delusionofgrandeur

Retired French aircraft carrier Clemenceau (R98) is to be broken up at Graythorp in Hartlepool. Clemenceau was originally sent to India for dismantling in 2005 but due to the large amounts of toxic chemicals and materials on board, was denied access.

In 2006, Clemenceau returned to French waters and was anchored off Brest. Able UK have now secured dispensation to handle the 700 tons of asbestos and will be carrying out the contract to scrap the vessel.

About the Clemenceau

“le Clem” was laid-down in 1955 and launched in 1957, with 32,700 tons displacement and angle-deck CATOBAR configuration, she could carry up to 40 aircraft including the possibility of nuclear-armed Super Etendards. In the 1990s Clemenceau supported sorties over the former Yugoslavia. There was a second ship of Clemenceau’s class named ‘Foch’ (R99) which continues to serve to this day in the Brazillian Navy as Sao Paulo.

Clemenceau is expected in Hartlepool for dismantling in the late summer.

Tags: asbestos, clemenceau, dismantling, foch, france, graythorp, hartlepool, india, le clem, scrapping, uk

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Automotive, Maritime, News.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.