That was on it's maiden voyage when a propeller fell off, and it had to be towed back into port for repairs. But the company that had originally built the huge propellers for the Charles de Gaulle had gone backrupt and they had to cannibalize two other French ships to replace the lost propellor.
The ship's flight decks, though, were too short to accommodate the American Hawkeye radar aircraft that France had bought for the vessel. And in addition, the decks had been painted with a substance that eroded the arrest wires used to slow the aircraft as they landed.
The ship's electronics circuits were malfunctioning, while its personnel, it emerged, were being exposed to unacceptable levels of radiation (this was France's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and they'd been trying to use a design that had originally been planned for nuclear submarines.
The glass used on the bridge turned opaque, which meant that officers on the bridge had a hell of a time seeing where they were going. Oh, and then there were the ship's huge number of washing machines, which were all bolted down side-by-side, and when the washers all hit the spin cycle at once, the whole carrier would shake.
But other than that, it's a beautiful carrier, just the kind you'd want to wish on the Chinese navy. There was a really classic FR thread years ago dealing with the Charles de Gaulle, but sadly I can't find it.