French Navy The French Navy , officially the Marine nationale ( " National Navy " ) and often called La Royale , is the maritime arm of the French military . Tracing its roots back from 1624 it is one of the world ' s oldest naval forces and historically played a key part in establishing the French colonial empire . Since 2008 , its roles have been defined as maintaining intelligence , protecting populations , prevent crises , intervene wherever necessary to reestablish peace , and dissuade any threats against vital French interests . The Marine nationale consists of four branches , the Force d ' Action Navale , the Forces Sous - marines , the Aeronavale and the Fusiliers Marins ( including Commandos de Marine ) . As a blue - water navy the Marine nationale operates a wide range of fighting vessels , including a nuclear - powered aircraft carrier , nuclear - powered submarine s , frigate s , patrol boat s and support ships . The French Navy does not use prefixes of the names of its ships ( such as the Royal Navy uses HMS , for instance ) . Foreign commentators sometimes use the prefixes " FS " ( for " French Ship " ) or FNS ( for " French Navy Ship " ) ; these are not official , however . As of early 2012 , the French Navy employs a total of 38 , 643 regular personnel . The reserve element of the French Navy consists of ; 5 , 519 personnel of the Operational Reserve and 4 , 752 personnel of the Citizens Reserve . The motto of the navy is " Honneur , patrie , valeur , discipline " ( " Honour , Fatherland , Valour , Discipline " ) and these words are found on the deck of every ship in the fleet . History . The French Navy is affectionately known as " La Royale " ( " the Royal " ) . The reason is not well known ; some theorise that it is for its traditional attachment to the French monarchy , some others said that before being named " nationale " the navy had been named " royale " , or simply because of the location of its headquarters , " rue Royale " in Paris ( similar metonym s include " Matignon " for the French Prime Minister , " Quai d ' Orsay " for the French Foreign Ministry , " La Coupole " ( " The Dome " ) for the Académie Française , etc . ) . The navy did not sport the royal titles common with other European navies like the British Royal Navy . 17th , 18th , and early 19th centuries . The navy became a consistent instrument of national power around the seventeenth century with Richelieu ' s efforts under Louis XIII , and Colbert ' s under Louis XIV . Under the tutelage of the " Sun King , " the French Navy was well - financed and - equipped , managing to score several early victories in the Nine Years ' War against the Royal Navy and the Dutch Navy . Financial troubles , however , forced the navy back to port and allowed the English and the Dutch to regain the initiative . Before the Nine Years ' War , in the Franco - Dutch War , it managed to score a decisive victory over a combined Spanish - Dutch fleet at the Battle of Palermo . The eighteenth century saw the beginning of Royal Navy domination , which managed to inflict a number of significant defeats on the French . However , the French Navy continued to score various successes , as in the campaigns led in the Atlantic by Picquet de la Motte . In 1766 , Bougainville led the first French circumnavigation . During the American Revolutionary War the French Navy played a decisive role in supporting the Americans . In a very impressive effort , the French under de Grasse managed to defeat a British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 , thus ensuring that the Franco - American ground forces would win the ongoing Battle of Yorktown . French warships participated in the battle by bombarding British ground forces . In India , Suffren waged campaigns against the British ( 1770 – 1780 ) , successfully contending for supremacy against Vice - Admiral Sir Edward Hughes . On 1 June 1794 , a fleet under Admiral Villaret Joyeuse fought the Third Battle of Ushant to prevent the Royal Navy from destroying a large convoy , inbound from the United States , that transported grain to the starving France . The convoy escaped unharmed and the sailors were paraded in triumph in the streets of Paris , though the losses sustained during the battle would prove crippling in the following years and ensure the domination of the Royal Navy . In the Mediterranean , the French Navy waged a naval campaign during a 1798 French invasion of Egypt . Evading a pursuing British fleet under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson , French fleet , consisting of hundreds of ships and carrying 30 , 000 troops , captured Malta before continuing to Egypt , where the French took Alexandria . French troops subsequently marched inland while the fleet anchored in Aboukir Bay . When Nelson discovered the French fleet ' s location , he set sail for Aboukir Bay and ordered an immediate attack . In the subsequent Battle of the Nile , the French were defeated , ending French naval power in the Mediterranean and encouraging other nations to join the Second Coalition and go to war with France . From 1798 to 1800 , France