The Brest Arsenal (French: arsenal de Brest) is a collection of naval and military buildings located on the banks of the river Penfeld, in Brest, France.[1]
1938 – Work begun on the construction of Bassin 10 de Laninon (work abandoned 1939–1945).
1941: Brest Arsenal on the bank of the Penfeld. In the background, to the right, "la grande grue électrique de l’arsenal à Brest" the big electric crane.1940 – Construction of the Submarine Base during the German occupation - the military port became an important German strategic base.
1963–1964 – Jetty enlarged.
1969–1970 – Construction of aircraft-carrier locks 3 and 4.
The helicopter-carrier Jeanne d'Arc docked on the left bank of the Penfeld, downstream of the pont de l'Harteloire. The high-tides are too low for ships to be able to dock nearer to the quays, which are still all along the river. In the background, the église Saint-Louis, to the right, the viaduct of the "grue revolver," a former crane that looked like a pistol.
The Penfeld, within the military enclosure, is almost wholly lined with quays, but ships cannot come directly alongside these quays because of heads of rock that are left exposed at low tide. That's why floating stages are moored fore and aft, mainly on the left bank, to make up postes where some “small” ships can come alongside and use some installations such as the large crane.
Little used upstream of the Pont de Recouvrance, downstream of this bridge these postes nevertheless serve the old sailing ships of the Navy, the tugboats and other support boats of the arsenal, and transrades, passenger ships which provide a service across the roadstead (rade de Brest) between Brest and the Crozon peninsula (Île Longue, École Navale)