French ship Jules Verne (A620)

Jules Verne was a repair ship of the French Navy, named in honour of science-fiction writer Jules Verne.

Jules Verne moored at Toulon harbour in October 2001
History
France
Name	Achéron
Namesake	Acheron
Ordered	1961
Builder	Brest
Laid down	1969
Renamed	Jules Verne
Namesake	Jules Verne
Launched	30 May 1970
Commissioned	17 September 1976
Decommissioned	17 September 2010
Out of service	20 February 2009
Reclassified	to repair ship in 1973
Homeport	Toulon
Motto	Soutenir pour vaincre ("Support and overcome")
Fate	Scrapped 2016
General characteristics
Class and type	Unique auxiliary ship
Displacement	7,815 unloaded 10,250 tonnes fully loaded
Length	151 m (495 ft)
Beam	21.56 m (70.7 ft)
Draught	6.50 m (21.3 ft)
Propulsion	2 Pielstick 12PC2V400 engines One shaft 12,000 shp (8,900 kW)
Speed	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range	9,385 nmi (17,381 km; 10,800 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[1]
Boats & landing craft carried	On 9-metre VD9 boat Two LCVP One Dory 17 One 3.5-metre boat One two-part hulk Two Rigid-hulled inflatable boats (6 and 10 seats)
Capacity	300 tonnes of ammunition, 500 tonnes of matériel, 1000 tonnes of oil, 120 m3 of kerosene, 400m3 of water, 40 days worth of food for 300 men.
Complement	16 officers 148 non-commissioned officers 103 quarter-masters and sailors
Armament	2 Bofors 40 mm guns 4 12.7mm M2 Browning machine guns

Originally named Achéron and intended as an ammunition transport ship, she was converted to repair ship after her keel had been laid.

Jules Verne was long based in Djibouti (she was featured on the 10 000-Djiboutian francs banknote). In 1997, she was assigned to the Force d'Action Navale.

She was designed to replenish, refuel and repair the ships of an operational force at sea. She was fitted with a complete 240-m2 hospital including an operating theatre, a recompression chamber and 16 beds.

In May 2016 Jules Verne arrived at Ghent, Belgium for recycling by Galloo Group.[2][3]