French Navy

The French Navy (Marine Nationale) is the naval arm of the French military and is the second-largest Western European navy (the largest being the United Kingdom's Royal Navy). It operates a full range of vessels, from patrol boats to guided missile frigates, one nuclear aircraft carrier and four strategic missile submarines (SNLEs).

The current Navy aircraft carrier is the Charles De Gaulle (Normally, the French Navy operates two carriers, but only one of the latest generation has been built yet).

File:Logo-marine-nationale.jpg

Logo of the French Navy

The Navy is organised in five branches:

The "Force d'Action Navale" ("Naval Action Force"), surface fleet
The "Forces Sous-marines" ("Submarine forces"), stategic nuclear deterrent fleet
The "Aviation Navale" ("Naval air force"), ground and sea-based planes and helicopters
The "Fusiliers de Marine" ("Naval fusiliers", ground forces, used to secure naval installations) and "Commandos de Marine" (amphibious assault and other special operations), collectively known as FORFUSCO.
The "Gendarmerie Navale", police operations and coast guard

Note that the Troupes de Marine ("Naval Troops"), organised in Régiments d'Infanterie de Marine (the famous elite RIMa) are the modern name of the Troupes Coloniales ("Colonial Troops"), and are not part of the Navy, but of the Army.

Ranks of the National Navy

The following are the ranks of the French National Navy. Firstly, the proper French term is used, with an English translation that follows the Royal Navy/Canadian Navy ranking systems.

Officers

Amiral. = Admiral
Vice-amiral d'escadre. = Vice Admiral
Vice-amiral = Rear Admiral
Contre-amiral = Commodore
Capitaine de vaisseau = Captain
Capitaine de frégate = Commander
Capitaine de corvette = Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant de vaisseau = Lieutenant
Enseigne de vaisseau de première classe = Sub Lieutenant
Enseigne de vaisseau de deuxième classe = Acting Sub Lieutenant
Aspirant Midshipman

Majors

Major = Warrant Officer

Officiers mariniers / Non-commissioned Officers

Maître principal = Chief Petty Officer First Class
Premier maître = Chief Petty Officer Second Class
Maître = Petty Officer First Class
Second-maître = Petty Officer Second Class

Militaires du rang (équipage)- Non-Commissioned Members

Quartier-maître de première classe = Leading Seaman
Quartier-maître de deuxième classe = Able Seaman
Matelot breveté = Ordinary Seaman

History

The French navy is affectionately known as La Royale (the "Royal"), for its supposed attachement to the monarchy; it is to be noted that some of the greatest heroes of the First Republic were in the French Navy (Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca, Robert Surcouf, Latouche-Tréville).

Technological innovations (19th century)

*Le Napoléon* (1850), the first purpose-built steam battleship in history.

During the 19th century, eager to challenge British naval supremacy, the French Navy took a leadership role in many areas of warship development, with the introduction of new technologies:

France led the development of shell guns for the Navy, with its invention of Henri-Joseph Paixhans
In 1850, Le Napoléon became the first steam battleship in history.
La Gloire became the first seagoing ironclad in history when she was launched in 1853.
In 1863, the French Navy launched Plongeur, the first submarine in the world to be propelled by mechanical power.
In 1876, the Redoutable became the first steel-hulled warship ever.

The French Navy also became an active proponent of the "Nouvelle Ecole" doctrine, calling for small but powerfull warship using shellguns to anihilate the British fleet.

Her conceptual and technological edge proved attractive to the newly industializing Japan, when the French engineer Emile Bertin was invited for four years to design a new fleet for the Imperial Japanese Navy, which led to her success in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894.

The motto of the French navy is "Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline" ("Honour, Homeland, Valour, Discipline").

Present developments

Navy officers on the bridges of the frigate *La Motte-Picquet*

The French Navy is undertaking a significant reinforcement, both in modernising and in number, under the Projet de loi de programmation militaire 2003-2008 ("Military programme law project 2003-2008")[1] , which notably calls for

A second aircraft carrier - conventionally propelled (the current Charles De Gaulle is nuclear), and built to a similar design as the British CVF ships.
4 Horizon units; two are now under construction, the third one should be ordered in 2007
17 FREMM multipurpose frigates - 8 should be ordered between 2003 and 2008, the first commissioning being expected for 2008
6 nuclear attack submarines of the Barracuda class - 2 should be ordered between 2003 and 2008, the first commissioning being expected for 2012

The equipment will also be modernised, notably

New models of the successful Exocet missile
MBDA Aster and SYLVER launcher systems for anti-missile/anti-air defence
Cruise missiles (the naval or submarine SCALP EG)

External links

Official site
Alabordache French Navy
French Fleet Air Arm French Naval Aviation