(Redirected from Marine nationale)
The 'French Navy', officially the 'Marine Nationale' (''National Navy'') and often called 'La Royale' (''The Royal [Navy]''), is the maritime arm of the
French military. It consists of a full range of vessels, from patrol boats to guided missile frigates, and includes one nuclear
aircraft carrier and ten
nuclear submarines (four of which are
submarine-launched ballistic missile–capable (SNLEs)).
The motto of the French Navy is ''Honneur'', ''Patrie'', ''Valeur'', ''Discipline'' ("Honour, Homeland, Valour, Discipline"). These words are found on the deck of every ship of the Navy.
The French Navy today
Frigate division of the French Navy in
Toulon harbour
As of 2006, the French Navy is the largest naval employer in
Western Europe, including, among other things, the
Marseille Marine Fire Battalion. The chief of the general staff is Admiral
Alain Oudot de Dainville[1].
The Navy is organised in five branches:
★ The "''
Force d'Action Navale''" ("Naval Action Force"), surface fleet
★ The "''
Forces Sous-marines''" ("Submarine forces"), strategic nuclear deterrent fleet based at
ÃŽle Longue
★ The "''
Aviation Navale''" ("Naval air force"), ground and sea-based planes and helicopters
★ The "''
Fusiliers de Marine''" ("Naval fusiliers", ground forces used to secure naval installations) and "''
Commandos de Marine''" (amphibious assault and other special operations), collectively known as
FORFUSCO.
★ The "''
Gendarmerie Navale''", police operations and coast guard
Note that the ''
Troupes de Marine'' ("Naval Troops"), organised in ''Régiments d'Infanterie de Marine'' (the famous elite ''RIMa'') are the modern name of the ''Troupes Coloniales'' ("Colonial Troops"), and are not part of the Navy, but of the
Army.
Currently, French naval doctrine calls for two
aircraft carriers, but the French only have one, the
''Charles de Gaulle'', due to restructuring. The navy is in the midst of major technological and procurement changes; newer submarines and a second aircraft carrier have been ordered on top of the
Rafales (the naval version) replacing older aircraft.
:''See also:
Current French Navy ships''
Future developments
The French Navy is undertaking a significant reinforcement, both in modernising and in number, under the ''Projet de loi de programmation militaire 2003–2008'' ("Military programme law project 2003–2008")
[2]
, which notably calls for:
★ A
second aircraft carrier (not yet ordered) to be delivered before 2015, the start of a scheduled repair and maintenance period for the nuclear powered ''
Charles De Gaulle''. The new carrier will be built in cooperation with a British program for two 65,000 ton conventionally-powered aircraft carriers, with alterations to best fit French needs and better benefit from French construction capabilities.
★ Two
''Horizon'' units (the ''
Forbin'' and ''
Chevalier Paul'') that are now fitting out;
★ 17
FREMM multipurpose frigates—eight have so far been ordered, the first of which is due to be delivered in 2011.
[1].
★ Six nuclear attack submarines of the
''Barracuda'' class—the first commissioning (the ''Suffren'') being expected for 2017.
The equipment will also be modernised, notably
★ New models of the successful
Exocet missile
★
MBDA Aster and
SYLVER launcher systems for anti-missile/anti-air defence
★ Cruise missiles (the naval or submarine
''SCALP EG'')
Ranks of the National Navy
Main articles: Ranks in the French Navy
The following are the ranks of the French National Navy, showing the French rank, the English translation, and the equivalent in the
Royal Navy and the English language rank system of the
Canadian Navy.
Officers
Majors
★ ''
Major'' is equivalent to a Royal Navy
Warrant Officer 1.
Officers mariniers / Non-commissioned Officers
★ ''Maître principal'', in English: "Principal Master", is equivalent to a Royal Navy
Warrant Officer 2.
★ ''Premier maître'', in English: "First Master", is equivalent to a Royal Navy
Chief Petty Officer
★ ''Maître'', in English: "Master", is is equivalent to a Royal Navy
Petty Officer.
