On 5 November 2015 , France announced '' Charles de Gaulle '' would return to the area to conduct operations and the ship departed from its base in Toulon , southern France , on 18 November . Although originally planned to redeploy to the Persian Gulf , the carrier and its strike group was re-routed to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea off the Syrian coastline , much closer to targets within Syria . Sources claim '' Charles de Gaulle '' has a larger than normal air wing of 26 fighters consisting of 18 Rafales and 8 Super Étendards ; the carrier has approximately 31-34 aircraft total ( the official limit is 40 aircraft , 35 Rafales 2 Hawkeyes 3 helicopters ) The carrier began operations on 23 November 2015 , 10 days after the ISIL terrorist attacks in Paris . On 7 December 2015 , Rear Admiral René-Jean Crignola of the French Maritime Force , embarked in '' Charles de Gaulle '' , took command of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command 's Task Force 50 , leading coalition naval strike operations . He was the first non-American to do so
ISIL terrorist attacks in Paris
November 2015 Paris attacks
French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle