BATRAL-class landing ship

BATRAL class

BATRAL Francis Garnier
Class overview
Succeeded by:	Bâtiment Multimission (B2M)[1]
General characteristics
Type:	Landing ship tank
Displacement:	770 t, 1,330 t fully loaded
Length:	80 m (262 ft)
Beam:	13 m (43 ft)
Draught:	3 m (10 ft)
Installed power:	2 × diesel SACM Wärtsilä UD 33 V12 M4 3,600 hp (2,700 kW) Electric power: 2 × DA 180 kW
Propulsion:	2 × 4-bladed propellers
Speed:	16 knots (30 km/h)
Range:	4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) at 13 knots (24 km/h)
Complement:	3 officers 15 petty officers 26 quarter-masters
Sensors and processing systems:	1 × DECCA 1226 navigation radar Inmarsat system
Armament:	2 × 40 mm anti-air guns 2 × 12.7 mm machine guns
Aviation facilities:	Helicopter landing deck

The Bâtiment de Transport Léger ("Light ferry ship") are small landing ships of the French Navy. Also known as Champlain class by the lead ship,^[2] they have been used for regional transport and patrol needs in French Overseas Departments and Territories since the 1970s.^[1] On 9 January 2014 it was announced that the two remaining Batrals in French service would be replaced in 2015/16 by three 1500-tonne Bâtiments Multimission (B2M) at a cost of ~€100m (US$136m).^[1]

Design

The Batrals can ferry over 400 tons of matériel, in the hangar and on the deck. Loading and unloading can be done from a harbour or on a beach. Two flat-bottom vessels allow unloading fifty men and light vehicles each. The accommodations are designed for a Guépard-type intervention unit (five officers, fifteen petty officers and 118 men), or for typical company-sized armoured units. A helicopter landing deck allows landing for light helicopters, and transfer to and from heavy helicopters.

History

The Chilean Navy purchased the plans and built two ships in the ASMAR shipyards in the early 1980s.

Ships

French Navy

• Champlain decommissioned
• Francis Garnier decommissioned
• Dumont D'Urville will be decommissioned in 2017
• Jacques Cartier decommissioned^[3]
• La Grandière

Chilean Navy

• Rancagua (R92)
• Chacabuco (R95)
• Maipo (R91) decommissioned in 1998, later sold to civil operator

Côte d'Ivoire Navy

• L'Elephant

Gabon Navy

• President el Hadj Omar Bongo (L05)

Royal Moroccan Navy

• Daoud Ben Aicha (402)
• Ahmed Es Skali (403)
• Abou Abdallah El Ayachi (404)

• 

  Francis Garnier at sea

• 

  Francis Garnier in port

• 

  Dumont D'Urville with her landing bow opened

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BATRAL.

Equipment of the French Navy
Naval Action Force	Aircraft Carriers Charles de Gaulle Frigates (1st Class) Horizon-class frigate Cassard-class frigate Aquitaine-class frigate Georges Leygues-class frigate La Fayette-class frigate Frigates (2nd Class) Floréal-class frigate Patrol Vessels P400-class patrol vessel D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso Amphibious assault Vessels Mistral-class amphibious assault ship BATRAL-class landing ship Landing Craft EDAR EDIC CDIC Minehunter Vessels Tripartite-class minehunter Tankers Durance-class tanker
Submarine Forces Strategic Oceanic Force	SSN Rubis class Barracuda class SSBN Triomphant class
Naval aviation	Fighter & Attack Rafale Patrol Breguet Atlantic Airborne Early Warning Hawkeye Transport & communications Falcon 10 Helicopters Dauphin Panther Lynx NH90

Ship classes of the Royal Moroccan Navy
Frigates	FREMM Frigate Descubierta class Floréal class FMMM
Corvettes	FMMM
Offshore patrol vessels	OPV-70 OPV-64 Osprey 55 class Lazaga class Cormoran class PR-72P class
Landing Vessels	BATRAL LST