The Gray Monk

$Charge$ like a wounded bull and remember the Falklands. If the bl**dy French had done the "right" think when they sold exocets (i.e. changed the transponder codes) to the Argentines the British navy would not have lost a ship ....

Then again had the British been using the Australian EFF software instead of the American version the ship would not have ignored an incoming "friendly" missile. Firstly incoming missiles are not friendly and secondly the definition of friendly should not include the French anyway.

You can add to that, the French Instructors shouldn't have been flying the strike aircraft anyway! The Argies had missed with the first few, so our brave Gallic comrades decided to show them how ..... RIP HMS Sheffield. It must be said, she was as much a victim of the Civil Service - you had to switch off the low level radar while using the satellite comms system - because a cheap system had been bought instead of what the RN wanted.

Thanks for all the gratuitous linkage. :-) (Although you might want to link to the post's permalink rather than its category, for the sake of avoiding confusion.)

One thing though, you're wrong about the Clémenceau (which I actually saw quite a few years ago in the port of Barcelona), she was entirely French-built. The former RN Colossus class example was the Arromanches.

Of course, I don't know how much by way of design the French borrowed from the Arromanches, but that's a different matter.

Thanks Paul, I looked her up and you are right. Even so she had a checkered career with failed upgrades and eventually couldn't fly the latest aircraft because she didn't have the catapult power or the length of deck required. They have always built "pretty" ships, but that isn't always the best measure of a ship intended for warfare.

"Thanks Paul, I looked her up and you are right."

Yes, Clemenceau also had a sister, Foch. These were excellent design (40 aircraft) and during the 70s they even carried more planes than the 20,000t heavier HMS Ark Royal (36 aircraft).

"Even so she had a checkered career with failed upgrades and eventually couldn't fly the latest aircraft because she didn't have the catapult power or the length of deck required."

I'm afraid that is also incorrect, it is considered a very good design. F-18s were successfully tested from Clemenceau, as were Rafale M. They were getting old though, so it was decided that the small changes needed to operate these aircraft effectively were not worth it. In the end MN decided not to get F-18s at all and put all the money on Rafale M.

The rumours you have heard about decom CdeG are also completely false. Don't believe all the French hathred on the Internet.