French aircraft carrier Arromanches

Arromanches (R95) was an aircraft carrier of the French Navy, which served from 1946 to 1974. She was previously HMS Colossus (15) of the Royal Navy. She was the name-ship of the Colossus class of light carriers. She was commissioned in 1944, but did not see any action in World War II. She served with the British Pacific Fleet in 1945–46, as an aircraft transport and repatriation ship.

Arromanches
Arromanches in the Mediterranean, 1961
History
United Kingdom
NameColossus
NamesakeColossus
BuilderVickers-Armstrongs, High Walker
Launched30 September 1943
Commissioned16 December 1944
MottoOn The Ball
FateLoaned to French Navy in 1946
France
NameArromanches
NamesakeArromanches-les-Bains
Acquired1946
Decommissioned1974
Identification
  • Pennant number: R95
  • International signal: FBED
  • Air control callsign: "Sapho"
FateScrapped in Toulon, France 1978
General characteristics
Class and typeColossus-class aircraft carrier
Displacement13 600 tonnes
Length212 m (695 ft 6 in)
Beam24.4 m (80 ft 1 in)
Draught7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
PropulsionSteam Turbines (4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, Parsons geared turbines)
Speed25 kn (46 km/h)
Range12,000 nmi (22,000 km)
Complement1,300
Aircraft carried48
NotesOnly under flag of the French Navy, her Air control callsign was "Sapho"

In 1946, she was loaned to the French Navy, and renamed Arromanches; she was bought by the French in 1951.

Arromanches participated in the First Indochina War in three campaigns from 1948 to 1954, and the Suez Crisis of 1956. In 1968 she was converted to an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) carrier. She was decommissioned in 1974, and broken up in 1978.

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