The Foudre (L 9011) is an amphibious assault ship of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

, the twelfth vessel to bear the name

French ship Foudre

Foudre may refer to one of the following ships of the French Navy:* A gunboat * A gunboat * A 6-gun gunboat * A gunboat * A steam and sail frigate...

, and lead ship of her class

Foudre class landing platform dock

The Foudre type vessels are landing platforms of the French Navy.They carry large stowage areas which can be used to ferry battle tanks and vehicles, a 52-ton elevating platform, a lateral ramp and a flight deck able to simultaneously operate several helicopters.Three rotations of such ships can...

.

She served during the war in Yugoslavia, and has been the central element of Operation Licorne

Operation Licorne

Operation Unicorn is the name of the French Armed Forces's peacekeeping operation in support of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire. The French forces have been stationed in the country since shortly after the outbreak of the Ivorian Civil War...

 in Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

.

On 17 January 2009, one of the Foudres helicopters crashed

2009 Gabonese helicopter crash

The 2009 Gabonese helicopter crash occurred in the Atlantic Ocean off the African country of Gabon at 8:08 p.m. on January 17, 2009. Ten soldiers were in the Eurocopter AS 532 when it crashed, leaving eight military personnel dead...

 off the coast of Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

, leaving at least seven French military personnel dead and one missing.

On 2010, the ship was offered to the Argentine Navy

Argentine Navy

The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....

 . Argentina had already declined an offer for the Ouragan class

Ouragan class landing platform dock

The Ouragan was a class of French landing platform docks operated by the French Navy. They were called Transport de chalands de débarquement .-Overview:The ships in this class were used for:...

 before due to asbestos

Asbestos

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...

concerns.

In October 2011 it was announced that Chile and France had finalized negotiations for sale of Foudre to Chile for around USD80 million.

External links

TCD Foudre TCD Foudre