Jeanne d'Arc was a helicopter cruiser of the French Navy. She was the sixth vessel of the French Navy named after Joan of Arc, a national heroine of France and saint of the Catholic Church who led the French to victory during the final phases of the Hundred Years' War. In peacetime, Jeanne d'Arc was used for teaching and training purposes; however, in case of emergency or crisis, she was to have become a fully capable helicopter cruiser. Toward the end of her service life Jeanne d'Arc became unsuitable for the role due to the increasing size and weight of helicopters. Jeanne d'Arc was built as La Résolue, as her predecessor, of 1930, was still in service. She was renamed Jeanne d'Arc in 1964. The ship was retired in May 2010 and decommissioned in September 2010.
Career
Missions
In peacetime, Jeanne d'Arc was a teaching and training vessel for the naval officers' application academy, and at the same time possessed an aerial group of 2 Aérospatiale Puma helicopters and 2 Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters of the light aviation of the French Army, as well as two helicopters Alouette III of naval aviation. Jeanne d'Arc was capable of combat deployment, either in the anti-submarine warfare role with 8 WG 13 Lynx helicopters, or for external missions by carrying Puma or Gazelle helicopters from the light aviation of the French Army. Initially, she was also able to carry landing troops and Sikorsky or Super Frelon helicopters. Jeanne d'Arc could carry roughly 10 light or heavy helicopters and simultaneously handle the takeoff and landing of 3 helicopters. Following the development of the anti-ship missile Exocet, Jeanne d'Arc was fitted with the system in 1974. In 2008, Jeanne d'Arc was deployed in an anti-piracy role in the Gulf of Aden. The ship was used as part of the rescue effort of Le Ponant during the April 2008 hostage-taking incident. A Gazelle helicopter from Jeanne d'Arc carrying snipers chased and captured pirates who had escaped on 4x4 vehicles after the hostages had been freed. Jeanne d'Arc commenced her final cruise on December 2009. The last trip included visits to Africa, South America including Rio to Buenos Aires, Lima, the French Antilles, the United States of America including New York city and Canada. The deployment was completed in May 2010 with a return to the port of Brest in France on 27 May 2010. On its final mission, Jeanne d'Arc, continued to perform in its role as a training vessel for French navy midshipmen. On this final voyage she was accompanied by the frigate , and carried a French training squadron with 103 cadets, including twelve from nine foreign countries.
End of service formalities
The helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc was formally removed from active service in the French Marine Nationale on 7 June 2010. The necessary disarmament operations were formalised by decree of the Ministry of Defence on 4 June 2010 and announced in the Official Bulletin or the Marine Nationale, Edition No. 26 on 25 June 2010. The announcement stated that these disarmament procedures where to be conducted under the authority of the Admiral commanding the Naval Action Force, the Minister of Defence and the Deputy Chief of Staff, Support and finance", Hubert Sciorella. On 1 September 2010, at 11:30, Jeanne d'Arc's colours and name were withdrawn, formally ending her life as a ship in the Marine Nationale. This last ceremony of the colours on Jeanne d'Arc was held in the ship's home port of Brest. Following disarmament in l'Arsenal basin at Brest the ship continued to be moored at the naval base. On 9 September 2010 the former Jeanne d'Arc was removed of its naval number R 97 and moved to Piriouas as the hull Q 860 to conduct the work of securing the hulk and extracting the remaining recoverable hardware. The task of establishing an inventory of hazardous materials present on the vessel will take place in the naval yards prior to dismantling the hull and could take up to two years. A tender will then be sent for its dismantling. The French Navy currently has 76 hulks ready to be dismantled. The issue remains sensitive following problems arising from the disposal and dismantling of the former. In 2014 it was decided that Jeanne d'Arc would be dismantled at Bordeaux by the Bartin Recycling Group and Pétrofer, subsidiaries of Veolia Group. The contract was worth approximately 11.5 million Euros.