and the United States engaged in the Quasi - War , an undeclared naval war . Prior to the war , France had been outraged over US trade with Britain and the refusal to repay war debts from the Revolution on grounds that they were owed to the French crown , not Revolutionary France . French ships began seizing American merchant ships trading with Britain , inflicting substantial losses on American shipping . As a result , the United States Navy fought a series of largely successful naval engagements with the French . By the autumn of 1800 , the US Navy and Royal Navy had reduced the activities of French privateers and warships . The French Revolution , in eliminating numerous officers of noble lineage ( among them , Charles d ' Estaing ) , all but crippled the French Navy . Efforts to make it into a powerful force under Napoleon I were dashed by the death of Latouche Tréville in 1804 , and the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 , where the British all but annihilated a combined Franco - Spanish fleet . The disaster guaranteed British naval superiority throughout the Napoleonic Wars , and up until World War II . The French Navy proved vastly inferior in tactics to the Royal Navy throughout the Napoleonic Wars . The French Navy , even with the help of Allied navies , was smaller : In 1812 , the Royal Navy , consisting of 600 cruisers and some smaller vessels , was the size of the rest of the world ' s navies combined . During the Napoleonic Wars , most of its engagements with the British ended in defeat . Between 1793 and 1812 , the French Navy lost 377 ships to the British , while the British lost 10 ships . In fourteen major engagements between 1794 and 1806 , the French Navy suffered 23 , 000 casualties while the Royal Navy suffered 7 , 000 casualties . One in four British casualties were deaths , while more than half the French were . The lopsided casualty figures were due to the fact that the French sought to disable and capture enemy ships , while the British sought to kill or injure enemy gun crews . French gunners were told to fire as the ship began its up roll , and shoot high to disable the masts , spars , and rigging . British gun crews were taught to fire on the down roll , and to fire straight at the hull . The French Navy was unable to prevent a British naval blockade of France during the Napoleonic Wars , and spent much of the war blockaded in port . 19th century revival . Restoration and July Monarchy " ( 1814 / 5 – 1848 ) " . During the Bourbon Restoration , the navy at first suffered from the compounded damage sustained during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars , and from the incompetence and derilection of the royalist officer corps , as epitomised by the disaster of the frigate " Méduse " and her proverbial " Raft of the Medusa " . Soon , however , the navy started to restore , under the impulsion of veterans of the Napoleonic Wars like Guy - Victor Duperré , Charles Baudin or Albin Roussin ( all heroes of the Mauritius campaign of 1809 – 1811 who had tasted victory at the Battle of Grand Port ) . Adequate leadership was compounded with well - financed constructions , notably with large two - decker cruiser - frigates and innovative ship of the line designs , and sustained efforts of modernisation . Artillery standardised on the 30 - pound calibre and later experimentated with Paixhans guns , while navigation saw the introduction of the first steamers with the corvette " Sphinx " . On 14 June 1830 , a large fleet under Duperré , comprising 103 warships and 464 transports , executed the Invasion of Algiers , landing an army at Sidi Ferruch . Sultan - Khalessi , the main fort defending the city , was attacked on 29 June and fell on 4 July . The Bey then started negotiations , leading to his capitulation the next day . This action saw the first practical deployment of military steamers , then used to tow ships of the line to their optimal firing position . The next year , after the Revolution of July , a fleet under Rear Admiral Roussin conducted a show of force against the absolutist Miguel I of Portugal at the Battle of the Tagus , and strong - armed him into signing a humiliating agreement by sailing on the river into his very capital and seizing his fleet . In 1838 , the navy conducted another display of force following failed diplomatic demarches , with the Pastry War in Mexico . A small frigate squadron under Baudin bombarded and silenced the defences of Fort San Juan de Ulua at the Battle of Veracruz . This action , where steamers were again used as tugs , marked the first deployment of Paixhans Guns , to great effect which did not go unnoticed by observers from the United Kingdom and the United States . In 1842 , the French Navy took over Tahiti under Admiral Abel Aubert Dupetit Thouars . French activity in those parts would continue throughout the 19th century , as his nephew Abel - Nicolas Bergasse Dupetit Thouars went on pacifying the Marquesas Islands in 1880 . In August 1844 , a French squadron of French Navy under the Prince de Joinville attacked the Moroccan city of Mogador , modern Essaouira , and the island facing the city , Mogador island . The campaign was part of the First Franco - Moroccan War . Second Empire " ( 1852 – 1870 ) " . In a speech in 1852 , Napoleon III famously proclaimed that " The Empire means peace " ( " " L ' Empire , c ' est la paix " " ) , but actually he was thoroughly determined to follow a strong foreign policy to extend France ' s power and glory . Around that time , the French Navy was involved in a multitude of actions around the world . Conquest of Cochinchina : Napoleon III took the first steps to establishing a French colonial influence in Indochina . He approved the launching of the Cochinchina Campaign in 1858 to punish the Vietnamese for their mistreatment of French Catholic missionaries and force the court to accept a French presence in the country . An important factor in his decision was the belief that France risked becoming a second - rate power by not expanding its influence in East Asia . Also , the idea that France had a civilising mission was spreading . This eventually led to a full - out invasion in 1861 . By 1862 the war was over and Vietnam conceded three provinces in the south , called by the French Cochin - China , opened three ports to French trade , allowed free passage of French warships to Cambodia ( which led to a French protectorate over Cambodia in 1867 ) , allowed freedom of action for French missionaries and gave France a large indemnity for the cost of the war . The Crimean War : Napoleon III ' s challenge to Russia ' s claims to influence in the Ottoman Empire led to France ' s successful participation in the Crimean War ( March 1854 – March 1856 ) . During this war Napoleon successfully established a French alliance with Britain , which continued after the war ' s close . Second Opium War : In China , France took part in the Second Opium War along with Britain , and in 1860 French troops entered Beijing . China was forced to concede more trading rights , allow freedom of navigation of the Yangzi river , give full civil rights and freedom of religion to Christians , and give France and Britain a huge indemnity . This combined with the intervention in Vietnam set the stage for further French influence in China leading up to a sphere of influence over parts of Southern China . Mexico : The French Navy conducted a successful blockade of Mexico in the Pastry War of 1838 . It was then heavily involved in French intervention in Mexico ( January 1862 – March 1867 ) . Napoleon III , using as a pretext the Mexican Republic ' s refusal to pay its foreign debts , planned to establish a French sphere of influence in North America by creating a French - backed monarchy in Mexico , a project which was supported by Mexican conservatives tired of the anti - clerical Mexican republic . Korea , Japan : In 1866 , French naval troops took part in the French campaign against Korea . The French Navy also had a significant presence in Japan with the Bombardment of Shimonoseki in 1863 . In 1867 – 1868 , some level of presence in Japan was maintained around the actions of French Military Mission to Japan , and the subsequent Boshin War . Franco - Prussian War : At the outset of the Franco - Prussian War in 1870 , the 470 - ship French Navy imposed a blockade of the North German coastline , which the Germans never managed to lift . However , the French ships began suffering coal shortages and lacked the necessary weaponry to deal with the coastal defenses around major enemy ports . A planned invasion of northern Germany was scuttled after the marines and naval infantry tasked with the invasion were dispatched for land combat . After most of the professional army was captured in two major French defeats , naval officers were taken from their ships to officer reserve units . The blockade became less effective as autumn storms took their toll on the French ships still enforcing the blockade . In September 1870 , the blockade was abandoned for the winter . Isolated engagements between French and German ships also took place in other theaters . Third Republic . Sino - French War : The projection of French naval power in the Far East reached a peak in the first half of the 1880s . The Far East Squadron ( " escadre de l ' Extrême - Orient " ) , an exceptional naval grouping of two ( subsequently three ) naval divisions under the command of Admiral Amédée Courbet created for the duration of the Sino - French War ( August 1884 to April 1885 ) , saw considerable action during the war along the China Coast and in the seas around Formosa ( Taiwan ) . Besides almost obliterating China ' s Fujian Fleet at the Battle of Fuzhou ( 23 August 1884 ) , the squadron took part in the bombardment and landings at Keelung and Tamsui ( 5 and 6 August 1884 and 1 to 8 October 1884 ) , the blockade of Formosa ( October 1884 to April 1885 ) , the Battle of Shipu ( 14 February 1885 ) , the so - called Battle of Zhenhai ( 1 March 1885 ) , the Pescadores Campaign ( March 1885 ) and the ' rice blockade ' of the Yangzi River ( March to June 1885 ) . 