Name Tourville Commissioned 14 June 1975 Homeport Brest Launched 13 May 1973 Beam 16 m | Laid down 16 March 1970 Decommissioned 11 June 2011 Construction started 16 March 1970 Length 153 m | |
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Namesake Anne Hilarion de Tourville | ||
Tourville is the lead ship of F67 type large high-sea frigates of the French Marine Nationale. The vessel is specialised in anti-submarine warfare, though it also has anti-air and anti-surface capabilities. She is named after the 17th century admiral Count Anne-Hilarion de Cotentin de Tourville.
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Between 1994 and 1996, Tourville (and sister ship De Grasse) was refitted with the modern SLAMS anti-submarine system, an active Very Low Frequencies sonar.
Varuna 10
Tourville was part of the French naval task group led by the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle that departed Toulon on 30 October 2010 for a four-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Indian Ocean. and Persian Gulf. The task group commander, Rear Admiral Jean-Louis Kerignard, defined force's mission as follows:
The force would help allied navies fight piracy off the coast of Somalia and send jets to support NATO in the skies above Afghanistan."Once on station, the Charles de Gaulle carrier task group joined two U.S. Navy carrier strike groups led by the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Harry S. Truman operating in the Persian Gulf. Subsequently, between 7–14 January 2011, the French carrier task group led by Charles de Gaulle participated with bilateral naval exercise, code named Varuna 10, with the Indian Navy. Indian naval units participating in Varuna 10 included the aircraft carrier Viraat, the frigates Godavari and Ganga; and the diesel-electric submarine Shalki. Varuna 10 was a two-phase naval exercise, with the harbour phase taking place between 7–11 January and the sea phase between 11–14 January in the Arabian Sea.
Decommissioning
Tourville was decommissioned on 9 September 2011 and is now moored in the Penfeld.