Dixmude (L9015) is an amphibious assault ship, a type of helicopter carrier, of the French Navy. She is the third vessel to bear the name, and is the third ship of the Mistral class.
 BPC Dixmude in Jounieh bay, Lebanon 2012. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Dixmude |
| Namesake | Fusiliers Marins at the battle of Diksmuide[2] |
| Builder | Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire |
| Cost | €451.6m[3] (FY 2012) |
| Laid down | 20 January 2010 at Saint-Nazaire[2] |
| Launched | 17 September 2010[1] |
| Commissioned | 27 December 2012 |
| Homeport | Toulon |
| Identification |
|
| Status | in active service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Mistral-class amphibious assault ship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 199 m (653 ft) |
| Beam | 32 m (105 ft) |
| Draught | 6.3 m (21 ft) |
| Installed power | 4 × Wärtsilä 16V32 (4 × 6.2 MW (8,300 hp)) |
| Propulsion | Diesel-electric; two Rolls-Royce Mermaid azimuth thrusters (2 × 7 MW (9,400 hp)) with 5-bladed fixed pitch propellers |
| Speed | 18.8 knots (34.8 km/h; 21.6 mph) |
| Range |
|
| Capacity | 2 barges, one Leclerc battalion, 70 vehicles |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 16 heavy or 35 light helicopters |
Dixmude was delivered to the French defence procurement agency on 3 January 2012, three months ahead of schedule.[5]
Service history
In January 2013, Dixmude took part in Operation Serval, ferrying elements of the 92ème Régiment d'Infanterie to Mali.[6]
In April 2016, it was announced she would be part of the Anglo-French military exercise CJEX.[7]
In July 2018, the ship docked in Haifa port, Israel for a joint exercise with the Israeli Navy.[8]
In October 2018, a French NH90 crashed on takeoff when mooring lashing was left tied, and this damaged the flight deck.[9] The crash occurred at night, leaving 4 injured and 1 required medical evacuation.[9]
In April 2020, the ship operated as part of a joint British, French and Dutch naval task force in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in overseas territories in the Caribbean. RFA Argus was also present as the UK's commitment to supporting British Overseas Territories along with HMS Medway as the Caribbean guard ship.[10]
In February 2023, Dixmude was tasked to initiate an around the world deployment accompanied by the frigate La Fayette. The deployment was to involve a series of exercises and port calls en route, including at several French overseas territories. For the deployment, Dixmude embarked one of the new EDA-S landing craft, along with one EDA-R and one CTM landing craft.[11] The two vessels returned to Toulon in July.[12]
References
Further reading
- Moulin, Jean (2020). Tous les porte-aéronefs en France: de 1912 à nos jours [All the Aircraft Carriers of France: From 1912 to Today]. Collection Navires et Histoire des Marines du Mond; 35 (in French). Le Vigen, France: Lela Presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-035-4.