19th century technological innovations . In the nineteenth century , the navy recovered and became arguably the second finest in the world after the Royal Navy , albeit very much smaller . The French Navy , eager to challenge British naval supremacy , took a leadership role in many areas of warship development , with the introduction of new technologies . The French Navy also became an active proponent of the " " Jeune École " " doctrine , calling for small but powerful warships using torpedo es and shell guns to attack the British fleet . French warship construction proved attractive to the newly industrialising Japan , when the French engineer Émile Bertin was invited to assist in warship design for the Imperial Japanese Navy . 20th century . The development of the French Navy slowed down in the beginning of 20th century as the naval arms race between Germany and Great Britain grew in intensity . As a result , it was outnumbered not only by the Royal Navy but also by the Imperial German Navy and United States Navy , which were also technically superior . It was late to introduce new battleships — dreadnought s and light cruiser s and it entered World War I with relatively few modern vessels . The Entente Cordiale ended the period in which Britain was seen as a potential enemy , reducing the need for a strong navy . Although there was no formal military alliance , there was a de facto agreement that France would play a leading role in the Mediterranean and Britain would protect the Northern coast of France against a possible German attack . During the war , few warships were built because the main French effort was on land . The first task of the Mediterranean battle squadrons was to escort transport ships carrying troops from French North Africa to France to join the Battle of the Marne . By the end of August 1914 , French battleships , cruisers , destroyers , and submarines were conducting patrols in the Adriatic Sea to prevent any attacks by the Austro - Hungarian Navy . The most important operations of the French Navy were conducted during the Dardanelles Campaign . The French Navy also played an important role in countering Germany ' s U - Boat campaign , with warships patrolling the seas and escorting convoys . In December 1916 , French warships arrived off Greece , bombarding Athens and landing sailors , forcing the pro - German Greek government to change its policies . A number of Greek Navy warships were seized and commissioned into the French Navy , and later played an important part in the anti - U - Boat campaign . The most significant losses sustained by the French Navy during the war were three pre - dreadnought battleships , one semi - dreadnought , four armored cruisers , one protected cruiser , twelve destroyers , and fourteen submarines . Listed below is a number of major ships of the French Navy at the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and the end of World War I in 1918 . The first figure represents the outbreak and the second figure in brackets ( ) represents the end of WWI . The first proto - aircraft carrier . The invention of the seaplane in 1910 with the French " Le Canard " led to the earliest development of ships designed to carry aeroplanes , albeit equipped with floats . In 1911 , the first such vessel appeared in the French Navy - " La Foudre " - she was the worlds first seaplane carrier . She was commissioned as a seaplane tender , and carried float - equipped planes in hangars on the main deck , from where they were lowered on the sea with a crane . " La Foudre " was further modified in November 1913 with a 10 metre flat deck to launch her seaplanes . In spite of proposals of the French inventor Clément Ader in 1909 to build a ship with a flat deck to operate aeroplanes at sea , similar to modern aircraft carriers , the French Navy built its first aircraft carrier only in 1920s and did not go further in developing aircraft carriers before World War II . In 1920 , Paul Teste achieved the first carrier landing of the history of the French Navy , aboard the " Béarn " . Fleet construction between the World Wars . After World War I , the French Navy remained the fourth largest in the world , after the British , US and Japanese navies , but the Italian Navy , considered as the main enemy , was almost as large as the French one . This order of fleets , with the French Navy equal to the Italian Navy , was sanctioned by the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty . Every naval fleet consisted of a variety of ships of different sizes , and no fleet had enough resources to make every vessel supreme in its class . Nonetheless , different countries strove to excel in particular classes . Between the World Wars , the French fleet was remarkable in its building of small numbers of ships that were " over the top " with relation to their equivalents of other powers . For example , the French chose to build " super - destroyers " which were deemed during the Second World War by the Allies as the equivalent of light cruisers . The " Fantasque " class of destroyer is still the world ' s fastest class of destroyer . The " Surcouf " submarine was the largest and most powerful of its day . The " Dunkerque " class