French Mediterranean Fleet
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The French Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, also known as CECMED (French for Commandant en chef pour la Méditerranée) is a French Armed Forces regional commander. He commands the zone, the region and the Mediterranean maritime arrondissements. He is usually an admiral of the French Navy, and is under the direct authority of the French Chief of the Defence Staff. As of 2015[update] the position was held by Admiral Yann Tainguy.
CECMED today is simultaneously:
Today the main French naval combat force in the Mediterranean is the Force d'action navale (FAN) headquartered at Toulon. The Admiral commanding the Naval Action Force (ALFAN) is responsible to the Chief of Staff of the French Navy at the rue Royale in Paris.
Vice-amiral François Fournier was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Squadron (Commandant en chef l'Escadre de Méditerranée) in January 1899 aboard Galilée.
On 20 July 1921 after a series of designation changes, the force again became the Mediterranean Squadron. It became the 1st Squadron on 1 January 1927; the Mediterranean Squadron on 30 October 1936; and the Mediterranean Fleet on 1 July 1939. On the outbreak of war the fleet consisted of the 2nd Squadron (Vice Amiral d'Escadre Emmanuel Ollive) at Toulon, with three older battleships (including Bretagne and Provence) and their fleet torpedo boat escorts; the 3rd Squadron of two divisions of 10,000-ton cruisers (Algerie, Dupleix, Foch in 1e DC) and three divisions of contretorpilleurs, also at Toulon, and the 4th Squadron at Bizerte with a light cruiser division and three divisions of contretorpilleurs, under Rear Admiral André Marquis.
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