''Verdun'' was an

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

under development in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the 1950s which was cancelled before design was completed.

History

With the ''Clemenceau'' class carriers soon to enter service, the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

launched an effort to build a larger carrier specifically with the nuclear strike role in mind. Construction of the carrier was considered in 1958 but due to cost the program was cancelled in 1961. For more than 30 years, France would rely on the ''Clemenceau'' class to provide fixed wing aviation. These two ships were modified in the 1980s to accommodate AN-52 nuclear bombs, taking part of the role of the cancelled ''Verdun''. France built a new carrier finally in the form of the ''Charles de Gaulle'' at the end of the 1990s.

References

* Proposed aircraft carriers

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

{{France-mil-ship-stub

History

See also

References