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The French Navy is affectionately known as La Royale ("the Royal"). The reason for this nickname is uncertain. Speculation includes: it might be for its traditional attachment to the French monarchy; because, before being named "nationale", the Navy had been named "royale" (the navy did not sport the royal titles common with other European navies like the British Royal Navy); or simply because ...
The history of French naval power dates back to the Middle Ages, and had three loci of evolution: The Mediterranean Sea, where the Ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem had its own navy, the Levant Fleet, whose principal ports were Fréjus, Marseille, and Toulon.
The French Imperial Navy (French: Marine Impériale) was the name given to the French Navy during the period of the Napoleonic Wars, and subsequently during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. The first use of the title 'Imperial Navy' was in 1804, following the Coronation of Napoleon, a name derived from the old French Navy under The Republic.
The French Navy itself, due to the trouble it was having in obtaining naval infantry detachments from the Ministry of the Navy, established the Fusiliers Marins in 1856. The Fusiliers-Marins were initially composed of sailors, senior rates and naval officers who undertook special infantry training to form the "marine" detachments aboard ships ...
This is a list of French ships of the line of the period 1621–1870 (plus some from the period before 1621). Battlefleet units in the French Navy (Marine Royale before the French Revolution established a republic) were categorised as vaisseaux (literally "vessels") as distinguished from lesser warships such as frigates (frégates).
18th-century history of the French Navy (3 P) A. Navy of the Ancien Régime (1 C, 12 P) F. Free French Naval Forces (2 C, 4 P) French naval historians (12 P) M.
Fifteen aircraft carriers have served the navy or been proposed since the 1910s. As of 2025, one French carrier— Charles de Gaulle (R91)—remains in service of the French government. Key
Brennus, built in the late 19th century, was the first pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. During this period, the French Navy experimented with the Jeune École, which emphasized cheap torpedo boats and cruisers instead of the expensive ironclad warships that had dominated naval construction in the 1860s and 1870s, and so the navy ordered a series of experimental designs to ...