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Clemenceau (R 98)
Encyclopedia
Clemenceau (R 98), often affectionately called "le Clem'", was the lead ship of her class
, and the 6th aircraft carrier
of the French Navy
, serving from 1961 to 1997. She was the second French warship to be named after Georges Clemenceau
, the first one being a battleship of the Richelieu class
, laid down in 1939 but never finished. The Clemenceau, under the name Q-790, is to be dismantled and recycled by Able UK
at Graythorpe
, Hartlepool
, England
.
. The ship was a small but effective design, using elements of United States carrier design, but to a smaller scale. The vessels were given relatively heavy gun armament for their size, and some stability problems were encountered which required bulging the hull.
Clemenceau went through a major refit from September 1977 to November 1978. She was again refitted with new defensive systems from 1 September 1985 to 31 August 1987, including replacement of four of the 100 mm guns with a pair of Crotale
surface-to-air missile launchers.
Clemenceau and her sister ship Foch
served as the mainstays of the French fleet. During her career Clemenceau sailed more than 1000000 nautical miles (1,852,000 km) in 3,125 days at sea, all over the world.
1982–1984 Lebanon civil war. She rotated with the Foch, providing constant on-station air support to French peacekeepers.
1987–1988 Operation Prométhée. The ship receives orders to position in Oman sea, to protect French merchant traffic in Persian gulf from Iranian speedboats during war between Iran and Iraq. She arrives on area on 15 August. Iranian P-3 Orion intercepted by F-8 Crusader on CAP. The Promethee battle force, Task Force 623, réalise l'opération Prométhée, included the support ship Loire, Clémenceau, le PR Meuse, les BCR Var et Marne.
1990, the ship escorted by the Colbert and the Var
, transported 40 helicopters (SA-341F/ -342 Gazelles, SA-330 Pumas), three Br-1050 Alizés and trucks to Iraq during 'Desert storm & Desert shield'.
1993–1996 several tours including combat operations and air patrol over former Yugoslavia during operation 'Balbuzard' to support the UN's troops.
issue of 19 June 1968 reported a mutiny
aboard the Clemenceau. The carrier was bound for a nuclear test in the Pacific at the end of May, but was brought back to Toulon. Three families were informed that their sons had been 'lost at sea'. The magazine of the UNEF (National Union of Students of France
) apparently carried a fuller report in its 14 June issue but the print run was seized.
started protesting against France's plans to outsource the scrapping of the 27,000-ton warship
laden with toxins such as asbestos
, PCBs
, lead
, mercury
and other toxic chemicals in India in violation of the Basel Convention
.
On 31 December 2005 Clemenceau left the French port of Toulon
to be dismantled in Alang, Gujarat, India
. On 6 January 2006 the Supreme Court of India
temporarily denied access to Alang. Six days later the ship reached Egypt
, where she was boarded by two Greenpeace
activists. Egyptian authorities denied access to the Suez Canal
.
On 15 January the ship was finally allowed to pass. This decision was heavily criticised by Greenpeace and other environmental groups. That same day French President Jacques Chirac
ordered Clemenceau to return to French waters and remain on standby following a ruling by France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'État.
After she had been lying off the French naval port at Brest
for over two years, Able UK
issued a press release on 1 July 2008 confirming that they had been given the contract to dismantle the Clémenceau at its TERRC (Teesside Environmental Reclamation & Recycling Centre) facility at Graythorpe, Hartlepool
. Special dispensation was given to Able by the UK HSE
to handle the asbestos
content of the carrier which would normally have been prohibited by its Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
The vessel was moved to Able UK after this was authorised by court proceedings of 29 September 2008, and Clemenceau arrived at Graythorp on Sunday, 8 February 2009.
The dismantling of the ship started on 18 November 2009 and is expected to be complete by summer 2010. Although highly controversial, the quality of the dismantling operation has been complimented by independent environmental groups.
On the 5 February 2010, there was a fire on board.
Clemenceau class aircraft carrier
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...
, and the 6th aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
, serving from 1961 to 1997. She was the second French warship to be named after Georges Clemenceau
Georges Clemenceau
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the...
, the first one being a battleship of the Richelieu class
Richelieu class battleship
The Richelieu class battleships were the last and largest battleships of the French Navy, staying in service into the 1960s. They still remain to this day the largest warships ever built by France...
, laid down in 1939 but never finished. The Clemenceau, under the name Q-790, is to be dismantled and recycled by Able UK
Able UK
Able UK is a British based company specialising in the rehabilitation and development of disused sites and facilities, demolition, site reclamation, re-mediation, regeneration and waste disposal...
at Graythorpe
Graythorpe
Graythorpe is a village within the borough of Hartlepool and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is located about 1 mile south of Hartlepool....
, Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
Development of Clemenceau represented France's successful effort to produce its own class of multi-role carriers to replace American and British ships which were provided at the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The ship was a small but effective design, using elements of United States carrier design, but to a smaller scale. The vessels were given relatively heavy gun armament for their size, and some stability problems were encountered which required bulging the hull.
Clemenceau went through a major refit from September 1977 to November 1978. She was again refitted with new defensive systems from 1 September 1985 to 31 August 1987, including replacement of four of the 100 mm guns with a pair of Crotale
Crotale missile
The Crotale EDIR is an all-weather short-range anti-air missile, which can be used to intercept low-flight anti-ship missiles and aircraft...
surface-to-air missile launchers.
