Poster profile air carrier Arromanches

The Arromanches (R95) is a light combat aircraft carrier, first of its series and prototype of the Colossus class aircraft carriers. Its construction began on June 1, 1942 at the Vickers-Armstrongs shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Launched on 30 September 1943 and commissioned in December 1944 as HMS Colossus in the Royal Navy, she was leased to the French Navy in August 1946 for five years. Renamed Arromanches in homage to the Norman town for its role during the Battle of Normandy, it was purchased by the French Navy in 1951 at the end of its lease.

After joining the Eastern Fleet in 1945, then the British Pacific Fleet for operations against Japan, the Arromanches returned to England at the end of hostilities. Leased to France in 1946, it participated in various missions, notably in West Africa and during the Indochina War in the following years.

In 1951, after its purchase by the French Navy, it was rearmed for a new campaign in Indochina. Subsequently, she was involved in various operations, including the intervention at Suez in 1956. From 1959 until her decommissioning in 1974, Arromanches was used as a training aircraft carrier and in combat roles. anti-submarine.

After it was decommissioned in 1974, it was sold in 1976 and dismantled in 1978. During its long career, the Arromanches also served as support for an on-board naval postal agency. In terms of technical characteristics, it underwent modifications to its landing brakes, going from eight strands and two barriers to ten cables after an overhaul in 1958, including the installation of an oblique landing runway.