Here's an interesting tidbit: in mid-March, there were no less than 34 European naval ships larger than 1,000 tons deployed in the Indian Ocean, the RN
of course being the main contributor. 
Imagine that! I bet many an
admiral would LOVE to take command of such a potent force. 
RN - 13 ships, 198,000 tons
Ships: 1x carrier, 1x SSN, 2x AA destroyers, 3x ASM frigates, 1x LPD, 5x support vessels
Weapons: 18 aircraft, 13 helos, 44 Area SAMs, 136 short-range SAMs, 24 ASMs, 91 torpedoes, 5 guns, 350 troops
French Navy - 12 ships, 98,000 tons
Ships: 1x SSN, 1x AA destroyer, 2x ASM frigates, 3x light frigates, 1x corvette, 1x LHD, 1x helicopter carrier, 2x support vessels
Weapons: 34 helos, 40 Area SAMs, 139 short-range SAMs, 37 ASMs, 50 torpedoes, 7 guns, 1150 troops
Other European Navies - 9 ships, 64,000 tons (4 German, 2 Italian, 1 Spanish, 1 Dutch, 1 Danish)
Ships: 3x AA destroyers, 2x ASM frigates, 2x OPV, 2x support vessels
Weapons: 13 helos, 88 Area SAMs, 202 short-range SAMs, 40 ASMs, 54 torpedoes, 7 guns
****************************************************************************
When you add it all up, you get a solid task force that could lock-down the Indian Ocean or China Sea in case of a "hot war" with a regional power
(the only glaring gap is fighters):
Task Force "Europe" - 34 ships, 360,000 tons
Ships: 1x carrier, 2x SSN, 6x AA destroyers, 7x ASM frigates, 3x light frigates, 1x corvette, 2x OPV, 3x amphibs, 9x support vessels
Weapons: 18 aircraft, 60 helos, 172 Area SAMs, 477 short-range SAMs, 101 ASMs, 195 torpedoes, 19 guns, 1500 troops
I wonder if this is a preview of things to come. Does this mark the emergence of a new naval power East of Suez, with USN hulls numbers set to fall drastically
by ~2020 due to their focus on expensive platforms such as LCS and DDG1000?
East of Suez - An Update
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 esp49129 |
East of Suez - An Update |
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Posts: 75 ( 7-Apr-2008 15:34:10) |
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Sunk at Narvik |
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Posts: 2232 ( 7-Apr-2008 16:58:48) |
Interesting topic- don't forget the British had a sizable fleet EoS until the 70's, when we were replaced by the Russians as the new imperialists
The French have maintained a standing presence throughout. Does anyone know if either of the Clemencau class carriers ever made EoS? |
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bager1968 |
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Posts: 2885 ( 7-Apr-2008 20:27:18) |
Yes, they both did.
In late 1987, I was aboard USS Ranger CV-61, in the northern Indian Ocean/Arabian Gulf (outside the Persian Gulf, and just south of Iran). We were providing air escort for the tanker convoys in the Persian Gulf during the latter part of the Iran-Iraq war. Clemenceau was in the area as well, and when we stood down for a "steel beach day" (granted after 90 continuous days at sea), Clemenceau stood CAP for both task forces. AA USSR Bear patrol bomber flew past at a fairly low altitude, escorted by one of the French F-8E(FN) Crusaders. Clemenceau made EOS at least 3 times: 1974-1975 (Independence of Djibouti, in the Indian Ocean); 1987-1988 (Iran-Iraq war); 1991 (First Gulf war). Foch at least conducted operations with the Indian Navy in 2000, shortly before her transfer to Brazil, and made a port visit to Mumbai (Bombay). She also passed through in 1966 on her way to the French Pacific Nuclear Test Centre. De Gaulle spent the first half of 2002 in the IO, supporting missions in Afganistan.
Last Edited By: bager1968
7-Apr-2008 20:44:31.
Edited 1 times.
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PK |
Important Missions of "Clemenceau" and "Foch" | ||
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Posts: 685 ( 7-Apr-2008 22:07:26) |
See Netmarine.net (in french)
Detailed history of Clemenceau (also in French). During the second half of 1987, Clemenceau was part of operation "Promethée"..
Last Edited By: PK
7-Apr-2008 22:15:59.
Edited 2 times.
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Sunk at Narvik |
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Posts: 2233 ( 8-Apr-2008 10:04:22) |
Thanks for that guys. Always thought a book comparing the post WW2 navies of France and UK would be an interesting study. Theres not much available in English
on the MN. The french have historically taken a different approach to EoS deployments, chosing a standing force rather than the RN's habits of periodic
deployments. They have also struggled to maintain FW carriers although in this regard they were helped by having two good sized carriers (the Clems) built
during the 50's, rather than the RN struggling on with war built ships and designs. The French seem to have based their Clem design on the USN's
rebuilt Essexes- look at the angle deck set way back and the island design? These two ships have served the French well and give us a glimpse of what might
have been if the UK had built new carriers during the 50's as well?
Nevertheless the MN did try and build larger carriers during the 60's at the same time the RN was going through the CVA-01 saga with similar frustrations. I believe Mistral is going EoS this year in place of Charles de Gaulle. |
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esp49129 |
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Posts: 76 ( 8-Apr-2008 12:29:36) |
Mistral crossed from the Indian Ocean to the Far East in late March. She will be in Japan this weekend, and later in China. I'm hoping to get an
invitation to go aboard, but nothing yet. Right now there are 5 small French deployments East of Suez, headed by no fewer than 3 admirals
Last Edited By: esp49129
8-Apr-2008 12:53:13.
Edited 2 times.
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esp49129 |
Operational Tempo | ||
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Posts: 77 (11-Apr-2008 15:52:41) |
Today's topic in my ongoing series of reports on the RN's "sister navy" is: ... drum roll please |
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Craiglxviii |
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Posts: 51 (11-Apr-2008 20:57:03) |
............42
Sir Humphrey: Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now when it's worked so well?
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Rob |
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Posts: 591 (12-Apr-2008 00:12:16) |
 Don't forget your towel on May the 25th.
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esp49129 |
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Posts: 78 (12-Apr-2008 04:04:40) |
I had no idea what you guys were talking about. Luckily, Wikipedia saved me...
42 is indeed a good approximation for the number of major surface units in both the RN/RFA and French Navy. (With a couple of caveats - excluding aircraft carriers, OPVs etc). |
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Rob |
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Posts: 592 (12-Apr-2008 15:01:53) |
Here are the RN/RFA deployments of ships of 1000 tonnes or more right now.
South Atlantic/South America: 5 RN/RFA ships Norway: 5 RN/RFA ships Southern Europe: 2 RN/RFA ships East of Suez: About 14 ships UK waters: About 11 (though some pretty close to port) Another 10 ships below 1000 tonnes at sea. Link. http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/globalops/ |
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