Tonnerre (L9014)

Lookie-lookie at the Big War Pig (aka Naval ship) that I just spied in our Halifax Harbour! It's a French Navy Aircraft Carrier. The size of it is simply beyond crazy!!!

Here's a link that tells all about the Tonnerre, if you're interested...I know Jim's gonna be sooo pee'd that he missed it! lol :)

Here's a little about her:

The Tonnerre (L9014) is an amphibious assault helicopter carrier of the French Marine Nationale, the fourth vessel to bear the name, and second ship of her class.

Medical Capabilities The Tonnerre features a fully capable 69-bed hospital (as much as a 40 000 inhabitant town), with a triage room, a shock room, two surgery rooms, a room for treatment of burn injuries, a telesurgery room, and radiology equipment, including a scanner.

In normal time, the ship has a medical doctor, two nurses, and 19 medicalised beds. The helicopter hangar can be converted to a campaign hospital to improve medical capabilities. If needed, modular elements can be added to provide four surgical rooms and accommodate a 100-person medical team, including 12 surgeons.

Construction The space for the crew and passengers is unusually large, since the Tonnerre is designed to spend three months in a row at sea, in accordance with the "mobile base" doctrine. The ship features an all-purpose sport room and large common areas. The crew lives in 4-person cabins fitted with sanitary equipment, which allows the ship to accommodate a mixed crew.

Military equipment The Tonnerre is equipped with combat detection systems linked to a SENIT 9 system that allows integrated sharing of information between units of a fleet. The communication systems and other equipment allow the Tonnerre to host a 200-person general staff.

She is capable of deploying 16 NH90 or Tigre helicopters, or 35 Aérospatiale Gazelle. and has reinforced forward pod, as to be able to accommodate 30-tonne helicopters such as the CH-53E Super Stallion; four landing barges or two LCAC; and 70 vehicles, including 13-tank Leclerc battalion, with up to 450 soldiers (900 for a short period).

The Tonnerre features light, short-range missiles and cannons for last-resort self-defence.

All I can say is WOW! Check out the size in comparison to our little Canadian MCDV (Maritime Coastal Defense Vessel) to the bottom right of it...makes ours look like a tiny bath toy! Terrible...Anyway, I realize this is pretty far from cardmaking or paper crafts, but just thought it was interesting since I'm a Navy wife, and thought I would share. :)

Thanks for stopping by!