The military port of Toulon (French - arsenal de Toulon) is the principal base of the French Navy, sited in the city of Toulon. It holds most of France's force d'action navale, comprising the aircraft carriers Charles de Gaulle as well as its nuclear attack submarines, in total more than 60% of the tonnage of the French Navy.
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The word rade comes from the old English term 'Road,' "a protected place near shore, not so enclosed as a harbour, where ships can ride at anchor.".[1] The Rade of Toulon is one of the best natural anchorages on the Mediterranean, and the largest rade in Europe. It is protected from the sea by the peninsula of Giens and the peninsula of Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer,and has been used as a military harbour since the 15th century. The Rade shelters the port of Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer, the port of La Seyne-sur-Mer, as well as the arsenal, or military port of Toulon, and the commercial port.
The 'modern' history of the port begins when Louis XII built his Tour Royale at Toulon in 1514. A naval arsenal and shipyard was built in 1599, and small sheltered harbour, the Veille Darse, was built in 1604-1610 to protect ships from the wind and sea. The shipyard was greatly enlarged by Cardinal Richelieu, who wished to make France into a Mediterranean naval power. In 1680, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the Minister of the Navy and Controller of Finance of King Louis XIV, began building a much larger port, called the Darse Vauban or the Darse Neuve, and shipyard, designed by his commissioner of fortifications, Vauban.[2]
In 1697, Vauban built the impressive corderie, a building designed to make ropes. The corderie, still standing, is 20 metres wide and 320 metres long, built so that ropes could be stretched the entire length of the building as they were twisted together. Power for the ropemaking was provided by convicts from the adjoining prison, who walked in an enormous treadmill. A triumphal gate (now the Museum of the Navy) was added to the Arsenal in 1738.
The Arsenal port was enlarged still further in the 19th century and the 20th century. The construction of the arsenal du Mourillon began at the start of the 18th century, as an extension of the major Toulon arsenal on the roadstead's east coast. Until the 20th century this extension held stores for the wood to build the French Navy. From the late 19th century it was this shipyard that built France's first ironclad frigates then the world's first modern submarines.
Rather than joining the Free French forces in North Africa and to avoid capture by the Germans, the French fleet based at Toulon scuttled itself on 27 November 1942 on the orders of the French admiralty[3]. During the 20th century the Mourillon arsenal was mainly dedicated to submarine activity as a French submarine base until 1940, then a German one from 1940 to 1945, then a dockyard and torpedo factory after 1945. The Arsenal was badly damaged by Allied bombing in World War II, but since has been reconstructed and modernised. It has eleven drydocks for ship repair, the two largest of which are 422 metres by 40 metres. The Arsenal is still the principal military port of France, the home port of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91), France's attack submarine squadron, and the other ships of the French Mediterranean fleet.
The Arsenal is not open to the public, but the Naval Museum at its entrance has a remarkable collection of enormous ship models from the 18th century, used to train the heir to the throne in seamanship, as well as other naval memorabilia. The building of the Corderie can be seen beside the road nearby. Boat tours depart regularly from the waterfront, and allow visitors to have a good look at ships of the French fleet.[4]
The military base is divided into four main zones, each with their own access to the sea. From east to west these are:
The first has two main entrances :
The three other gates are secondary and little used, though still heavily guarded. To the extreme west in the communes of La Seyne-sur-Mer and Ollioules the military base is in contact with the commercial port of Brégaillon, connected to national and regional networks for the supply of artillery munitions and other supplies.
The arsenal du Mourillon, next to the roadstead, is directly accessible via the north arsenal which housed a submarine base until 1945. The south arsenal is accessed by the small slipway of Le Mourillon beside the now-disappeared torpedo factory.
The military bases possesses more than 30 km of roads, railway level crossings, traffic lights, signs, etc.. It also has an SNCF rail line running from the station at La Seyne-sur-Mer to the docks via its storage sheds.
The naval installations of Toulon harbour are, from East to West:
Used to harbour foreign ships, or large ships. Traditionally, this quay was used to honour distinguished ships by putting them into view from the merchant harbour.
The four dry docks are fit for repairs on medium to large craft. The Vaudan dock is used as a mooring for small ships (diver support, mine warfare, tugs, patrol boats) and elder ships.
Harbour the nuclear attack submarines. The quays are fitted with mobile roofs that cover the submarines when their nuclear equipment is being refitted. These quays also comprise a number of dry docks.
The main mooring stations of the harbour, where frigates, aircraft carriers, fleet tankers and landing ships are stationed.