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French patrol vessel La Combattante (P730)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2a00:23c7:cf3e:1801:89d1:b204:404:936 (talk) at 17:01, 6 July 2023 (Exocet to SS.11 as the small SS.11 wire guided missile was part of the La Combattante armament in a single quad laucher wheras it was used as a trials vessel for the Exocet missle with usually a single launcher for the trials (see Brassey's Fast Attack Crafty by John Marriott published 1978 and others).). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship La Combattante.
History
France
NameLa Combattante
OperatorFrench Navy
BuilderCMN, Cherbourg
Laid down5 December 1961
Launched20 June1963
Commissioned1 March 1964
IdentificationPennant number P730
FateStricken 1994
General characteristics (After last refit)[1]
TypePatrol Craft
Displacement180 tonnes (180 long tons)
Length45 m (147 ft 8 in)
Beam7.4 m (24 ft)
Draught2.50 m (8 ft 2 in)
Propulsion
Speed23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range2,000 nmi (3,700 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement27
Electronic warfare
& decoys		Decoy and flare launcher
Armament

La Combattante (P730) ("The Fighter") was a fast patrol vessel of the French Navy. She was built in 1963 and was to be the prototype for a class of coastal patrol craft. La Combattante was operational in the French Navy from 1963 until 1985, when she was transferred to the French Coast Guard. She was discarded in 1994.

Design and construction

La Combattante was ordered from Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN), Cherbourg, on 5 December 1961. She was launched on 20 June 1963 and was completed in March 1964. La Combattante was built of laminated wood and plastic, in order to have a small magnetic signature. She had an armament of one 40mm and two 12.7mm machine-guns, and a speed of 23 knots.[1]

Her design inspired a series of similar vessels, including that of the Circé class coastal minehunters built by CMN in the 1990s, and the "La Combattante" type missile boats built by CMN for export.[1]

Service history

La Combattante was commissioned on 1 March 1964, and saw service in France and overseas, in the French Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean territories. In the late 60's La Combattante was used as the launch vehicle for trials of the Aérospatiale's Exocet missile. Following the success of these, and the adoption of the Exocet by the French Navy, La Combattante was equipped with four SS11 launchers. In January 1985 La Combattante was transferred to the Maritime Gendarmerie, the French coastguard service; her missile launchers were removed, though she kept her gun armament. In 1994 La Combattante was stricken.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Conway p127

References

  • Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 (1995) Naval Institute Press, Annapolis ISBN 1-55750-132-7
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