue has never lost its short companion nickname, la Royale. The original symbol of the french Navy was a golden anchor, which, beginning in 1830, was interlaced by a glide lasso ; this symbol was featured on all naval vessels, arms, and uniforms. [ 9 ] Although anchor symbols are still used on uniforms, a fresh naval logo was introduced in 1990 under Naval Chief of Staff Bernard Louzeau, featuring a modern design that incorporates the tricolor —by flanking the bow section of a white warship with two ascending red and blasphemous spray foams—and the inscription “ Marine nationale “ .

history [edit ]

The historic “ gold anchor ” symbol

seventeenth century [edit ]

Cardinal Richelieu personally supervised the Navy until his death in 1643. [ 10 ] He was succeeded by his protégé, Jean Baptiste Colbert, who introduced the first gear code of regulations of the french Navy, and established the original naval dockyards in Brest and Toulon. [ 10 ] Colbert and his son, the Marquis de Seignelay, between them administered the Navy for twenty-nine years. [ 10 ] During this century, the Navy cut its teeth in the anglo-french War ( 1627–1629 ), the Franco-Spanish War ( 1635–59 ), the second Anglo-Dutch War, the Franco-Dutch War, and the Nine Years ‘ War. major battles in these years include the Battle of Augusta, Battle of Beachy Head, the Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue, the Battle of Lagos, and the Battle of Texel .

eighteenth century [edit ]

arming of a frigate in Brest, 1773 The 1700s opened with the War of the spanish Succession, over a ten long, followed by the War of the austrian Succession in the 1740s. principal engagements of these wars include the Battle of Vigo Bay and two separate Battles of Cape Finisterre in 1747. The most arduous conflict for the Navy, however, was the Seven Years ‘ War, in which it was virtually destroyed. [ 10 ] Significant actions include the Battle of Cap-Français, the Battle of Quiberon Bay, and another Battle of Cape Finisterre. The Navy regrouped and rebuild, and within 15 years it was eager to join the fray when France intervened in the american Revolutionary War. [ 10 ] Though outnumbered everywhere, the french fleets held the british at bay for years until victory. [ 10 ] After this conflict and the attendant anglo-french War ( 1778–1783 ), the Navy emerged at a raw height in its history. [ 10 ] major battles in these years include the Battle of the Chesapeake, the Battle of Cape Henry, the Battle of Grenada, the invasion of Dominica, and three separate Battles of Ushant. Within less than a decade, however, the Navy was decimated by the french Revolution when big numbers of veteran officers were dismissed or executed for their baronial lineage. [ 10 ] Nonetheless, the Navy fought vigorously through the french Revolutionary Wars adenine well as the Quasi-War. meaning actions include a fourth Battle of Ushant ( known in English as the Glorious First of June ), the Battle of Groix, the Atlantic political campaign of May 1794, the french excursion to Ireland, the Battle of Tory Island, and the Battle of the Nile .

nineteenth century [edit ]

Napoleon inspecting the fleet of Cherbourg in May 1811 ( by Rougeron and Vignerot ) other engagements of the Revolutionary Wars ensued in the early on 1800s, including the Battle of the Malta Convoy and the Algeciras Campaign. The Quasi-War wound down with single-ship actions including USS Constellation five La Vengeance and USS Enterprise vanadium Flambeau. When Napoleon was crowned Emperor in 1804, he attempted to restore the Navy to a position that would enable his plan for an invasion of England. [ 10 ] His dreams were dashed by the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, where the british all but annihilated a compound Franco-Spanish fleet, a disaster that guaranteed british naval superiority throughout the Napoleonic Wars. still, the Navy did not shrink from legal action : among the engagements of this meter were the Battle of the Basque Roads, the Battle of Grand Port, the Mauritius campaign of 1809–11, and the Battle of Lissa. After Napoleon ‘s fall in 1815, the long era of anglo-french competition on the seas began to close, and the Navy became more of an instrument for expanding the french colonial empire. [ 10 ] Under King Charles X, the two nations ‘ fleets fought side by side in the Battle of Navarino, and throughout the rest of the century they generally behaved in a manner that paved the means for the Entente Cordiale. [ 10 ] Charles X sent a big fleet to execute the invasion of Algiers in 1830. The adjacent class, his successor, Louis Philippe I, made a display of wedge against Portugal at the Battle of the Tagus, and in 1838 conducted another display of gunboat diplomacy, this time in Mexico at the Battle of Veracruz. Beginning in 1845, a five-year anglo-french blockade of the Río de la Plata was imposed on Argentina over trade rights. The Emperor Napoleon III was determined to follow an even stronger alien policy than his predecessors, and the Navy was involved in a multitude of actions around the populace. He joined in the Crimean War in 1854 ; major actions for the Navy include the siege of Petropavlovsk and the Battle of Kinburn. The Navy was heavy involved in the Cochinchina Campaign in 1858, the Second Opium War in China, and the french treatment in Mexico. It took part in the french campaign against Korea, and fight Japan in the barrage of Shimonoseki. In the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the Navy imposed an effective blockade of Germany, but events on country proceeded at such a rapid pace that it was otiose. Isolated engagements between French and German ships took invest in other theaters, but the war was over in a matter of weeks. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] The Navy continued to protect colonial guard and expansion under the french Third Republic. The Sino-French War saw considerable naval action including the Battle of Fuzhou, the Battle of Shipu, and the Pescadores Campaign. In Vietnam, the Navy helped engage the Tonkin Campaign which included the Battle of Thuận An, and it belated participated in the Franco-Siamese War of 1893. The nineteenth century French Navy brought forth numerous new technologies. It led the development of naval weapon with its invention of the highly effective Paixhans gunman. In 1850, Napoléon became the first base steam-powered transport of the line in history, and Gloire became the first oceangoing ironclad warship nine years late. In 1863, the Navy launched Plongeur, the beginning submarine in the global to be propelled by mechanical power. In 1876, Redoutable became the first steel-hulled warship ever. In 1887, Dupuy de Lôme became the global ‘s first armoured cabin cruiser. During the latter part of the hundred, french officers developed the alleged Jeune École ( Young School ) hypothesis that emphasized the use of small, cheap torpedo boats to destroy expensive battleships, coupled with long-range department of commerce raiders to attack an adversary ‘s merchant flit .

