 Bougainville in the military harbor at Toulon on 2006 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | Chantiers Dubigeon |
| Preceded by | Ouragan class |
| Succeeded by | Foudre class |
| Planned | 1 |
| Completed | 1 |
| Retired | 1 |
| History | |
 France | |
| Name | Bougainville |
| Namesake | Louis Antoine de Bougainville |
| Ordered | November 1984 |
| Laid down | 28 January 1986 |
| Launched | 3 October 1986 |
| Commissioned | 25 June 1988 |
| Decommissioned | 2008 |
| Fate | Sold on 17 May 2018 for scrapping in Ghent, Belgium |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Bougainville-class landing platform dock |
| Displacement | 3,600 tons (standard) 5,200 tons(full load) |
| Length | 370 ft 0 in (112.78 m) |
| Beam | 55 ft 9 in (16.99 m) |
| Draft | 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 x SACM-Wärtsilä UD33 V12 M6 diesel engines 4,800 hp (3,600 kW), two propellers |
| Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Range | 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 52 (+30 technicians) |
| Sensors and processing systems | 2 x Decca 1226 naval navigation radar |
| Armament | 78 m × 11.5 m (255 ft 11 in × 37 ft 9 in) well deck for 2 landing craft |
| Aviation facilities | Landing pad for two helicopters |
Bougainville is a French landing platform dock, or in certain cases, a research vessel ordered on behalf of nuclear experimentation centers and constructed by the Chantiers Dubigeon shipyard in Nantes. During the bulk of its career, it was used for transportation for nuclear tests in Polynesia or humanitarian aid.
History
The ship was built as a landing platform dock, but was used as a transport ship.[1] Bougainville was laid down on 28 January 1986, but shortly after, construction was put on hold. Construction resumed and the ship was launched on 3 October of the same year. When it was commissioned on 25 June 1988, it was based in Polynesia, where it performed missions of Tahiti-Hao-Mururoa-Fangataufa (inter-island maritime transport). In 1998, Bougainville was converted to an intelligence ship. In 2001, it was tasked with collecting information in the Indian Ocean as part of the War in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks. Bougainville supported coalition forces during the conflict.[2] It was replaced by Dupuy de Lôme in the intelligence ship role and was converted back into a transport ship in 2006. Just after conversion, the vessel took part in supporting efforts to combat the Chikungunya virus and then took part in Mission Corymbe-91 the next year. In 2008 it was decommissioned after 20 years of service and placed in reserve. Five years later, the ship was used as a breakwater for a drydock containing the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. It was sold for scrap in 2018 to Ghent and left Toulon on 17 May 2018 for dismantling.[3]
Citations
- ↑ "Bougainville L9077". helis.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ↑ "L9077 - Bougainville". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ↑ "L 9077 FS Bougainville". seaforces.org. Retrieved 18 July 2022.