The Tonnerre (L9014) is an amphibious assault helicopter carrier 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...

. She is the eighth vessel to bear the name and the second ship in the Mistral class

Mistral class landing platform dock

The Mistral class is a class of three amphibious assault ships, also known as a helicopter carrier, of the French Navy. Referred to as "projection and command ships" , a Mistral class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 NH90 or Tiger helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 vehicles...

 amphibious assault ships.

The Tonnerre was launched on 26 July 2005 and joined active service in December 2006.

Tonnerre’s maiden voyage occurred between 10 April and 24 July 2007. During this voyage, Tonnerre was involved in Opération Licorne

Operation Licorne

Operation Unicorn is the name of the French Armed Forces's peacekeeping operation in support of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire. The French forces have been stationed in the country since shortly after the outbreak of the Ivorian Civil War...

, the French co-deploying complement to the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire

United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire

The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire is a peacekeeping mission whose objective is "to facilitate the implementation by the Ivorian parties of the peace agreement signed by them in January 2003"...

 following the Ivorian Civil War. Gazelle and Cougar helicopters of the French Air Force operated from the ship during 9 July.

At the start of 2008, Tonnerre was involved in the Corymbe 92 mission (see Standing French Navy Deployments

Standing French Navy Deployments

Standing French Navy Deployments is a list of current deployments by the French Navy:*North Sea and Channel Maritime zone**Boulogne sur Mer***Patrol Craft P604 Scarpe **Cherbourg Naval base...

), a humanitarian mission in the Gulf of Guinea

Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean between Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf....

. During this deployment, Tonnerre acted on tip-offs from the European Maritime Analysis Operation Centre – Narcotics, and intercepted 5.7 tonnes of smuggled cocaine: 2.5 tonnes from a fishing vessel 520 kilometres (280.8 nmi) from Monrovia

Monrovia

Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...

 on 29 January, and 3.2 tonnes from a cargo ship 300 kilometres (162 nmi) off Conakry

Conakry

Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...

.

In May 2011, it was reported that the French Military was deploying Eurocopter Tiger

Eurocopter Tiger

The Eurocopter Tiger is an attack helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter. In Germany it is known as the Tiger; in France and Spain it is called the Tigre.-Origins:...

 and Aérospatiale Gazelle

Aérospatiale Gazelle

The Aérospatiale Gazelle is a five-seat light helicopter, powered by a single turbine engine. It was designed and manufactured in France by Sud Aviation . It was also manufactured under licence by Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom , by SOKO in Yugoslavia and ABHCO in Egypt...

 helicopters on the ship to augment forces engaged in Opération Harmattan

Opération Harmattan

Opération Harmattan is the codename for the French participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. It is named for the Harmattan, which are hot dry winds that blow over the Sahara, mostly between November and March. The United States' counterpart to this is Operation Odyssey Dawn, the...

 along with allied ships such as the British helicopter carrier HMS Ocean

HMS Ocean (L12)

HMS Ocean of the Royal Navy is an amphibious assault ship , the sole member of her class. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force...

which also provided its own attack helicopters.

External links

• BPC Tonnerre Force Projection and Command Ship Tonnerre on Alabordache
• BPC Tonnerre Force Projection and Command Ship Tonnerre