The

BATRAL The Bâtiment de Transport Léger (abbreviated BATRAL; "Light ferry ship") are small landing ships of the French Navy. Also known as ''Champlain'' class by the lead ship, they have been used for regional transport and patrol needs in French Overs ...

("Light ferry ship") ''Francis Garnier'' (L9031) is the second of a series of five vessels. She was launched on 17 November 1973 and commissioned on 24 October 1974. She is the fifth vessel 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 ...

named in honour of the officer and explorer

Francis Garnier Marie Joseph François Garnier ( vi, Ngạc Nhi; 25 July 1839 – 21 December 1873) was a French officer, inspector of Indigenous Affairs of Cochinchina and explorer. He eventually became mission leader of the Mekong Exploration Commission in 19th ...

. The BATRAL vessels are able to ferry over 400 tons of matériel, in the hangar and on the deck. Loading and unloading can be done from a harbour or from a beach. Two flat-bottom vessels allow unloading 50 men and light vehicles each. The accommodations are designed for a ''Guépard''-type intervention unit (5 officers, 15 petty officers and 118 men), or for typical company-sized armoured units. A helicopter landing deck allows landing for light helicopters, and transfer from and to heavy helicopters. She is based in Fort Saint Louis in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

. She has been used for humanitarian relief for thirty years, intervening on hurricane and tempest scenes in the Caraibs and Guyana. She is also part in the force projection system for interarm and internal operations, notably being engaged with the aeronaval group of during ''Opération Héracles'', the French naval component of the

invasion of Afghanistan In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operations ...

. ''Francis Garnier'' was ordered to assist the humanitarian efforts following the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

as part of ''

Opération Séisme Haiti 2010 Opération Séisme Haiti 2010 (''Operation Haiti Earthquake 2010'') is France's military relief operation for the 12 January 2010 earthquake. Le Cawa"26/01/10 - Séisme Haïti : le commandant des FAA inspecte le dispositif militaire français en ...

''. She left

carrying 60

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

personnel, land vehicles and

excavator Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...

s; and various relief shipments. Haïti: un navire français en route
(in French), ''Le Figaro'' (15 January 2010), Retrieved on 16 January 2010. File:BATRAL-francis-garnier-02.jpg File:BATRAL-francis-garnier-36.jpg File:Francis Garnier.jpeg

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis Garnier BATRAL-class landing ships Ships built in France Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of France 1973 ships 2010 Haiti earthquake relief