How will the future French Navy aircraft carrier be named?

Entering service in 2001, the venerable Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will bow out by 2038-2040. The production of his successor will begin "at the end of 2025, beginning of 2026", announced in early April the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, in the columns of Parisian . And the first sea trials will take place “in 2036-2037”. The project for this “cathedral of technology and human skills of 75,000 tons”, as the minister defines it, should be enshrined in the Military Programming Law, currently under consideration in the Assembly.

For this centerpiece of the French Navy, it will need a name. As for all the buildings of the institution. It will be given to him "before the end of the five-year term" by the President of the Republic, promises Sébastien Lecornu to our colleagues. The prerogative to name the major buildings of the Navy, such as aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SNLE), always belongs to the Head of State.

But before the official announcement of the name of a ship, the process meets rigorous codes. The appointment of smaller ships simply requires the validation of the Chief of the Naval Staff. That of the frigates or the largest buildings necessarily passes through the Minister of the Armed Forces. There are no particular rules for the timing: "We like that the name is given at the beginning of the realization," says the Navy. The process as such “is not standardized”. "We don't have big meetings, we generally ask for good ideas within the forces," we continue.

Proposals flow in, are sorted, and sent to the Defense History Department. The latter "has no prerogative, but can be very useful as safeguards," says the Navy. In fact, in no case the name should be divisive or controversial. A ship could, for example, hardly be named "Admiral Darlan", who was a great sailor... but also a notorious collaborationist. The Defense History Service will then issue an opinion, and the Chief of Staff, the Minister for the Armed Forces or the President of the Republic will decide, depending on the importance of the ship.

"Naval onomastics", the science of naming ships, is taken very seriously by sailors. “To name a boat is to give it a reality, the sailor is always very proud of it”, confirms a military source. This nomination must also have a meaning, a strong meaning. The Jacques Chevallier, first in the series of new force supply vessels, which carried out its first sea trials in 2022, was named in tribute to the military engineer who designed the engines of the Le Redoutable class SSBNs. The Auguste Bénébig, a patrol boat which will be deployed in Nouméa after its trials, takes its name from a Compagnon de la Liberation native of New Caledonia.

“The notion of tradition is important, underlines the French Navy. We are conservative, but not only: we evolve the names, which we give according to the evolution of society”. For several years, "the logic of equality between men and women" has been taken into account, it is said. Since the birth of the Royal Navy, initiated by Louis XIV and Colbert, naval names have not really evolved. Until Napoleon, the names of ships evoked, whether they were proper nouns or adjectives, four main themes, as underlined by a fascinating study of their symbolism: the sea, war, sovereignty and geography.

From the July Monarchy to the Third Republic, military officials showed a little more audacity, using names linked to mythology (Eurydice, Calypso, etc.). Today, the themes have returned to the fundamentals: Le Triomphant class SSBNs thus summon the lexical field of strength and power (Téméraire, Vigilant, Terrible...). Multi-mission frigates have inherited the names of French regions (Lorraine, Alsace, Provence...) and helicopter carriers refer to elements linked to the sea (Mistral, Tonnerre...). Some ships also refer to France's revolutionary past (Vendémiaire, Prairial...).

In addition to these themes, certain rules must prevail for major ships: "The name must speak to everyone, that it shines internationally", indicates the French Navy. Charles de Gaulle, who gave his name to the current aircraft carrier, is for example known throughout the world. The name also needs to “embody the power of the ship”. Thus, "a submarine will never be called Le Réconfortant", smiles our interlocutor. He will be called Le Redoutable, Le Foudroyant, Le Terrible...

This reasoning is all the more valid for aircraft carriers, which symbolize power at its peak. The name of Charles de Gaulle's successor must have political and diplomatic significance, and again cannot be tainted by any controversy. It is for this reason that the name of Richelieu, acclaimed by many, seems to have taken the lead in the wing. In 2017, then-presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said that if she became president, the next aircraft carrier would be named after Louis XIII's minister. This proposal, coming from such a divisive personality, seriously cuts off the chances of the illustrious cardinal.

For the anecdote, Richelieu had initially been chosen by the left in power to name the Charles de Gaulle. But the arrival of the right, with the appointment of Jacques Chirac as prime minister in 1986, tipped the choice towards the first president of the Fifth Republic.

In a spirit of continuity with the Charles de Gaulle, the future aircraft carrier could therefore very well inherit the name of a famous personality, or even a former French head of state. "The president will not choose politicians who are still alive," the French Navy is assured. Francois Mitterrand or Jacques Chirac? Anyway, slice a well-informed source, "President Macron is very fond of symbols, so there will be a very symbolic resonance..."