List of aircraft carriers of France

The following is a list of aircraft carriers of France. Fifteen aircraft carriers have served the navy or been proposed since the 1910s.

As of 2025, one French carrier—Charles de Gaulle (R91)—remains in service of the French government.

## Key

[edit]

Aircraft | The number of aircraft carried

|

Displacement | Ship displacement at full combat load
Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed generated
Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate
Laid down | The date the keel began to be assembled
Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned

## Seaplane carriers

[edit]

### Foudre

[edit]

Foudre, 1912 Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Foudre
(converted torpedo boat tender)  | 4  | 6,100 t
(6,000 long tons)  | 24 boilers, triple expansion engines, 2 shafts  | 9 June 1892  | 1896
(1912 as carrier)  | Decommissioned on 1 December 1921 and scrapped

### Commandant Teste

[edit]

Commandant Teste Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Commandant Teste | 26  | 12,134 t
(11,942 long tons)  | 4 water-tube boilers, 2 geared steam turbines, 2 shafts  | 6 September 1927  | 18 April 1932  | Scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942
Sold for scrap on 15 May 1950

## Escort carriers

[edit]

### Avenger class

[edit]

Main article: Avenger-class escort carrier

Dixmude at San Francisco, c. 1952 Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Dixmude (A609)
(ex-HMS Biter, ex-Rio Parana)  | 15-21  | 9,100 t
(9,000 long tons)  | 4 diesel engines, 1 shaft  | 28 December 1939  | 9 April 1945
(as Dixmude)  | Returned to the USN on 17 June 1966, sunk in exercise "Deep Six" the next day[1]

## Fleet carriers

[edit]

### Béarn

[edit]

Béarn, 1937 Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Béarn
(converted Normandie class)  | 35-40  | 28,900 t
(28,400 long tons)  | 2 reciprocating steam engines, 2 Parsons geared steam turbines, 4 shafts  | 10 January 1914  | May 1927  | Sold for scrap on 31 May 1967

### Joffre class

[edit]

Main article: Joffre-class aircraft carrier

Joffre class Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Joffre | 40  | 20,000 t
(20,000 long tons)  | 8 water-tube boilers, 2 geared Parsons steam turbine sets, 2 shafts  | 18 November 1938  |  | Scrapped
Painlevé |  |  |  |  |  | Cancelled

### Independence class

[edit]

La Fayette (R96) in Indochina, 1953

Main article: Independence-class aircraft carrier

Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Bois Belleau (R97)
(ex-USS Belleau Wood)  | 33  | 15,300 t
(15,100 long tons)[2] | Steam turbines, 4 propellers  | 11 August 1941  | 5 September 1953
(as Bois Belleau)  | Returned to the USN in September 1960
La Fayette (R96)
(ex-USS Langley)  | 33  | 15,300 t
(15,100 long tons)[2] | Steam turbines, 4 propellers  | 11 April 1942  | 1951
(as La Fayette)  | Returned to the USN in March 1963

### Colossus class

[edit]

Main article: Colossus-class aircraft carrier

Arromanches (R95) operating in the Gulf of Tonkin, c. 1953 Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Arromanches (R95)
(ex-HMS Colossus)  | 48  | 18,300 t
(18,000 long tons)  | 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, Parsons geared turbines, 2 shafts  | 1 June 1942  | August 1946
(as Arromanches)  | Decommissioned on 22 Jan 1974
Scrapped 1978

### Clemenceau class

[edit]

Main article: Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier

Foch (R99) underway during exercise Dragon Hammer, 1992 Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Clemenceau (R98)  | 40  | 32,780 t
(32,260 long tons)  | 6 Indret boilers, 4 steam turbines, 2 shafts  | November 1955  | 22 November 1961  | Decommissioned on 1 October 1997
Scrapped 2009
Foch (R99)  | 40  | 32,800 t
(32,300 long tons)  | 6 Indret boilers, 4 steam turbines, 2 shafts  | 15 November 1957  | 15 July 1963  | Decommissioned on 15 November 2000 and transferred to Brazil as São Paulo

### Verdun

[edit]

Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Verdun | Unknown  | 45,000 t
(44,000 long tons)  | Steam turbines, 4 shafts  |  |  | Cancelled 1961

### Charles de Gaulle

[edit]

Charles de Gaulle (R91) underway, 2009 Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Charles de Gaulle (R91)  | 28-40  | 42,500 t
(41,829 long tons)  | 2 K15 pressurised water reactors (PWR), 4 diesel-electric, 2 shafts  | 14 April 1989  | 18 May 2001  | In service

### PA 2

[edit]

Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
PA 2 | 40  | 75,000 t
(73,815 long tons)  | 2 RR MT-30 gas turbines, 4 diesel-electric engines, shafts  |  |  | Cancelled 2013

### PA-NG

[edit]

Artist's impression of PA-NG Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
PA-NG | 40+  | 75,000 t
(73,815 long tons)  | 2 × K22 pressurised water reactors (PWR), 220 MW (300,000 hp) each  |  | 2038?  | Preliminary design work

## Helicopter carriers

[edit]

### Jeanne d'Arc

[edit]

Jeanne d'Arc (R97) at New York on 4 July 1986 Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Jeanne d'Arc (R97)
(ex-La Résolue)  | 4-8  | 13,270 t
(13,060 long tons)  | Four 10,000 horsepower (7.5 MW) power plants with automatic heating  | 1959  | 16 July 1964  | Decommissioned on 1 September 2010

### PH 75

[edit]

Main article: PH 75

Ship  | Aircraft  | Displacement  | Propulsion  | Service

|
|
|
|

Laid down  | Commissioned  | Fate
Unknown  | 25  | 18,400 t
(18,100 long tons)  | CAS-230 nuclear reactor, 2 shafts  |  |  | Cancelled 1981
Unknown  | 25  | 18,400 t
(18,100 long tons)  | CAS-230 nuclear reactor, 2 shafts  |  |  | Cancelled 1981

## See also

[edit]

* List of active French Navy ships
* List of aircraft carriers
* List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
* List of aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy
* List of aircraft carriers by country

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "Biter". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
2. ^ a b "USS INDEPENDENCE (CV-22)". NavSource Naval history. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

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