twentieth hundred [edit ]

The first seaplane, the french Fabre Hydravion, was flown in 1910, and the first gear seaplane carrier, Foudre, was christened in the adopt year. [ 13 ] Despite that invention, the general development of the french Navy slowed down in the begin of the twentieth hundred as the naval arms race between Germany and Great Britain grew in intensity. It entered World War I with relatively few modern vessels, and during the war few warships were built because the main french campaign was on down. While the british held command of the North Sea, the french held the Mediterranean, where they by and large kept watch on the Austro-Hungarian Navy. [ 10 ] The largest operations of the Navy were conducted during the Dardanelles Campaign. [ 10 ] In December 1916, during the Noemvriana events, french warships besides bombarded Athens, trying to force the pro-German government of Greece to change its policies. [ 14 ] The french Navy besides played an crucial character in countering Germany ‘s U-boat campaign by regularly patrolling the seas and escorting convoys. [ 10 ]
Cassard-class frigate -class frigate Between the World Wars, the Navy modernized and expanded importantly, even in the face of limitations set by the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. [ 10 ] New additions included the heavy and fast Fantasque class “ super- destroyers “, the Richelieu -class battleships, and the bomber Surcouf which was the largest and most powerful of its sidereal day. From the start of World War II, the Navy was involved in a number of operations, participating in the Battle of the Atlantic, the norwegian Campaign, the Dunkirk elimination and, briefly, the Battle of the Mediterranean. however, after the fall of France in June 1940, the Navy was obligated to remain achromatic under the terms of the armistice that created the truncate state of Vichy France. Worldwide, some 100 naval vessels and their crews heeded General Charles de Gaulle ‘s call to join forces with the british, but the bulge of the flit, including all its capital ships, transferred commitment to Vichy. Concerned that the german Navy might somehow gain control of the ships, the british mounted an assail on Mers-el-Kébir, the Algerian city where many of them were harbored. The incident poisoned anglo-french relations, leading to Vichy reprisals and a all-out naval struggle at Casablanca in 1942 when the Allies invaded french North Africa. But the confrontations were set aside once the Germans occupied Vichy France. The capital ships were a primary goal of the occupation, but before they could be seized they were scuttled by their own crews. A few humble ships and submarines managed to escape in time, and these joined de Gaulle ‘s Free French Naval Forces, an arm of free France that fought as an adjunct of the Royal Navy until the end of the war. In the Pacific field adenine well, Free French vessels operated until the japanese capitulation ; Richelieu was show at the japanese Instrument of Surrender. The Navy later provided arouse defend and troop transport in the Indochina War, the Algerian War, the Gulf War, and the Kosovo War .

twenty-first century [edit ]

Since 2000, the Navy has given logistic confirm to the War in Afghanistan ( 2001–2021 ) vitamin a well as the ball-shaped War on Terror. In 2011, it assisted Opération Harmattan in Libya .

organization [edit ]

french dark blue facilities in metropolitan France ( status 2015 ) The head of the naval staff is Vice-admiral vitamin d ’ escadre Arnaud de Tarlé, [ 15 ] and as of 2014 the Navy has an active force of 36,776 military personnel and 2,909 civilian staff. [ 16 ] The Navy is organised into four main operational branches :
In addition, the National Gendarmerie of France maintain a maritime effect of patrol boats that falls under the operational control of the french Navy :

• The Gendarmerie maritime – The coast guard of France.