Clemenceau and her sister ship Foch
Foch (R 99)
Foch was the second of the French Navy. She was the second warship named in honour of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, after a heavy cruiser commissioned in 1932, and scuttled in Toulon on 27 November 1942....
served as the mainstays of the French fleet. During her career Clemenceau sailed more than 1000000 nautical miles (1,852,000 km) in 3,125 days at sea, all over the world.
Missions
1974 Independence of Djibouti, in the Indian Ocean.1982–1984 Lebanon civil war. She rotated with the Foch, providing constant on-station air support to French peacekeepers.
1987–1988 Operation Prométhée. The ship receives orders to position in Oman sea, to protect French merchant traffic in Persian gulf from Iranian speedboats during war between Iran and Iraq. She arrives on area on 15 August. Iranian P-3 Orion intercepted by F-8 Crusader on CAP. The Promethee battle force, Task Force 623, réalise l'opération Prométhée, included the support ship Loire, Clémenceau, le PR Meuse, les BCR Var et Marne.
1990, the ship escorted by the Colbert and the Var
Durance class tanker
The Durance class is a series of multi-product replenishment oilers, originally designed and built for service in the French Navy. Besides the five ships built for the French Navy, a sixth was built for the Royal Australian Navy, while the lead ship of the class currently serves with the Argentine...
, transported 40 helicopters (SA-341F/ -342 Gazelles, SA-330 Pumas), three Br-1050 Alizés and trucks to Iraq during 'Desert storm & Desert shield'.
1993–1996 several tours including combat operations and air patrol over former Yugoslavia during operation 'Balbuzard' to support the UN's troops.
Reports of a mutiny
During the May 1968 social turmoil the French political/satirical magazine Le Canard enchaînéLe Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné is a satirical newspaper published weekly in France. Founded in 1915, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.-Early...
issue of 19 June 1968 reported a mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
aboard the Clemenceau. The carrier was bound for a nuclear test in the Pacific at the end of May, but was brought back to Toulon. Three families were informed that their sons had been 'lost at sea'. The magazine of the UNEF (National Union of Students of France
Union nationale des étudiants de france
The National Union of Students of France is the main national students' union in France....
) apparently carried a fuller report in its 14 June issue but the print run was seized.
Disposal controversy
In December 2004, before Clemenceau set sail for India, GreenpeaceGreenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
started protesting against France's plans to outsource the scrapping of the 27,000-ton warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
laden with toxins such as asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
, PCBs
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...
, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
and other toxic chemicals in India in violation of the Basel Convention
Basel Convention
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known simply as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of...
.
On 31 December 2005 Clemenceau left the French port of Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
to be dismantled in Alang, Gujarat, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. On 6 January 2006 the Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
temporarily denied access to Alang. Six days later the ship reached Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where she was boarded by two Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
activists. Egyptian authorities denied access to the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
.
On 15 January the ship was finally allowed to pass. This decision was heavily criticised by Greenpeace and other environmental groups. That same day French President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
ordered Clemenceau to return to French waters and remain on standby following a ruling by France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'État.
After she had been lying off the French naval port at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
for over two years, Able UK
Able UK
Able UK is a British based company specialising in the rehabilitation and development of disused sites and facilities, demolition, site reclamation, re-mediation, regeneration and waste disposal...
issued a press release on 1 July 2008 confirming that they had been given the contract to dismantle the Clémenceau at its TERRC (Teesside Environmental Reclamation & Recycling Centre) facility at Graythorpe, Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
. Special dispensation was given to Able by the UK HSE
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
to handle the asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
content of the carrier which would normally have been prohibited by its Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
The vessel was moved to Able UK after this was authorised by court proceedings of 29 September 2008, and Clemenceau arrived at Graythorp on Sunday, 8 February 2009.
The dismantling of the ship started on 18 November 2009 and is expected to be complete by summer 2010. Although highly controversial, the quality of the dismantling operation has been complimented by independent environmental groups.
On the 5 February 2010, there was a fire on board.
General Arrangement
Notable popular culture
- A 1985 television commercial for the Citroën VisaCitroën VisaThe Citroën Visa is a supermini that was produced by the French car marque Citroën from 1978 to 1988.-Development History:The Citroën Prototype Y to replace the 2CV based Citroën Ami that dated back to 1960 in the early seventies, was originally developed in co-operation with Fiat...
GTI car was shot on Clemenceau. A race pits the car against a Dassault Étendard IV; both continue off the end of the carrier, with the small automobile briefly keeping pace with the aircraft before plummeting into the ocean. Seconds later, though, the car triumphantly emerges, perched on the foredeck of a surfacing Agosta classAgosta 90B class submarineThe Agosta class submarines are French diesel attack submarines used by Spain, Pakistan and formerly by France. The French Navy grouped this model of submarine in their most capable class as an océanique, meaning "ocean-going." A modernised version built for Pakistan, the Agosta 90B, has a crew of...
submarine.
See also
- List of aircraft carriers
- List of ship launches in 1957
- List of ship commissionings in 1961
- List of ship decommissionings in 1997
External links
Aircraft Carrier Clemenceau on Alabordache- Deadly Vessel : Feature on the Vessel in the IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n newsmagazine FrontlineFrontline (magazine)Frontline is a fortnightly English language magazine published by The Hindu Group of publications from Chennai, India. Narasimhan Ram is the editor-in-chief of the magazine. As a current affairs magazine, it covers domestic and International news. Frontline gives a prominent place to various... - Victory: Toxic warship Clemenceau turned back to France! : Greenpeace View of the controversy
- Clemenceau docks in Hartlepool : Summary of final years