''Mistral'' (L9013) is an amphibious assault ship, a type of helicopter carrier, of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. She is the fourth vessel to bear the name, and is the lead ship of the amphibious assault ships.

Construction and career

''Mistral'' began

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in January 2005, and was commissioned in February 2006. She departed from

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

for her first long-range journey in March, sailing through the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

, and the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

to Djibouti and India, before returning to France. In July, to ensure the safety of European citizens in the context of the

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

, France set up

Opération Baliste Opération Baliste was a French aeronaval operation off Lebanon aimed at securing citizens of the European Union in the context of the 2006 Lebanon War. Components Opération Baliste employed 1,700 men under Counter Admiral Xavier Magne. The ...

. ''Mistral'' was the flagship of the fleet unit off Lebanon, escorted by the frigates and , and along with another amphibious assault ship, . On 16 May 2008, the Burmese

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

(UN) ambassador accused France of deploying ''Mistral'' to the Burmese coast for military purposes. The French UN ambassador denied this, stating that she was instead carrying 1,500 tons of relief supplies. In March 2011 ''Mistral'' was deployed to Libyan waters to help aid the joint

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

effort to repatriate tens of thousands of Egyptian refugees fleeing the violence in Libya. In January 2013, escorted by , ''Mistral'' took part in the ill-fated operation to retrieve Denis Allex, a DGSE officer held hostage in

Bulo Marer Bulo Marer ( so, Buulo Mareer), also written as Bulomarer, is a town in the southwestern Lower Shebelle region of Somalia. It was a base of Al-Shabaab, and was the site of an ill-fated 2013 military operation during which French commandos attempt ...

. On 22 May 2022, ''Mistral'', operating in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

in conjunction with the , , was involved in the seizure of just under two tons of drugs.

References

External links

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BPC ''Mistral''
Force Projection and Command Ship ''Mistral'' on Alabordache *
BPC ''Mistral''
Force Projection and Command Ship ''Mistral'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mistral Mistral-class amphibious assault ships Amphibious warfare vessels of France 2004 ships Ships built in France fr:Classe Mistral

Construction and career

References

Further reading

External links