★ ''Second-maître'', in English: "Second Master", is is equivalent to a Royal Navy
Petty Officer, but more junior.
Militaires du rang (équipage)- Junior ranks
★ ''Quartier-maître de première classe'', in English: "
Quarter-master First Class" is equivalent to a Royal Navy
Leading Seaman
★ ''Quartier-maître de deuxième classe'', in English: "
Quarter-master Second Class" is equivalent to a Royal Navy
Able Seaman
★ ''Matelot breveté'', in English: "Certified Mate", is equivalent to a Royal Navy
Ordinary Seaman
History
Main articles: History of the French Navy
The French navy is affectionately known as ''La Royale'' ("the Royal"). The reason is not well known; some theorise that it is for its traditional attachment to the
French monarchy, some others said that before to be named "nationale", the Navy had be named "royale" or simply because of the location of its headquarters, "
rue Royale" in
Paris. The navy did not sport the royal titles common with other
European navies like the
British Royal Navy.
Middle Ages
The history of the French Navy goes back to the Middle Ages, when it was defeated by the English at the
Battle of Sluys and, with
Castilian help, managed to beat the English at the
Battle of La Rochelle.
The Navy became a consistent instrument of national power around the seventeenth century with
Louis XIV. Under the tutelage of the "Sun King," the French Navy was well financed and equipped, managing to score several early victories in the
Nine Years War against the
Royal Navy and the
Dutch Navy. Financial troubles, however, forced the navy back to port and allowed the English and the Dutch to regain the initiative. Before the Nine Years War, in the
Franco-Dutch War, it managed to score a decisive victory over a combined Spanish-Dutch fleet at the
Battle of Palermo.
18th century
French Navy 120 cannon warship ''
L'Océan''. 1st Empire.
The eighteenth century saw the beginning of Royal Navy domination, which managed to inflict a number of significant defeats on the French. However, the French Navy continued to score various successes, as in the campaigns led in the Atlantic by
Picquet de la Motte. In 1766,
Bougainville led the first French circumnavigation.
During the
American War of Independence the French Navy played a decisive role in supporting the American side. In a very impressive effort, the French under
de Grasse managed to defeat a British fleet at the
Battle of the Chesapeake in
1781, thus ensuring that the Franco-American ground forces would win the ongoing
Battle of Yorktown.
In India,
Suffren managed impressive campaigns against the British (1770-1780), successfully contending for supremacy against Vice-Admiral Sir
Edward Hughes.
The French Revolution, in eliminating numerous officers of noble lineage (among them,
Charles d'Estaing), all but crippled the French Navy. Efforts to make it into a powerful force under Napoleon were dashed by the death of
Latouche Tréville in 1804, and the
Battle of Trafalgar in
1805, where the British all but annihilated a combined Franco-Spanish fleet. The disaster guaranteed British naval domination until World War II.
The only French Naval victory against the British during the Napoleonic Wars was the 1810
Battle of Grand Port, a
frigate action in the
Indian Ocean won by Admiral
Duperré.
19th century revival
Global interventions
In a speech in 1852, Napoleon III famously proclaimed that "The Empire means peace" ("''L'Empire, c'est la paix''"), but actually he was thoroughly determined to follow a strong foreign policy to extend France's power and glory. Around that time, the French Navy was involved in a multitude of actions around the world.
Oceania
In 1842, the French Navy took over
Tahiti under Admiral
Abel Aubert Dupetit Thouars. French activity in those parts would continue throughout the 19th century, as his nephew
Abel-Nicolas Bergasse Dupetit Thouars went on pacifying the
Marquesas Islands in 1880.
The Crimean War
Napoleon's challenge to
Russia's claims to influence in the
Ottoman Empire led to France's successful participation in the
Crimean War (March
1854–March
1856). During this war Napoleon successfully established a French alliance with
Britain, which continued after the war's close.
