- Joined
- Jan 20, 2014
- Messages
- 381
- Reaction score
- 858
- Points
- 93
- Location
- Kamp-Lintfort/Germany
- Website
- www.tomvandutch.de
In the Bay of L. a river flows into the sea and has created a fairly large meander here with a fairly large water depth. The French navy also recognized this and then built a port in the bay. The bay was also used to temporarily store discarded warships. This happened as early as 1840. The city of L. achieved relatively great prosperity thanks to the marines. During World War II, the Navy set up workshops on some ships. One of them was sunk and still lies on the seabed today, 18 meters deep. In the 1950s the port was relocated and the bay was only used for discarded ships.
Even today, after over a hundred years, the French Navy still uses this place to temporarily store ships. The ships are usually stored there for 2-3 years before they are dismantled. The ships have already been demilitarized and mostly only the hull is left there. In the past, these ships were also used as sea targets for target practice and were sunk at sea. This is no longer allowed today.
The ships are a restricted military area and it is also regularly checked by the French Navy. This ship cemetery has also been a filming location for a film.
When we visited there were 10 ships in the bay.
One of the ships is the frigate Primauguet (D644). She was an F70 anti-submarine frigate (Georges Leygues class) and the 5th ship of this class. On April 1, 2019, she was decommissioned after 33 years.
There was also the patrol boat Albatros (P681), which was originally built in 1966 as a fishing trawler. The French Navy bought the ship in 1983 and had it converted into a patrol boat. From then on it was stationed on Réunion and was mainly used to monitor fisheries. It was also repeatedly used for humanitarian missions and had a hospital ward with 6 beds. It could accommodate 50 crew members and 15 passengers and was capable of staying at sea for 60 days. It was then decommissioned in July 2015.
Another ship is the Dumont d'Urville (L9032) is a French Champlain-class light transport ship that was stationed in the Antilles. The French Navy had a total of 4 ships of this type. This type of ship accommodated 120 people and 12 vehicles.
As a landing craft it could transport almost 400 tons and was therefore able to land a company. There was also a helicopter landing pad at the rear. After 37 years of service, it was decommissioned in July 2017.
Unfortunately, the remaining 7 ships cannot be identified.
Even today, after over a hundred years, the French Navy still uses this place to temporarily store ships. The ships are usually stored there for 2-3 years before they are dismantled. The ships have already been demilitarized and mostly only the hull is left there. In the past, these ships were also used as sea targets for target practice and were sunk at sea. This is no longer allowed today.
The ships are a restricted military area and it is also regularly checked by the French Navy. This ship cemetery has also been a filming location for a film.
When we visited there were 10 ships in the bay.
One of the ships is the frigate Primauguet (D644). She was an F70 anti-submarine frigate (Georges Leygues class) and the 5th ship of this class. On April 1, 2019, she was decommissioned after 33 years.
There was also the patrol boat Albatros (P681), which was originally built in 1966 as a fishing trawler. The French Navy bought the ship in 1983 and had it converted into a patrol boat. From then on it was stationed on Réunion and was mainly used to monitor fisheries. It was also repeatedly used for humanitarian missions and had a hospital ward with 6 beds. It could accommodate 50 crew members and 15 passengers and was capable of staying at sea for 60 days. It was then decommissioned in July 2015.
Another ship is the Dumont d'Urville (L9032) is a French Champlain-class light transport ship that was stationed in the Antilles. The French Navy had a total of 4 ships of this type. This type of ship accommodated 120 people and 12 vehicles.
As a landing craft it could transport almost 400 tons and was therefore able to land a company. There was also a helicopter landing pad at the rear. After 37 years of service, it was decommissioned in July 2017.
Unfortunately, the remaining 7 ships cannot be identified.
