Toulon Naval Base (Arsenal de Toulon)

The arsenal de Toulon is the principal base of the French Navy and the largest naval installation in the Mediterranean, located in the city of Toulon on France's southern coast. It occupies the Rade of Toulon, a natural anchorage sheltered from the open sea by the peninsulas of Giens and Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer, which it shares with the ports of Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer, La Seyne-sur-Mer and the commercial port of Toulon.

The base holds most of the Force d'action navale, including the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the nuclear attack submarine squadron, and the remaining surface units of the French Mediterranean fleet. It accounts for more than 60 percent of the French Navy's tonnage, and some 20,000 military and civilian personnel work there.

The installation is divided into four zones, each with its own access to the sea: from east to west, Castigneau, Malbousquet, Missiessy and Milhaud. Castigneau has two main gates, one adjoining the naval museum beside the arsenal's quai d'honneur and the façade of the Mediterranean maritime prefecture, the other at the western entrance to the town centre, handling freight and military convoys. Three secondary gates are guarded but little used. At the western extremity, in the communes of La Seyne-sur-Mer and Ollioules, the base adjoins the commercial port of Brégaillon, connected to national and regional networks for the supply of artillery munitions and other stores. The honour quay berths foreign and large ships. The Missiessy and Malbousquet quays berth the nuclear attack submarines and are fitted with mobile roofs covering the boats during work on their nuclear plant; both zones include dry docks. The Milhaud quays are the main mooring stations, used by frigates, the aircraft carrier, fleet tankers and landing ships. Further dry docks handle repairs to medium and large hulls, while the Vauban dock moors diver support craft, mine warfare vessels, tugs, patrol boats and older units. The base has more than 30 km of roads and an SNCF rail line running from La Seyne-sur-Mer station to the docks via its storage sheds. The arsenal du Mourillon, on the roadstead's east coast, adjoins the main arsenal.

A naval arsenal and shipyard were established at Toulon in 1599, enlarged under Cardinal Richelieu and expanded from 1680 by Colbert with the Darse Vauban. Further enlargement followed in the 19th and 20th centuries; the Mourillon yard built France's first ironclad frigates and early submarines and served as a submarine base until 1945. The arsenal was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in the Second World War and subsequently rebuilt and modernised.