Clemenceau class aircraft carrier

Clemenceau
Class overview
Builders:	DCN
Operators:	Marine Nationale  Brazilian Navy
In commission:	22 November 1961
Completed:	2
Active:	São Paulo (ex-Foch)
Retired:	Clemenceau
General characteristics
Displacement:	32,780
Length:	265 m (869 ft)
Beam:	31.7 m (104 ft)
Draught:	8.6 m (28 ft)
Propulsion:	6 x Indret boilers 4 x steam turbines 126,000 shp
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h)
Range:	7,500 miles
Aircraft carried:	40
Aviation facilities:	Angled flight deck for CATOBAR operations

The Clemenceau class aircraft carrier are a pair of aircraft carriers which served in the French Navy from 1961 through 2000, and of which one currently remains in active service with the Brazilian Navy. Clemenceau 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.

Background

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 smaller than the Royal Navy's newly commissioned Audacious class ships, but they would be 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.

Air group

Designed from the outset primarily as attack carriers, the two Clemenceau class ships initially had an air group formed around the new Dassault Étendard IV strike aircraft. As constructed, two squadrons each of ten aircraft were embarked, with a mix of the IVM attack version and IVP reconnaissance type. Additionally, a squadron of up to eight Breguet Alizé aircraft were embarked for the ASW mission, while, owing to the small size of the ships, the Vought F-8 Crusader was determined to be the only realistic option in the interceptor role, with a squadron of eight aircraft embarked from 1963.

Ships in class

The two vessels of the Clemenceau class are:

• Clemenceau, lead ship of the class, was laid down in 1955, launched in 1957, and commissioned in 1961. She served in numerous roles with the French Navy alongside Foch for 36 years until finally decommissioned in 1997. After the end of her service she became embroiled in controversy over her disposal. She is currently in the process of being dismantled and recycled by Able UK at Graythorpe on Teesside, England.^[1]
• Foch, followed "le Clem" by about two years in building, and served slightly longer than the lead ship, being commissioned from 1963 to 2000. However, instead of being destined for scrap, she was immediately transferred to the Brazilian Navy where she continues to serve as São Paulo, the only aircraft carrier currently serving in Brazil.

References

1. ^ "New ghost ship heads to Teesside". BBC News. 8 February 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7877204.stm. Retrieved 8 February 2009.