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.

Naval ensign of France

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)

Main articles: Submarine forces (France) and List of submarines of France

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] To be replaced from 2025 as part of the acquisition of a new class of ocean-going patrol vessels.[8]
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.[9][10]

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	To be replaced from 2025 as part of the acquisition of a new class of ocean-going patrol vessels.

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.[11]
		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.[12]
		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

• Future of the French Navy
• Maritime Gendarmerie
• List of active French Navy landing craft
• List of ships of the line of France
• List of battleships of France
• List of French cruisers
• List of destroyers of France
• List of French sail frigates
• List of French steam frigates

References

1. "Forces sous-marines" (in French). defense.gouv.fr. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
2. "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.
3. "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.
4. "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.
5. "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.
6. "DCNS Wins French Navy La Fayette-class Frigate Upgrade Program". Navy Recognition. Archived from the original on 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
7. Between 2011 and 2017 heavy armaments have been removed.
8. https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/06/french-navy-ageing-phms-and-psps-patrol-vessels-to-be-replaced-with-10-new-opvs/
9. "Patrouilleurs de la Marine nationale - Sénat". www.senat.fr. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
10. https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2019/12/socarenam-shipyard-selected-to-deliver-6-french-navy-opvs-for-overseas-territories/
11. Forces de surface - Les bâtiments hydrographiques et océanographiques Archived 2013-07-19 at WebCite, defense.gouv.fr, Retrieved 28 June 2014
12. "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