French aircraft carrier heads home

BBC News ^ | 02/17/2003

[dighton]

The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is returning to France next week, say French officials, apparently scotching suggestions that it might be heading for the Gulf.

The vessel set sail on 4 February from its Mediterranean home port of Toulon, amid speculation that its final destination might be the Gulf.

Officially the vessel was heading for exercises off Crete, but some military analysts believed that it would subsequently join the build-up of military forces in the Gulf.

However, a senior French naval spokesman said on Monday there was “no question” of the Charles de Gaulle going to the Gulf.

“As planned, we will leave Crete again on 21 February and we should arrive back in Toulon on 25 February,” said Lieutenant Commander Bertrand Bonneau of the Charles de Gaulle battle group.

“There is no question at all of us going to the Gulf,” he told the French news agency AFP.

France has been leading European resistance to an early conflict with Iraq, but has been expected to eventually back a war if it believes all diplomatic routes have been exhausted.

Its confirmation that the Charles de Gaulle was returning home appeared to suggest that even in the medium future, it saw no place for conflict.

“I assumed the Charles de Gaulle would steam on to the Gulf,” said Ewan Southby-Tailyour, editor of Jane’s Amphibious and Special Forces.

“I think the statement about it returning home might be just “today’s statement”.

“It is almost certainly directed at the Americans, to try to add credence to their political statement in the UN Security Council.

“They are trying to show the US they really don’t believe we should be going to war yet.”

The French Government had not confirmed speculation that the Crete exercises would lead on to a Gulf deployment, but the Defence Ministry had stressed that the Charles de Gaulle was set for any mission.

“When a ship sails, it goes battle-ready - in terms of its crew, its weaponry and its aircraft, in times of peace or crisis,” said spokesman Christophe Prazuck at the time the vessel set sail.

“A ship like the Charles de Gaulle is not half-operation, or giving an illusion of being operational. It is totally operational.”

The Charles de Gaulle’s three weeks of exercises have included some with a US aircraft carrier, the Harry S Truman, deployed in the Mediterranean ahead of a possible war.

The exercises have taken place between Sicily and Crete, with the Charles de Gaulle based at Souda Bay on Crete, about 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Athens.

Fighting power

If, as analysts suspect, the Charles de Gaulle eventually turns round once again and sails back towards the Gulf, it will take around two days’ extra sailing to get back to the eastern Mediterranean.

From there - or from closer to the Gulf - the French vessel could be used to deploy French aircraft to join any war on Iraq.

Around 40 aircraft are on board, including fighter jets and reconnaissance planes.

The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle has been beset by technical problems over the years, but is a potent symbol of French military power.

It returned in July 2002 from a seven-month mission in the Indian Ocean as part of the war against terror.

Although France is still strongly backing extended weapons inspections, it sees war as a last resort, and is thought to fear being sidelined militarily if war does finally come.

[El Gato]

You've heard of a Preemptive Attack? This is a Preemptive Surrender.

[Cuttnhorse]

"If France does decide to send the carrier back to the Persian Gulf, President Bush should issue the following statement"

Excellent Dan, brilliant idea!

I'm convinced the French are terrified about what we are going to find after we liberate Iraq. I suspect there is a lot of nasty weapon stuff with, "Made In France" plastered on it.

[El Gato]

Notice that this just a model of the Joffre. In reality it was never built, the French just surrendered to the Germans instead. If it had been built, it would have been comparable to the USS Yorktown.

[Balata]

They can't find a country that will accept their surrender.

[Cuttnhorse]

"Actually the French Naval base at Toulon has a history of being the place where the French fleet was scuttled in WWII."

On another post someone made the statement that the British actually fired on the French fleet at Toulon because they refused to scuttle the fleet and the English were certain the Frenchies were going to throw in with the Germans. The post also said a lot of French sailors died in the action. True??

[dagnabbit]

The first name of this aircraft carrier was "Richelieu" but for political reasons it has been renamed Charles de Gaulle (under Jacques Chirac's government) after the famous WWII general.

From Jane's Ships 2004:

In 2003 the ship was again renamed. As the "Petain", however, the warship sailed only briefly from a new home port in Basra, Iraq. In the opening hours of the Second Gulf War, the vessel and its crew were captured by a Polish Navy auxiliary supply vessel. Deemed unseaworthy by the Poles, the vessel now functions as a municipal warehouse and homeless shelter in Gdansk.

[rmlew]

If I had the misfortune of commanding a CVBG with the CDG, I would get it OUT of the Persian Gulf in a dispute.
The CDG lacks a CIWS like the Phalanx or Russian 630. It was supposed to have teh Euroslam/Ater 15 missle in 3 VLS batteries. To my knowledge, these have not been installed. Thus the carrier lacks any real anti-missle capability. Worse, the French lack any escourts with real defense capacilities. They only have the obsolete Masurca missle and the US Navy SM-1MR. Thus the carrier group is basically defenseless.

[Atchafalaya]

With its fantail between its legs.

[PokeyJoe]

. . . and they ran low on bananas.

[rmlew]

You are thinking of Mers-El-Kabir.

[Rocky]

On its first overseas trip to the U.S. it lost a screw outside of Norfolk.

So, if I understand you correctly, the French have a screw loose?

[aculeus]

The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle has been beset by technical problems over the years, but is a potent symbol of French military power.

A sly dig? Or careless writing?

[Cuttnhorse]

Thanks

[Cuttnhorse]

"A sly dig? Or careless writing?"

That's just what I thought when I read it.

[knak]

surrendered already....geez

[The Wizard]

want to get that ship back in the dock before it gets hurt

[Gamecock]

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CNN.com

FRENCH NAVY SURRENDERS

Leader of Religion of Peace: "I rejoice that Allah's will was accepted by France." Story Tools VIDEO NATO find agreement on Turkey. CNN's Robin Oakley reports (February 17) SPECIAL REPORT • Interactive: U.S. military deployments • Timeline: • Maps: • Latest developments: Iraq Tracker • Document: Iraq weapons declaration • Excerpts: U.N. inspectors' reports [[div class="cnnbotBullets"]]• Map: [[A HREF="/SPECIALS/2002/iraq/bases/index.html"]]Potential U.S. military bases[[/A]][[/div]] -->

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- "We Frenchman have learned to accept defeat. It is in our nature." said spokesman Francois LaPue. "We will implement a new government based on the successful model used during the German occupation in World War II."

The Axis of Weasels agreed that Turkey -- NATO's only Muslim member would form a transitional government in Paris by mid-week.

"I rejoice that the French recognized that Allah's will is for them to surrender and that the timing was right in that and they will become part of the overall solidarity," said a member of Islam, the Religion of Peace, who stressed that Islam must now "march on."

Story Tools

[M Kehoe]

"The French!" "What are they good for!" "Absolutely Nothing!" "Say it again!"

"France!" "What is it good for!" "Absolutely nothing," "Say it again..."

Temptations? War? E.Starr?

Never mind

5.56mm

[cynicom]

Is it true that the carrier is being towed by two sailors in a dinghy????

[McGavin999]

I think they were told that we wouldn't be able to fit them into any of the war plans. They might as well go home, I don't think our guys would trust them.