The Thunder Boat (Tonnerre L9014) - Jewel of the French Marine. French Navys Amphibious Helicopter Carrier.

Tonnerre (L9014; lit. Thunder) is an amphibious assault helicopter carrier of the Marine Nationale. She is the 8th vessel to bear the name and the second ship in the Mistral-class amphibious assault ship series.

Tonnerre was laid down in two parts. On 26 August 2003, the aft part was laid down by Arsenal de Brest at Brest and the bow part was laid down 5 May 2004 by Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire at Saint-Nazaire. The vessel was launched on 26 July 2005 and began active service in December 2006.

Name: Tonnerre
Namesake: "Thunder"
Builder: Arsenal de Brest, Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire
Laid down: 26 Aug 2003 (aft part at Brest), 5 May 2004 (bow part at Saint-Nazaire)
Launched: 26 July 2005, Commissioned: December 2006
Homeport: Toulon
Pennant number: L 9014
MMSI number: 278710000
Deck Code: TO
Status: In service
Class and type: Mistral-class amphibious assault ship
Displacement: 16,500 t (empty), 21,300 t (full load), 32,300 t (with ballast)
Length: 199 m (653 ft)
Beam: 32 m (105 ft)
Draught: 6.3 m (21 ft)
Motorisation : 2 Mermaïd electric motors (2 × 7 MW)
2 5-bladed propellers
Electrical plant: 4 Wärtsilä diesels-alternators 16 V32 (6,2 MW) + 1 Wärtsilä Vasaa auxiliary diesel-alternator 18V200 (3 MW)
Speed: 18.8 kn (34.8 km/h; 21.6 mph)
Range: 10,800 km (6,700 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
19,800 km (12,300 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity: 2 barges, one Leclerc battalion, 70 vehicles
Complement: 20 officers, 80 petty officers, 60 Quarter-masters, 450 passengers (900 for a short cruise), 150 men for an onboard headquarters
Armament: 2 Simbad systems, 2 30 mm Breda-Mauser (not installed), 4 12.7 mm M2-HB Browning machine guns
Aircraft carried: 16 heavy or 35 light helicopters

Tonnerre’s maiden voyage occurred between 10 April and 24 July 2007. During this voyage, Tonnerre was involved in Opération Licorne, the French co-deploying complement to the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire following the Ivorian Civil War. Gazelle and Cougar helicopters of the French Air Force operated from the ship during 9 July.

At the start of 2008, Tonnerre was involved in the Corymbe 92 mission (see Standing French Navy Deployments), a humanitarian mission in the Gulf of Guinea. During this deployment, Tonnerre acted on tip-offs from the European Maritime Analysis Operation Centre – Narcotics, and intercepted 5.7 tonnes of smuggled cocaine: 2.5 tonnes from a fishing vessel 520 kilometres (280 nmi) from Monrovia on 29 January,[2] and 3.2 tonnes from a cargo ship 300 kilometres (160 nmi) off Conakry.

US M1 Abrams enters Tonnerre off the coast of North Carolina.
In May 2011, the French Military deployed Eurocopter Tiger and Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters on the ship to augment forces engaged in Opération Harmattan and later Operation Unified Protector during the Libyan Civil War along with allied ships such as the British helicopter carrier HMS Ocean which also provided its own attack helicopters.

In 2020, Tonnerre was deployed to Beirut, Lebanon, shortly after an ammonium nitrate explosion at the city's port killed roughly 200 people and caused significant destruction, including the loss of the nation's main grain elevator. The ship arrived in Beirut on 13 August with "75,000 army rations, large quantities of flour, [and] medical supplies", as well as fire trucks and construction materials. Around 350 personnel were to join the clean-up efforts around the port, which was expected to take weeks.

In 2021, Tonnerre deployed to the Pacific accompanied by the French frigate Surcouf, to conduct the joint La Perouse naval exercise with the four Quadrilateral Security Dialogue members participating.

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