''Vulcain'' (M611) is a ''Vulcain''-class

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

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 is classed by the French Navy as a BBPD type vessel (French: ''bâtiment-base de plongeurs démineurs'') and is used as a base ship for

clearance diver A clearance diver was originally a specialist naval diver who used explosives underwater to remove obstructions to make harbours and shipping channels safe to navigate, but the term "clearance diver" was later used to include other naval unde ...

s. She is based in

Cherbourg Naval Base Cherbourg Naval Base is a naval base in Cherbourg Harbour, Cherbourg, Manche department, Normandy. The town has been a base of the French Navy since the opening of the military port in 1813. History Early works Cherbourg had been a stronghold s ...

, in

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 ...

, France, and is run by the 1st GPD ''Groupement de Plongeurs démineurs'', a group of French Army clearance divers. Since 16 May 1987, she has been symbolically linked with the town of

Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honfle ...

. The personnel on board usually comprises 12 divers, 1 medical officer and 1 nurse. Other BBPDs of the ''Vulcain'' type are: *BBPD ''Styx'' - M614 *BBPD ''Pluton'' - M622 *BBPD ''Achéron'' - A613

See also