Three French Naval ships will sail into Dartmouth on Friday for a weekend visit on Friday, December 1 to Monday, December 4.

During their time in Dartmouth the Cadets on board will be invited to take a look around Britannia Royal Naval College, where they will have the chance to meet and interact with their Royal Navy counterparts. The Royal Navy Cadets have been invited to pay a reciprocal visit to the French ships on Friday.

The French ships are based in Brest and belong to the Naval Action Force. They are used by the French Navy to teach practical navigation and manoeuvring to students at the Naval Academy and the Brest Naval Instruction Centre, mainly operating in coastal waters.

Fitted with specific facilities on board dedicated to training, the ships have a lecture room and a second bridge, directly below the main one, which is used as an operations room and practical teaching room. The equipment used by the students is the same as what they will find on warships as their careers develop.

The ships’ visit to Dartmouth is part of the twinning agreement between the Ecole Navale, the French Navy equivalent of BRNC, and the Royal Naval College.

As another example of the close co-operation between the two Colleges, nine Royal Navy cadets, who are currently undertaking training at BRNC, will sail with the French ships when they leave on Monday. The cadets will spend a day on board the vessels conducting basic navigation training as well as taking part in man-over-board, fire and flood exercises, both day and night.

The ships are due to arrive at approximately 9 am. FS Tigre will moor at Sandquay, while FS Chard and FS Lynx will come alongside at the town quay jetty.