East Asia
Napoleon took the first steps to establishing a French colonial influence in Indochina. He approved the launching of a naval expedition in
1858 to punish the
Vietnamese for their mistreatment of French Catholic missionaries and force the court to accept a French presence in the country. An important factor in his decision was the belief that France risked becoming a second-rate power by not expanding its influence in East Asia. Also, the idea that France had a civilising mission was spreading. This eventually led to a full-out invasion in 1861. By 1862 the war was over and Vietnam conceded three provinces in the south, called by the French
Cochin-China, opened three ports to French trade, allowed free passage of French warships to Cambodia (which led to a French protectorate over Cambodia in 1867), allowed freedom of action for French missionaries and gave France a large indemity for the cost of the war.
In China, France took part in the
Second Opium War along with
Great Britain, and in
1860 French troops entered
Beijing. China was forced to concede more trading rights, allow freedom of navigation of the Yangzi river, give full civil rights and freedom of religion to Christians, and give France and Britain a huge indemnity. This combined with the intervention in Vietnam set the stage for further French influence in China leading up to a sphere of influence over parts of Southern China.
In 1866, French Navy troops made an attempt to colonise
Korea, during the
French Campaign against Korea. The French Navy also had a significant presence in Japan with the
Bombardment of Shimonoseki in
1863. In 1867-1868, some level of presence in Japan was maintained around the actions of
French Military Mission to Japan, and the subsequent
Boshin war.
In the
Sino-French War (1884-1885), the French Navy obliterated the Chinese navy at the
Battle of Foochow.
Mexico
The French Navy conducted a successful blockade of Mexico in the
Pastry War of
1838. It was then heavily involved in
French intervention in Mexico (January
1862–March
1867). Napoleon, using as a pretext the Mexican Republic's refusal to pay its foreign debts, planned to establish a French sphere of influence in North America by creating a French-backed monarchy in Mexico, a project which was supported by Mexican conservatives tired of the anti-clerical Mexican republic.
Technological innovations (19th century)
In the nineteenth century, the navy recovered and became the second finest in the world after the Royal Navy. The French Navy, eager to challenge British naval supremacy, took a leadership role in many areas of warship development, with the introduction of new technologies.
★ France led the development of shell guns for the Navy, with its invention by
Henri-Joseph Paixhans
★ In
1850, ''
Le Napoléon'' became the first steam-powered battleship in history.
★ ''
La Gloire'' became the first seagoing
ironclad in history when she was launched in
1853.
★ In 1863, the French Navy launched ''
Plongeur'', the first submarine in the world to be propelled by mechanical power.
★ In 1876, the ''
Redoutable'' became the first steel-hulled warship ever.
★ In 1887, the
''Dupuy de Lôme'' became the world's first
armored cruiser.
The French Navy also became an active proponent of the "''
Jeune École''" doctrine, calling for small but powerful warship using shell guns to annihilate the British fleet.
Her conceptual and technological edge proved attractive to the newly industrialising
Japan, when the French engineer
Émile Bertin was invited for four years to design a new fleet for the
Imperial Japanese Navy, which led to her success in the
First Sino-Japanese War in
1894.
20th century
The development of the French Navy slowed down in the beginning of 20th century, and as a result, it was outnumbered by the German and US Navies, which were also technically superior. It was late to introduce new battleships -
dreadnoughts and
light cruisers and it entered World War I with relatively few modern vessels. During the war, the main French effort was on land, so not many new warships were built. Despite it, it performed well in World War I. The main operation of the French Navy was
Dardanelles Campaign. Most significant losses during the war were four pre-dreadnought battleships.
A number of major ships of the French Navy at the outbreak / end of World War I
[2]
★
dreadnought battleships: 4/7
★
pre-dreadnought battleships: 17/13
★
armoured cruisers: 22/18
★
protected cruisers: 13/12
★
destroyers: 35/42 (displacement over 500 tons)
★
torpedo boats: 180/164
★
submarines: 50/61
The first proto-aircraft carrier
The invention of the
seaplane in 1910 with the French ''
Le Canard'' led to the earliest development of ships designed to carry airplanes, albeit equipped with floats. In
1911 appears the French Navy ''
La Foudre'', the first
seaplane carrier. She was commissioned as a seaplane tender, and carried float-equipped planes under hangars on the main deck, from where they were lowered on the sea with a crane. ''La Foudre'' was further modified in November 1913 with a 10 metre flat deck to launch her seaplanes.
