French aviso Commandant Ducuing

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F795 Cdt. Ducuing.jpg
Commandant Ducuing
History
France
NameCommandant Ducuing
Namesake
BuilderArsenal de Lorient, Lorient
Laid down1 October 1980
Launched26 September 1981
Commissioned17 March 1983
DecommissionedExpected, 2025
Identification
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and type D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso
Displacement
  • 1,100 t (1,100 long tons) standard
  • 1,270 t (1,250 long tons) full load
Length
  • 80 m (262 ft 6 in) oa
  • 76 m (249 ft 4 in) pp
Beam10.3 m (33 ft 10 in)
Draught5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Propulsion
Speed23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph)
Range4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement90
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 Air/surface DRBV 51A sentry radar
  • 1 DRBC 32E fire control radar
  • 1 Decca 1226 navigation radar
  • 1 DUBA 25 hull sonar (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs)
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • 1 ARBR 16 radar interceptor
  • 2 Dagaie decoy launchers
  • 1 SLQ-25 Nixie countermeasure system
Armament

Commandant Ducuing (F795) is a D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso in the French Navy.

Design[]

Main article: D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso

Armed by a crew of 90 sailors, these vessels have the reputation of being among the most difficult in bad weather. Their high windage makes them particularly sensitive to pitch and roll as soon as the sea is formed.

Their armament, consequent for a vessel of this tonnage, allows them to manage a large spectrum of missions. During the Cold War, they were primarily used to patrol the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean in search of Soviet Navy submarines. Due to the poor performance of the hull sonar, as soon as an echo appeared, the reinforcement of an ASM frigate was necessary to chase it using its towed variable depth sonar.[2]

Their role as patrollers now consists mainly of patrols and assistance missions, as well as participation in UN missions (blockades, flag checks) or similar marine policing tasks (fight against drugs, extraction of nationals, fisheries control, etc.). The mer-mer 38 or mer-mer 40 missiles have been landed, but they carry several machine guns and machine guns, more suited to their new missions.

Its construction cost was estimated at 270,000,000 French francs.[3]

Construction and career[]

Commandant Ducuing was laid down on 1 October 1980 at Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient. Launched on 26 September 1981 and commissioned on 17 March 1983.

She took part in Operation Artimon in 1990, in in April 2009, in order to free a French yacht hijacked by Somali pirates.[4] The ship coming from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, made a stopover on 8 and 9 June 2010 in the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, which was a first for a French ship for 32 years.[5]

In June 2015, the ship was responsible for monitoring bluefin tuna fishing off Malta.[6]

She is scheduled to be withdrawn from service in 2025 and be replaced by one of a new class of ocean-going Patrol Vessels (the Patrouilleurs Océanique).[7]

Citations[]

  1. ^ a b c "Patrouilleurs: Les avisos français sur tous les fronts" [Patrol ships: French Avisos on all fronts.]. asafrance.fr (in French). 26 January 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Euronaval: First details of the Patrouilleurs Océanique (PO) platform unveiled". Naval News. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  3. ^ Quid 1996. p. 2036. ISBN 2-221-08055-6.
  4. ^ magazine, Le Point. "Le Point – Actualité Politique, Monde, France, Économie, High-Tech, Culture". Le Point.fr (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Un navire français dans un port irakien". LEFIGARO (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  6. ^ "L'aviso Cdt Ducuing en opération de police des pêches | colsbleus.fr : le magazine de la Marine Nationale". www.colsbleus.fr. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  7. ^ Groizeleau, Vincent (6 May 2021). "La Marine nationale va rapidement désarmer ses derniers PHM" [The French Navy will quickly disarm its last PHM]. Mer et Marine (in French). https://www.meretmarine.com/fr/content/la-marine-nationale-va-rapidement-se-separer-de-ses-derniers-phm Retrieved 15 June 2021.
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