Landévennec (; ) is a commune in the

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

in north-western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Population

Geography

Landévennec is located on the

Crozon peninsula Crozon (, ; br, Kraozon, , ) is a commune in the department of Finistère and the administrative region of Brittany, northwestern France. As well as the town of Crozon, the village of Morgat is part of the commune. Crozon is located on the Cr ...

, southeast of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

.The river Aulne forms a natural boundary to the east.

Map

Sights

Landévennec Abbey

Landévennec Abbey lies in the commune.

Ship graveyard

Shortly before entering the

roadstead of Brest The roadstead of Brest (''rade de Brest'') is a roadstead or bay located in the Finistère Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. The surface area is about 180 km² (70 sq ...

, the river

Aulne The Aulne ( br, Aon) is a long river of Brittany in north-western France, flowing down the hills and emptying into the roadstead of Brest, one of the many fjord-like bays just south of Brest. The river is part of the Canal de Nantes à Brest, th ...

forms a bend around the

Île de Térénez Île de Térénez is a French islet inside the last bend of the river Aulne, on the territory of the commune of Rosnoën. Its highest point is 18m. Covered in woods, it is accessible by dry land at low tide and faces the Landévennec ship graveyar ...

then the pointe de Pen Forn near Landévennec, where there is a depth of water regardless of the tide and with the high surrounding hills blocking the winds and thus keeping the water calm. Here is sited a ship graveyard for civilian but particularly

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

vessels. The only difficulty is the Capelan bank, to the south of

Logonna-Daoulas Logonna-Daoulas (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Logonna-Daoulas are called in French ''Logonnais''. See also *Communes of the Finistère department *Parc naturel r� ...

, where the depth is less than - this bank has to be passed to reach the base and thus prevents very deep-draught vessels from reaching it. A naval station was first set up here around 1840 to house

reserve fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

vessels and their crews (totalling nearly 200 sailors), and it was visited by

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and empress

Eugénie Eugénie is the French version of the female given name Eugenia. Eugénie or Eugenie may refer to: People * Eugénie de Montijo (1826–1920), 9th Countess de Teba; later Empress Eugénie, Empress Consort to Napoléon III * * Princess Eugenie o ...

during their August 1858 trip into Brittany. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the base was used by the German occupiers such as the school ship ''Armorique'' (sabotaged in August 1944). Post-war, the ship moved from a base for reserve ships kept in readiness to disarmed naval ships left here for other purposes. Other disarmed French ships have been used as breakwaters before the

château de Brest The Château de Brest ( br, Kastell Brest) is a castle in Brest, Finistère, France. The oldest monument in the town, it is located at the mouth of the river Penfeld at the heart of the roadstead of Brest, one of the largest roadsteads in the w ...

or as training ships off the naval school at Lanvéoc-Poulmic, but those at Landévennec await demolition or use for target practice in naval exercises at sea. Despite requests from Landévennec's mayor, the aircraft carrier '' Clemenceau'' was not retired to the base, with the Capelan bank apparently discouraging pilots from attempting to navigate it into the base. However, having been emptied of nearly all its occupants, in August 2006 the graveyard took on three former breakwaters which would become

's "port du Château" and had been moved to allow expansion work to begin. The cruiser '' Colbert'' and the Soviet-built hydrofoil ferry ''Kometa'' from the Penn-ar-Bed company (which provided summer services to

Ushant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of governm ...

) are now also based here.

References

External links

Official website
*
Mayors of Finistère Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landevennec Communes of Finistère Ship graveyards