Clemenceau class aircraft carrier
Clemenceau
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|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | DCNS |
| Operators: | |
| In commission: | 22 November 1961 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Active: | São Paulo (ex-Foch) |
| Retired: | Clemenceau |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 22,000 standard; 32,780 maximum |
| Length: | 265 m (869 ft) |
| Beam: | 51.2 m (168 ft) |
| Draught: | 8.6 m (28 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Range: | 7,500 miles |
| Armament: |
8 × 100mm (now 4 × dual Simbad launchers and 5 × 12.7 mm machine guns in São Paulo) |
| Aircraft carried: | 40 |
| Aviation facilities: | Angled flight deck for CATOBAR operations |
8 × 100mm (now 4 × dual Simbad launchers and
The Clemenceau-class aircraft carriers are a pair of aircraft carriers which served in the French Navy from 1961 until 2000, and of which one currently remains in active service with the Brazilian Navy as São Paulo. The Clemenceau class was France's first successful aircraft carrier design after World War II and was the backbone of the French Fleet for the duration of its forty years of service.
By the early 1950s, the French Navy had in service a number of aircraft carriers, the most modern of which was Arromanches. However, all of them were small and increasingly incapable of operating modern aircraft, which were steadily increasing in size. To ensure French independence in defence matters, a new class of two modern fleet carriers was envisaged. Displacing just under 35,000 tons each, the new ships would be slightly smaller than the Royal Navy's newly commissioned 43,000 ton Audacious-class ships, but they would be capable ships for their size built from scratch to take advantage of the latest ideas in aircraft carrier design, including angled flight deck, steam catapults and mirror landing aid, and would operate a brand new generation of French designed carrier based aircraft.
The draft statute prepared by the Naval General Staff in 1949 asked for four aircraft carriers of 20,000 tons to be available in two phases. At its meeting of 22 August 1949, the Supreme Council of the Navy was even more ambitious where they asked for a six aircraft carrier fleet. On 15 July 1952, the French Navy still wanted between two and five for the French Union (not available to the NATO). According to RCM 12, the final document of the Lisbon Conference of 1952, France should make available to NATO an aircraft carrier on D-day, two on day 30, three on day 180. However, by 1953, the Navy had to be satisfied with two aircraft carriers. The PA 54 Clemenceau, budgeted in 1953, was delayed until November 1955, the PA 55 Foch, budgeted for 1955, was delayed until February 1957. Between 1980 and 1981, she underwent a study to certify the platform before catapulting aircraft carrying missiles, bombs, AM-39 Exocet and tactical nuclear bombs. Both Clemenceau and Foch underwent a modernization and refit, replacing 4 of their 8 100mm guns with 2 Crotale air-defense systems. In 1997, Foch also received 2 Sadral launchers (for 6 Mistral missiles each); those launchers were purchased by France in 1994.
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Wikipedia