During most of the Cold War, the Navy was organised in two squadrons based in Brest and Toulon, commanded by ALESCLANT ( Amiral commandant l’escadre de l’Atlantique ) and ALESCMED ( Amiral commandant l’escadre de la Méditerranée ) respectively. Since the post-Cold War restructure process named Optimar ’95, the two components have been divided into the Naval Action Force ( commanded by ALFAN ) and the Antisubmarine Group ( commanded by ALGASM ). [ 17 ]

Main naval bases [edit ]

As of 2014, the largest french naval base is the military port of Toulon. early major bases in metropolitan France are the Brest Arsenal and Île Longue on the Atlantic, and Cherbourg Naval Base on the English Channel. Overseas french bases include Fort de France and Degrad des Cannes in the Americas ; Port des Galets and Dzaoudzi in the indian Ocean ; and Nouméa and Papeete in the Pacific. In addition, the navy shares or leases bases in extraneous locales such as Abu Dhabi, Dakar and Djibouti .

equipment [edit ]

La Capricieuse

Ships and submarines [edit ]

Although french naval doctrine calls for two aircraft carriers, the french only have one, Charles de Gaulle. in the first place a plan order for french aircraft carrier PA2 was based on the design of the british Queen Elizabeth -class aircraft carrier recently constructed and launched for the british Royal Navy. however, the french program had been delayed respective times for budgetary reasons and the result was precedence being given to the more exportable FREMM project. In April 2013 it was confirmed that the second aircraft carrier project would be abandoned due to defence cuts announced in the 2013 French White Paper on Defence and National Security. The french Navy operates three amphibious assault ships, and has a commitment to ten air defense and anti-submarine frigates, five general purpose frigates and six fleet submarines ( SSNs ). This constitutes the french Navy ‘s chief ocean-going war-fighting impel. In addition the french Navy operates six light surveillance frigates and, as of 2020, six avisos ( originally light corvettes now reclassified as patrol vessels ). They undertake the united states navy ‘s offshore patrol combat duties, the protection of french Naval bases and territorial waters, and can besides provide low-end escort capabilities to any oceangoing task force. The four ballistic projectile submarines ( SSBN ) of the navy ‘s Strategic Oceanic Force provide the spinal column of the french nuclear deterrent .

aircraft [edit ]

The french Naval Aviation is officially known as the Aéronautique navale and was created on the 19 June 1998 with the unite of Naval patrol aircraft and aircraft carrier squadrons. It has a persuasiveness of around 6,800 civilian and military personnel operating from four airbases in Metropolitan France. The Aéronavale has been modernized with 40 Rafale fighters which operate from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle .

Personnel [edit ]

Application necessity [edit ]

Seamen [edit ]

Seamen must be at least 17 but no more than 24 years previous, with a minimal degree of schooling .

petty Officers [edit ]

junior-grade officers must be at least 17 but no more than 24 years erstwhile, with at least a high school diploma giving access to university studies. petty Officer Candidate begin training with five months at the Petty Officer School at Brest .

contract officers [edit ]

contract officers serve on an initial eight-year shrink, renewable improving to 20 years .

• Operational officers must be 21 to 26 years old, with at least a Bachelor of Science degree, or having passed a classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles in engineering or business.
• Staff officers have to be 21 to 29 years old, with an honors degree or master’s degree in a field corresponding to the military occupational specialty.

career officers [edit ]

• Less than 22 years old, having passed a classe préparatoire in science. After four years at the École Navale (naval academy) a cadet will graduate as Enseigne de Vaisseau with an engineering degree.
• Less than 25 years old, having an honors degree in science. After three years at the naval academy a cadet will graduate as Enseigne de Vaisseau with an engineering degree.
• Less than 27 years old, having a master’s degree. After two years at the naval academy a cadet will graduate as an Enseigne de Vaisseau.

Customs and traditions [edit ]

Ranks [edit ]

The rank insignia of the french Navy are worn on shoulder straps of shirts and whiten jackets, and on sleeves for navy jackets and mantels. Until 2005, lone commissioned officers had an anchor on their insignia, but enlisted personnel are now receiving them a well. Commanding officers have titles of capitaine, but are called commandant ( in the united states army, both capitaine and commandant are ranks, which tends to stir some confusion among the public ). The two highest ranks, vice-amiral d’escadre and amiral ( admiral ), are functions, rather than ranks. They are assumed by officers ranking vice-amiral ( frailty admiral ). The only amiral de la flotte ( Admiral of the Fleet ) was François Darlan after he was refused the dignity of amiral de France ( Admiral of France ). equivalent to the dignity of Marshal of France, the crying of amiral de France remains theoretical in the Fifth Republic ; it was last granted in 1869, during the Second Empire, but retained during the Third Republic until the death of its carrier in 1873. The title of amiral de la flotte was created sol that Darlan would not have an subscript rank than his counterpart in the british Royal Navy, who had the absolute of Admiral of the Fleet .

commissioned policeman ranks [edit ]

The social station insignia of accredited officers .

other ranks [edit ]

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlist personnel .

