French ship Dixmude (L9015)

BPC Dixmude (L9015) in Jounieh bay, Lebanon 2012.
History
France
Name:	Dixmude
Namesake:	Fusiliers Marins at the battle of Diksmuide[1]
Builder:	Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire
Cost:	€451.6m[2] (FY 2012) (~US$600m)
Laid down:	20 January 2010 in Saint-Nazaire[1]
Launched:	17 September 2010[3]
Commissioned:	27 December 2012
Homeport:	Toulon
Status:	In service
General characteristics
Class & 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)
Installed power:	4 × Wärtsilä 16V32 (4 × 6,2 MW)
Propulsion:	Diesel-electric; two Rolls-Royce Mermaid azimuth thrusters (2 × 7 MW) with 5-bladed fixed pitch propellers
Speed:	18.8 knots (34.8 km/h; 21.6 mph)
Range:	5,800 nautical miles (10,800 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) 10,700 nautical miles (19,800 km) at 15 knots (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-man operational headquarter
Armament:	2 × Simbad surface-to-air missile systems 2 × 30 mm Breda-Mauser autocannons 4 × 12.7 mm M2-HB Browning machine guns
Aircraft carried:	16 heavy or 35 light helicopters

Dixmude (L9015) is an amphibious assault ship, a type of helicopter carrier, of the French Navy. She is the third vessel to bear the name, and is the third ship of the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships.

Dixmude was delivered to the French defence procurement agency on 3 January 2012, three months ahead of schedule.^[4]

In January 2013, Dixmude took part in Operation Serval, ferrying elements of the 92^ème Régiment d’Infanterie to Mali.^[5]

References

1. 1 2 Dixmude: mise sur cale du 3ème BPC (French), French ministry of Defence.
2. ↑ "Projet de loi de finances pour 2013 : Défense : équipement des forces" (in French). Senate of France. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 2014-09-26.  Dixmude cost France €451.6m at FY2012 prices
3. ↑ BPD Dixmude at EDA-R: la réponse aux nouvelles exigences de projection (French), French ministry of Defence
4. ↑ "DCNS and STX France Hand Over Mistral-Class Vessel BPC Dixmude". Shipbuilding Tribune. 17 January 2012. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2012. 
5. ↑ "Opération Serval : embarquement immédiat pour le 92ème RI". French Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 4 April 2013. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dixmude (L9015).

Mistral-class amphibious assault ships  French Navy Mistral Tonnerre Dixmude  Egyptian Navy Vladivostok Sevastopol Preceded by: Foudre class Followed by: None List of amphibious warfare vessels of the French Navy List of amphibious warfare vessels of the Egyptian Navy