Building and fitting out Construction of
Forbin began in
Lorient on 8 April 2002. The hull was built in 14 sections by a variety of subcontractors of DCN, including several companies from Saint-Nazaire. Each section was high, and long.
Forbin was laid down on 16 January 2004; the hull sections were transferred from Saint-Nazaire to Lorient on a barge tugged by
Alcyon and assembled there from February 2004 to January 2005, finishing with the bow. The engines were delivered by
FiatAvio in September.
Forbin was launched on 10 March 2005, after part of the
Scorff river was dredged to make it deep enough for her draught. She was towed out of her building dock by four tugboats at 16:15, taking advantage of the tide. On 28 October,
Forbin entered dry dock and underwater equipment was installed, notably the sonar, propellers and rudders. Trials were held throughout 2006. Engine tests started on 10 May, and she sailed for sea trials on 29 June. Tuning of the combat management systems was particularly problematic, setting the completion of the ship off-schedule enough for her commissioning to be delayed by several months. In late January 2007,
Forbin underwent new extensive trials at sea, successfully testing her combat systems in exercises against
Super Étendard and
Atlantique 2 aircraft. The
PAAMS was tested in late May at the
Centre d'Essais des Landes. From 12 to 17,
Forbin sailed to
Toulon, her new home port, where her combat, detection and weapon systems were further finetuned.
Forbin fired an Aster 30 at the test range of the DGA on 25 November.
First cruise Forbin left Toulon on 3 March 2009 for her first long cruise, visiting Morocco, the United States and Canada. She carried a
Panther from Squadron 36F of the
Aéronavale to validate her air installations.
Forbin sailed to
Casablanca, and then to
Rio de Janeiro. She left Brazil on 30 March, bound for
Martinique, where she arrived on 21 April. and sailed on to
Norfolk, Virginia and
New York, arriving on 24 April. During the transit, she carried out exercises with . A visit to
Halifax was cancelled.
Forbin was back to France in May, where she took part in the naval parade of 8 May off
Sainte-Maxime. On 25 May, she was at Abu Dhabi. In June,
Forbin operated with the
carrier group, supporting "
Operation Enduring Freedom" and maritime security operations.
Second cruise The frigate
Forbin was part of the French naval task group led by the
aircraft carrier that departed Toulon on 30 October 2010 for a four-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea,
Red Sea, Indian Ocean. and
Persian Gulf. The task group commander, Rear Admiral Jean-Louis Kerignard, defined force's mission as follows: :
The force would help allied navies fight piracy off the coast of Somalia and send jets to support NATO in the skies above Afghanistan. Once on station, the
Charles de Gaulle carrier task group joined two
U.S. Navy carrier strike groups led by the
supercarriers and operating in the Persian Gulf. Subsequently, between 7–14 January 2011, the French carrier task group led by
Charles de Gaulle participated with bilateral naval exercise, code named
Varuna 10, with the
Indian Navy. Indian naval units participating in Varuna 10 included the , the s and ; and the
diesel-electric submarine . Varuna 10 was a two-phase naval exercise, with the harbor phase taking place between 7–11 January and the sea phase between 11–14 January in the
Arabian Sea.
Clemenceau 22 Forbin deployed as part of Clemenceau 22 led by the carrier
Charles de Gaulle.
Clemenceau 25 Forbin formed a part of the carrier strike group (CSG) centred on
Charles de Gaulle during the Mission Clemenceau 25 deployment that began on 28 November 2024. On 5 January 2025,
Forbin and arrived at
Kochi Port. While the rest of the components of the CSG including
Charles de Gaulle docked in
Mormugao Port Trust Jetty,
Goa, on 4 January . The CSG remained in India until 9 January. On 9 January,
Forbin conducted combat manoeuvres and cross-deck helicopter deployment with while departing from India joined the French CSG and her escort ships and fleet support ship during their departure from Goa and
Kochi for the next phase of Mission Clemenceau 25 in the Indian and Pacific oceans. She participated in joint navigational drills and
Maritime Partnership Exercise. On 12 January,
Forbin docked at
Swettenham Pier in
George Town, the capital city of the
Malaysian state of
Penang, as part of Clemenceau 25. During the stopover, the crew attended a ceremony honouring the French sailors killed in the
Battle of Penang. The CSG is en route to
Southeast Asia to join a multinational maritime security exercise, codenamed "La Perouse", alongside the navies of
Malaysia,
Singapore,
Australia,
Canada, India,
United Kingdom and the United States. ==Gallery==