Addressing officers [edit ]

Unlike in the french Army and air out and space storm, one does not prepend mon to the list of the rank when addressing an policeman ( that is, not mon capitaine, but just capitaine ). [ 20 ] Addressing a french Navy lieutenant de vaisseau ( for exemplify ) with a “ mon capitaine “ will attract the traditional suffice “ Dans la Marine il y a Mon Dieu et mon cul, pas mon capitaine! “ ( “ In the Navy there are My God and my buttocks, no ‘my captain ‘ ! “ ) [ citation needed ] .

Uniforms [edit ]

military music [edit ]

The Toulon isthmus in Brest The independent military musical whole of the french Navy is the Band of the Toulon Fleet ( french : La musique des équipages de la flotte de Toulon ), founded on 13 July 1827. [ 21 ] The Bagad Lann Bihoue, based on the bagad bands in Bretagne, is presently the sole bagpipe band in the french Navy. In Canada, french naval music has affected the traditions of canadian dark blue bands. french navy bands in the nation date back to the era of New France. [ 22 ] melodious units were chiefly attached to the Compagnies Franches de la Marine and the Troupes de la marine, the erstwhile of which maintained two drums ( tambour ) and a fife .

future [edit ]

France ‘s fiscal problems have affected all branches of her military. The 2013 French White Paper on Defence and National Security cancelled the long-planned modern aircraft carrier and a possible one-fourth Mistral -class amphibious rape ship. [ 23 ] The spinal column of the fleet will be the Aquitaine -class FREMM anti-submarine frigates, replacing the Georges Leygues class, but plans to buy a possible seventeen FREMMs were cut back to eleven and then to eight. The cancellation of the third gear and fourth Horizon destroyers mean that the last two FREMM hulls in 2021/2 will be fitted out as FREDA air-defence ships to replace the Cassard class. [ 24 ] DCNS has shown a FREMM-ER concept to meet this prerequisite, emphasising ballistic projectile defensive structure with the Thales Sea Fire 500 AESA radar. [ 25 ] Industrial considerations mean that the funds for FREMMs 9-11 will now be spent on five more exportable frégates de taille intermédiaire ( FTI, “ intermediate size frigates ” ) from 2023 to supplement, and ultimately replace, the La Fayette class, three of which will be upgraded with raw sonars to operate into the early 2030s. [ 26 ] With respect to support ships, the Durance class will be replaced under the FLOTLOG project by four derivatives of Italy ‘s Vulcano -class logistic back ship, to be delivered in 2023–2029. [ 27 ] construction has started on the first gear of six Barracuda-class nuclear approach submarines ; commissioning of Suffren took place in 2020. These nuclear attack submarines are to be followed in the 2030s by the incremental introduction of a modern class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines ( SSBNs ) whose construction is to begin in around 2023. The inaugural MM40 Exocet Block 3 missile was test-fired in 2010 to be produced. naval versions of the SCALP EG land-attack cruise missile are under growth, along with a planned Aster Block 1NT with greater capabilities against ballistic missiles. In October 2018, the french Ministry of Defence launched an 18-month discipline for €40 million for the eventual future refilling of the aircraft mailman Charles de Gaulle beyond 2030. A decision to build the new carrier was taken by President Emmanuel Macron in 2020 [ 28 ] and once it enters servicing it is anticipated to remain in service until beyond 2080. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] construction of the new carrier is to begin in around 2025 with overhaul entry anticipated in the latter 2030s .

french naval officers [edit ]

Privateers [edit ]

Heroes of the First Republic [edit ]

Explorers [edit ]

other significant french naval officers [edit ]

luminary people who served in the french Navy [edit ]

See besides [edit ]

Marine Nationale [edit ]

References [edit ]

further learn [edit ]

• Jenkins, E H (1973). A History of the French Navy from its Beginnings to the Present Day. London: Macdonald and Jane’s. ISBN 0356-04196-4.
• Randier, Jean (2006). La Royale: L’histoire illustrée de la Marine nationale française. ISBN 978-2-35261-022-9.
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen S., French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1626-1786: Design, Constructions, Careers and Fates (Seaforth Publishing, 2017) ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1; French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786-1861: Design, Constructions, Careers and Fates (Seaforth Publishing, 2015) ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.