Ordered 1958 Beam 34 m (112 ft) Weight 45,720 tons | Fate Cancelled in 1961 Length 262 m Displacement 40.82 million kg | |
Propulsion Steam turbines
4 shafts
200,000 shp Speed 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) Armament 2 × Masurca SAM
4 × 100 mm DP guns | ||
Verdun was an aircraft carrier under development in France in the 1950s which was cancelled before design was completed.
History
With the Clemenceau class carriers soon to enter service, the French Navy launched an effort to build a larger carrier specifically with the nuclear strike role in mind. Construction of the carrier was considered in 1958 but due to cost the program was cancelled in 1961.
For more than 30 years, France would rely on the Clemenceau class to provide fixed wing aviation. These two ships were modified in the 1980s to accommodate AN52 nuclear bombs, taking part of the role of the cancelled Verdun. France built a new carrier finally in the form of the Charles de Gaulle at the end of the 1990s.
References
French aircraft carrier Verdun Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA