''Colbert'' (C 611) was an anti-air cruiser, later transformed into a

missile In military terminology, a missile is a missile guidance, guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously ...

cruiser, of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in th ...

. She was the sixth ship (and second cruiser) of the French Navy to be named after

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

(the previous one was scuttled at Toulon in 1942). She served in the Navy from 1956 to 1991, before being converted into a museum ship at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

from 1993. ''Colbert'' was scrapped in 2016. ''Colbert'' was the last French warship designated as a "cruiser". Afterward, the French Navy adopted the term "frigate".Jordan and Moulin, page 227

History

Development

In 1946 and 1947, the French Navy planned to have six conventional and six anti-air cruisers; afterward, the navy only managed to complete and build the new ''Colbert'', authorized in 1953Jordan and Moulin, page 226 with the project designation "C53". ''Colbert'' was a purpose-designed anti-air warfare ship based on ''De Grasse'', with a mixed armament of 127 mm and 57 mm guns. ''Colbert'' was laid down at the

Brest Arsenal The Brest Arsenal (French - ''arsenal de Brest'') is a collection of naval and military buildings located on the banks of the river Penfeld, in Brest, France. It is located at . Timeline *1631-1635 Beginning of the foundations of the port infr ...

on 9 June 1954, launched on 24 March 1956, and entered service on 5 May 1959.

Early service

Early in her career, ''Colbert'' served as flagship of the French Mediterranean squadron (''escadre de Méditerranée'') at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

. In 1961, she repatriated the remains of Marshal

Hubert Lyautey Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (17 November 1854 – 27 July 1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. Early ...

from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

to France. In late-1964,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Charles de Gaulle made official visits to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

; transportation was partially provided by ''Colbert''. In 1967, ''Colbert'' conveyed President de Gaulle to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

for

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

. The visit was cut short after De Gaulle provoked an

international incident {{Refimprove, date=December 2011 An international incident (or diplomatic incident) is a seemingly relatively small or limited action, incident or clash that results in a wider dispute between two or more nation-states. International incidents can ...

by delivering a

speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...

supporting

Quebec separatism The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision o ...

Post-refit

''Colbert'' was modernized and converted into a missile cruiser from 1970 to 1972. The 127mm guns were replaced by the

Masurca The Masurca missile was a first-generation naval surface-to-air missile system developed and used by the French Navy. Planned as the primary air defence missile system of the first generation of French guided missile ships, it was used only aboar ...

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

system and 100mm dual-purpose guns. Afterwards, she was based at Brest from 1973 to 1976, and then at Toulon. ''Colbert'' represented France at the bicentennial festivities in Australia in 1988. In 1991, ''Colbert'' participated in the 1991

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

('), the only time she participated in a combat operation. She was decommissioned late that year on 24 May.

Museum ship

''Colbert'' was a museum and '' monument historique'' at

from June 1993 to 2007. The ship remained owned by the state; the museum was run by the private association "The Friends of the Colbert". Guided tours provided access to areas - like the engine rooms and cabins - normally closed to the public. There were permanent exhibits on the Navy and

Météo-France Météo-France is the France, French national Meteorology, meteorological service. Organisation The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in Paris but man ...

. Architectural models were also displayed; visitors could see modellers at work. The galley served an enclosed restaurant and dance-room built on the foredeck. The ship's siren was sounded at midday every Wednesday and Sunday. The museum experienced chronic financial problems and could not afford the necessary security and maintenance. For example, it could not afford the needed for repainting. The museum closed on 2 October 2006 due to a lack of funding and pressure from the municipal government and local interest groups.

Scrapping

On 31 May 2007, when the concession to the "Friends" expired, ''Colbert'' was towed to the mothball fleet in Landevennec. She was cannibalized for parts, mainly from the boilers and turbines, to maintain the helicopter-carrier ; the cruiser became surplus when ''Jeanne d'Arc'' was decommissioned in September 2010. On 5 June 2016 ''Colbert'' arrived under tow at Bassens, River Gironde for scrapping.

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

NetMarine.net

Site of the museum

Ship Moorned & Brest as of April 2012

History and photographs inside the abandoned Colbert cruiser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colbert Cold War cruisers of France Ships built in France Museum ships in France 1956 ships Bordeaux