battleships , designed specially to fight the German so - called pocket battleship s , were , in spite of their relatively small size , very well - balanced designs and precursors of a new fast battleship generation in the world . The " Richelieu " class full - size battleships are considered by some experts as the most successful battleships built under displacement limits of Washington Treaty in the world . Major ships of the French Navy at the beginning of the German attack in May 1940 : Second World War . At the outset of the war , the French Navy was involved in a number of operations against the Axis powers , participating in the Battle of the Atlantic , the Allied campaign in Norway , the Dunkirk evacuation and , briefly , the Battle of the Mediterranean . However , Pétain ' s armistice terms completely changed the situation : the French fleet immediately withdrew from the fight . The British perceived the French fleet under the Vichy government as a potentially lethal threat . This threat would be made all the more real should the French somehow become formal enemies or , more likely , should the German Navy ( " Kriegsmarine " ) gain control of French ships . It was deemed essential that the French Navy be put out of action . Some vessels were in port in France , while others escaped to Britain or British - controlled Egypt . The British boarded all French ships in their hands , with many sailors re - joining the Allies as part of the Free French Navy ( " Forces navales françaises libres " , FNFL ) because of General de Gaulle ’ s growing influence . Although the boardings were conducted relatively peacefully , there was resistance on " Surcouf " , then the largest submarine in the world , resulting in a skirmish in which one French and three British naval personnel were killed . However , the most powerful concentration of the French fleet remained in Mers - el - Kébir or Dakar . A Royal Navy squadron delivered an ultimatum to the French fleet at Mers - el - Kébir . The ultimatum demanded that the ships and their crews either join the war effort or sail with reduced crews to a British port , promising that the ships would be repatriated at the end of the war or compensation paid for damages to them , and giving them the option of sailing to a French port in the West Indies where they could be demilitarized or temporarily given to the United States until the end of the war . If the French refused these offers , they had to scuttle their ships or be fired on . On 3 July 1940 , the British opened fire after an agreement proved impossible ( Operation Catapult ) . One French battleship was sunk , and two battleships and four destroyers were knocked out . A British submarine also sank an aviso . Six British naval aircraft were shot down . A total of 1 , 297 French sailors and 2 British airmen were killed . Though the Free French Naval Forces continued to fight alongside the allies , the rest of the French fleet became hostile as a result of this action . Many senior members of the French Navy considered Britain and France effectively at war . The French Air Force repeatedly bombed Gibraltar , and throughout the war , there were instances where the French Navy came close to engaging the Royal Navy . In November 1942 , for example , Admiral Jean de Laborde refused to use the remainder of the French Navy to support Operation Torch , arguing that French ships should instead be attacking the British and Americans . In September , an attempt to take Vichy - held Dakar ended with the Battle of Dakar and a victory for the Vichy forces . In addition , the Allied attack on Dakar led directly to the Vichy bombing of Gibraltar . These actions soured Anglo - French relations , but did not inhibit further defections to the Allies . The subsequent Battle of Gabon , the Syria - Lebanon Campaign , and the Battle of Madagascar ended in Vichy defeats . During Operation Torch in November 1942 , the Allies invaded French North Africa , leading to a large naval battle at Casablanca , but the Vichy forces quickly turned sides . In response , the Germans launched Case Anton and occupied the Vichy - held portion of Metropolitan France . The German occupation included the French naval port of Toulon where a large portion ( one old battleship , two new battlecruisers , four new heavy cruisers , five new light cruisers and several destroyers and submarines ) of the surviving French fleet lay . This was a major German objective and forces under SS command had been detailed to capture them ( Operation " Lila " ) . This eventually resulted in French sailors sinking their own ships to save them from falling into German hands ( scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon ) . No French capital ships and few others were taken in reparable condition . A few ships fled Toulon and joined the Allies . Five submarines tried to escape . Three of them were successful , the " Casabianca " , Glorieux and Marsouin . Following " Torch " , remnants of the French Navy moved to the Allies , including ships interned in Egypt , and then there were FNFL warships supporting the Allied landings