Breaking news
French Navy Appointed the First Female Officer to Command a Frigate.
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Naval
Forces News - France |
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French
Navy Appointed the First Female Officer to Command a Frigate |
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The
French Navy (Marine Nationale) appointed Capitaine de Frégate
(Frigate Captain or Commander) Claire Pothier as the commanding officier
aboard La
fayette class Frigate Guépratte (F714). CDR Pothier
becomes the first woman to command a combatant ship in the French Navy. |
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 On Friday, January 15, 2016 Squadron Vice-Admiral Denis Beraud, Commander of the French Navy Naval Action Force (ALFAN) appointed Commander Claire Pothier as the Commanding Officer aboard frigate Guépratte in Toulon naval base. Picture: A.Groyer©Marine Nationale |
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CDR
Pothier was previously detached to the United States Central Command
Headquarters in Tampa, Florida. She graduated as valedictorian (highest
ranking student) of her class from the École Navale in 1996.
The École Navale is the French Naval Academy in charge of the
education of the officers of the French Navy. In the U.S. Navy, the first woman to command a combatant ship was CDR Maureen A. Farren in 1998. In the Royal Navy, Commander Sarah West was the first woman to be appointed as commanding officer of a major warship when she assumed command of HMS Portland, a Type 23 Frigate, in 2012. |
 The French Navy Lafayette class frigate Guépratte (designated light stealth frigate in the French Navy) . Picture: French Navy |
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French
frigate Guépratte (F 714) is a La Fayette-class Frigate.
She is the only frigate of the class whose complement includes women,
with 25 female crewmembers on board. The French Navy's La Fayette Class multipurpose stealth frigates were developed and built by DCNS. The French Navy awarded DCNS the contracts to construct the La Fayette (F710), Surcouff (F711) and Courbet (F712) frigates in 1988, and Aconit (F713) and Guepratte (F714) in 1992. The La Fayette Class incorporates a number of stealth features – the sides of the vessel are sloped at 10° to minimize radar cross section, surfaces are made of alloy, reinforced plastic and kevlar. The profiles of external features have been reduced. To learn more: Link to La Fayette class Frigate technical datasheet |
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