[3]
Genesis of the flat-deck carrier
| "An airplane-carrying vessel is indispensable. These vessels will be constructed on a plan very different from what is currently used. First of all the deck will be cleared of all obstacles. It will be flat, as wide as possible without jeopardizing the nautical lines of the hull, and it will look like a landing field." |
| Clément Ader, "L'Aviation Militaire", 1909 |
As heavier-than-air aircraft developed in the early 20th century various navies began to take an interest in their potential use as scouts for their big gun warships. In
1909 the French inventor
Clément Ader published in his book "
L'Aviation Militaire" the description of a ship to operate airplanes at sea, with a flat flight deck, an island superstructure, deck elevators and a hangar bay.
[4] That year the US Naval Attaché in Paris sent a report on his observations
[5] and the first experiments to test the concept were made in the United States from 1910. In 1920,
Paul Teste achieved the first carrier landing of the history of the French Navy, aboard the
''Béarn''. Despite it, the French Navy did not go further in developing and building aircraft carriers.
Fleet Construction Between the World Wars
After the World War I, the French Navy remained the 4th in the world, after the British, US and Japanese navies, but the Italian navy, considered as the main enemy, was close. This order of fleets was sanctioned by the 1922
Washington Naval Treaty.
Every naval fleet consists of a variety of ships of different sizes, and no fleet has enough resources to make every vessel supreme in its class. Nonetheless, different countries strive to excel in particular classes. Between the world wars, the French fleet was remarkable in its building of small numbers of ships that were "over the top" with relation to their equivalents of other powers.
For example, the French chose to build "super-destroyers" which were deemed during the Second World War by the Allies as the equivalent of light cruisers. The ''
Le Fantasque'' class of
destroyer is still the world's fastest class of destroyer. The ''
Surcouf'' submarine was the largest and most powerful of its day. The ''
Dunkerque'' class battleships, designed specially to fight the German so-called
pocket battleships, were, in spite of their relatively small size, very well-balanced designs and precursors of a new fast battleship generation in the world. The
''Richelieu'' class full-size battleships are considered by some experts as most successful battleships, built under displacement limits of Washington Treaty in the world
[6].
Major ships of the French Navy at the beginning of German attack in May 1940
[7]:
★ modern battleships: 2 (plus 1 in last stadium of construction and 1 in construction)
★ old battleships - dreadnoughts: 5 (including 2 training ones)
★ aircraft carriers: 1
★
heavy cruisers: 6
★
light cruisers: 11
★ big
destroyers: 32 (''Contre-Torpilleurs'')
★ destroyers: 26 (plus 8 in last stadium of construction)
★ submarines: 77 (plus several in construction)
World War II
At the outset of the war, the French Navy participated in a number of operations against the
Axis Powers, patrolling the Atlantic and bombarding
Genoa. The French surrender and its armistice terms, however, completely changed the situation: the French fleet immediately withdrew from the fight.
The British perceived the French fleet as a potentially lethal threat, should the French become formal enemies or, more likely, should the German Navy (''
Kriegsmarine'') gain control. It was essential that they should be put out of action. Some vessels were in British-controlled ports in Britain or Egypt. These ships were either persuaded to re-join the Allies as part of the Free French Navy (''
Forces navales françaises libres'', FNFL) or they were boarded and disarmed.
The bulk of the fleet, however, was in
Dakar or
Mers-el-Kebir. The Royal Navy delivered an ultimatum but, when agreement proved impossible, they opened fire and sunk or damaged much of the French fleet (
Operation Catapult) on 3 July 1940. The action soured Anglo-French relations and inhibited further defections to the Allies.