in Normandy and southern France ( Operation Dragoon ) . The conquest of the European harbours put an end to the combat operations of the Navy , which spent the rest of the war clearing mines and repairing port installations . On the Pacific theatre , the French Navy was present until the Japanese capitulation ; " Richelieu " was present at the Japanese instrument of surrender . At the end of the war , the weight of the French navy was 400 , 000 tonnes ( 800 , 000 in May 1940 ) . Organization . The chief of the naval staff is Admiral Bernard Rogel , and as of 2011 the Navy has an active strength of 37 , 000 military personnel and 7 , 000 civilian staff . The Navy is organised into four main operational branches : In addition , the National Gendarmerie of France maintain a maritime force of patrol boats that falls under the operational command of the French Navy : Main naval bases . As of 2013 , major naval bases in use are ; Toulon , Brest , Ile Longue and Cherbourg in Metropolitan France . Fort de France , Degrad des Cannes , Port des Galets , Nouméa and Papeete at Overseas departments and territories . As well as bases in foreign countries such as Abu Dhabi , Dakar and Djibouti . Equipment . Ships and submarines . Although French naval doctrine calls for two aircraft carrier s , as of 2013 the French only have one , the " Charles de Gaulle " . Originally a planned order for the Future French aircraft carrier was based on the design of the British Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier s currently under construction for the Royal Navy . However the French programme had been delayed several times for budgetary reasons and the result was priority being given to the more exportable FREMM project . In April 2013 it was confirmed that the second aircraft carrier project would be abandoned due to defence cuts announced in the 2013 French White Paper on Defence and National Security . The French Navy operates three amphibious assault ship s , one amphibious transport dock , two air defence frigate s , 7 anti - submarine frigates and six fleet submarines ( SSNs ) . This constitutes the French Navy ’ s main ocean going war - fighting forces . In addition the French Navy operates five light frigates , six light surveillance frigates and nine Avisos ( or sloops ) . They undertake the navy ’ s offshore patrol combat duties , the protection of French Naval bases and territorial waters , and can also provide low - end escort capabilities to any ocean going task force . The four ballistic missile submarine s ( SSBN ) of the navy ' s Strategic Oceanic Force provide the backbone of the French nuclear deterrent . Aircraft . The French Naval Aviation is officially known as the " Aéronavale " and was created on the 19 June 1998 with the merging of Naval patrol aircraft and aircraft carrier squadrons . It has a strength of around 6 , 800 civilian and military personnel operating from four airbases in Metropolitan France . The Aéronavale is currently in the process of modernization with a total order of 58 Rafale multi - role fighters on order . 31 have so far been delivered and operate from the aircraft carrier " Charles de Gaulle " . Customs and traditions . Ranks . The rank insignia of the French Navy are worn on shoulder straps of shirts and white jackets , and on sleeves for navy jackets and mantels . Until 2005 , only commissioned officer s had an anchor on their insignia , but enlisted personnel are now receiving them as well . Commanding officers have titles of " capitaine " , but are called " commandant " ( in the army , both " capitaine " and " commandant " are ranks , which tends to stir some confusion among the public ) . The two highest ranks , " vice - amiral d ' escadre " and " amiral " ( admiral ) , are functions , rather than ranks . They are assumed by officers ranking " vice - amiral " ( vice admiral ) . The only " amiral de la flotte " ( Admiral of the Fleet ) was François Darlan after he was refused the dignity of Admiral of France . Equivalent to the dignity of Marshal of France , the rank of Admiral of France remains theoretical in the Fifth Republic ; it was last granted in 1869 , during the Second Empire , but retained during the Third Republic until the death of its bearer in 1873 . The title of " amiral de la flotte " was created so that Darlan would not have an inferior rank than his counterpart in the British Royal Navy , who had the rank of Admiral of the Fleet . Addressing officers . Unlike in the French army and air force , one does not prepend " mon " to the name of the rank when addressing an officer ( that is , not " mon capitaine , " but simply " capitaine " ) . Addressing a French Navy lieutenant de vaisseau ( for instance ) with a " " mon capitaine " " will attract the traditional answer " " Dans la Marine il y a Mon Dieu et mon cul , pas mon capitaine ! " " ( " In the Navy there are My God and my arse , no ' my captain ' ! " ) . Future of the navy . 2013 White Paper . The 2013 French White Paper on Defence and National Security announced significant cuts to the French Navy and abandoned plans for a second aircraft carrier .