Navy League Visits BPC Tonnerre
Le Tonnerre, a "swiss army knife" vessel
The U.S Navy League French Riviera-Monaco Council has organized a visit on board the French Navy BPC “Tonnerre” at the Toulon Arsenal, the French "Marine Nationale" base. With outstanding hospitality, all members of the crew kindly gave many informations during the guided visit of this impressive ship. The Tonnerre is a "Batiment de Projection et de Commandement" (Projection and Command Vessel), an Amphibious Helicopter Attack ship measuring 199m (653 ft) and displacing 21,500 tons. The Tonnerre is a recent high-tech ship conceived to fulfill multi-purpose missions. One of her part has been build under military standards when another part of the vessel is under "civil" standards as the Tonnerre can be sent for humanitarian and rescue tasks. In this case, its huge helicopter hangar can receive up to 200 Picot folding beds. The Tonnerre boasts a fully-equipped hospital with Casualty Clearing Post, X-ray room, dental surgery and a scanner. She can also be a flagship and host a full General Staff in a room offering high-tech features thanks to cutting-edge transmissions technologies. On the other hand, the vessel harbors an 60 m long invert that can be immersed thanks to the ship ballasts and can harbor EDA-Rs (Engins de Débarquement Amphibie Rapide - Fast Amphibious Landing Craft) as well as equipment-carrying barges, or American landing hovercrafts. Equipment and vehicles are stocked in two huge hangars, one of which can shelter some 16 helicopters, depending on their size and ability for rotor blades to fold up. One of her multiple missions is also countering maritime piracy, and Tonnerre boasts an impressive, rich tally of victories over this plague.
In late March, after the three-month Corymbe mission in West Africa, at the end of its last stop in Casablanca, BPC Tonnerre has conducted an exercise at sea with the newest member of the Moroccan Navy, the "Sultan Moulay Ismail". Before that, she distinguished herself with her sister ship "Le Mistral" off the Libyan coast during Operation Harmattan, during which she hosted the French military headquarters. On this occasion, soldiers from the U.S. Air Force were welcomed on the Tonnerre by the coalition to validate the ability of BPC Tonnerre to accommodate an additional CSAR (combat search and rescue) detachment aboard. The U.S. military said they were impressed by the comfortable setting of the French PCB and hosting capacity of its helicopter hangar. During Operation Harmattan, the six helicopter spots of the flying deck were busy with rotations of attack helicopters like the new "Tigre" and "Gazelle Hot", equipped with 30 mm guns and american Hellfire missiles. The Tonnerre's versatility makes her a "swiss army knife" vessel able to achieve multi-purpose missions.
The tour of this this amazing vessel was preceded by a lunch in Toulon waterfront where Navy League members could talk of the ship with the XO Commander Benoit de Guibert and 8 officers from Tonnerre, a way to further “cement” Franco-American relationships.