In November, 1942, the Allies invaded
French North Africa. In response, the Germans occupied (
Case Anton)
Vichy France, including the French naval port of
Toulon, where the main part of the surviving French fleet lay. This was a major German objective and forces under SS command had been detailed to capture them (Operation ''Lila''). This eventually resulted in the
Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon. No capital ships and few others were taken in reparable condition
[3]. A few ships fled Toulon and joined the Allies, notably the submarine ''
Casabianca''.
Following this, more French moved to the Allies, including ships interned in Egypt, and there were French
FNFL warships supporting the landings in southern France (
Operation Dragoon) and Normandy (
Operation Neptune).
Customs
Prefixes
The French Navy does not use
prefixes of the names of its ships (such as the Royal Navy uses
HMS, for instance). Foreign commentators sometimes use the prefixes "FS" (for "French Ship") or FNS (for "French Navy Ship"); these are not official, however.
Addressing officers
Unlike in the
French army and
air force, one does not prepend ''mon'' to the name of the rank when addressing an officer (that is, not ''mon capitaine,'' but simply ''capitaine'').
[4]
This custom is sometimes said to date back to the
Battle of Trafalgar, when
Napoleon decided that French Navy officers did not deserve to be called "''monsieur''" (''mon'' being here elliptical for ''monsieur'').
Addressing a French Navy lieutenant de vaisseau (for instance) with a "''mon capitaine''" will attract the traditional answer "''Dans la Marine il y a Mon Dieu et mon cul, pas mon capitaine !''" ("In the Navy there are My God and my arse, no 'my captain'!").
Famous French Naval Officers
Corsairs
★
Robert Surcouf
★
Jean Bart
★
René Duguay-Trouin
Heroes of the First Republic
★
Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca
★
Latouche-Tréville
Explorers
★ Captain
La Pérouse
★ Captain
Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
★
Dumont d'Urville
★
Bougainville
★ Captain
Cousteau
Other important French naval officers
★ Admiral
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
★ Admiral
d'Estaing, admiral of the French fleet which help the USA secure independence
★
François Joseph Paul de Grasse - commander of the French fleet at
Chesapeake Bay during the American Revolutionary War.
★
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve - commander of the French and
Spanish fleets at the
Battle of Trafalgar
★
Paul Teste, pioneer of the modern aeronaval operations.
★
Pierre Loti, mostly known for his literary works
Notes
1. epicos.com
2. S. A. Balakin: ''VMS Francyy 1914-1918'', Morskaya Kollekcya 3/2000 (in Russian)
3. Descriptionand photograph of ''Foudre''
4. Clement Ader on the structure of the aircraft carrier:
"An airplane-carrying vessel is indispensable. These vessels will be constructed on a plan very different from what is currently used. First of all the deck will be cleared of all obstacles. It will be flat, as wide as possible without jeopardizing the nautical lines of the hull, and it will look like a landing field." Military Aviation, p35
On stowage:
"Of necessity, the airplanes will be stowed below decks; they would be solidly fixed anchored to their bases, each in its place, so they would not be affected with the pitching and rolling. Access to this lower decks would be by an elevator sufficiently long and wide to hold an airplane with its wings folded. A large, sliding trap would cover the hole in the deck, and it would have waterproof joints, so that neither rain nor seawater, from heavy seas could penetrate below." Military Aviation, p36
On the technique of landing:
"The ship will be headed straight into the wind, the stern clear, but a padded bulwark set up forward in case the airplane should run past the stop line" Military Aviation, p37
5. Reference
6. W. H. Garzke, R. O. Dulin: ''Battleships. Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II'', Naval Institute Press, 1985, ISBN 0-87021-101-3
7. V. V. Ivanov: ''Korabli Vtoroy Mirovoy voyny: VMS Francyy'' (Корабли Второй Мировой войны: ВМС Франции), Morskaya Kollekcya 11/2004 (in Russian)
Gallery
See also
★
List of Naval Ministers of France
★
★
List of French battleships
★
★
★
French 100 mm naval gun
★
Exocet
External links
★
Official site
★
Alabordache French Navy
★
French Fleet Air Arm, about French naval aviation.
★
net marine, a well documented database on French navy.
★
French Navy in World War 1, including warship losses
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