Lorient, Morbihan Département, Brittany, France

🇫🇷 Lorient is a town and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in North-Western France.

Ports Lorient is commonly referred to as La ville aux cinq ports ("the city of five ports"): military, fishing, commercial, passengers and yachting. In 2010, the sector represented 9,600 direct jobs for a total 12,000 jobs (with indirect jobs accounted for), or 12% of local employment. • Keroman fishing port: In 2010, with a catch of 27,000 tons, it was second only to Boulogne-sur-Mer regarding catch tonnage among French fishing ports, but first considering the cash value. It accounts for 3,000 jobs (including 700 fishermen) and 130 fishing vessels. • Kergroise cargo port: With 2.6 million tons of cargo per year (including oil, cattle fodder, sand, containers), it ranks first in Brittany. • Marinas: mooring berths are dispatched on Lorient (370), Kernevel (1,000), Port-Louis (450), Gâvres (57) and Guidel (102). Additionally, there is an 800 metres (2,600 ft) long dock dedicated to offshore competitive sailing (Pôle course au large), recently built within the former submarine base. • Passenger ships: each year, more 457,500 passengers set sail to the nearby islands of Groix and Belle-Île-en-Mer. • Military: though no longer a French Navy base, new warships are still built at DCNS, docking temporarily on wharves along the Scorff river.

Economy: Industry From its founding, shipbuilding has always been of great importance to the city. DCNS continues the legacy of the formerly state-owned shipyards (colloquially known as l'Arsenal) that began operation in 1690. It still builds warships, mainly frigates. There is also a substantial industrial base in Keroman to support the fishing fleet.

Transport Lorient South Brittany Airport is situated just west of the city at Lann Bihoue, and it has direct flights to Paris. There are also direct flights to London and Porto in the Summer.

The Gare de Lorient is the railway station, offering connections to Quimper, Nantes, Rennes, Paris (less than three hours by TGV) and several regional destinations.

Education • CPGE at Dupuy-de-Lôme and Saint Joseph-La salle lycées. • Université de Bretagne Sud. • Institut universitaire de technologie de Lorient • École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de Bretagne Sud • École supérieure d'art. • École nationale de musique et de danse.

Military Active units based near Lorient: • Naval Commandos (Commando Marine): the special forces of the French Navy. Accordingly, it is one of the most selective units among the French armed forces, equivalent in their mission and affiliation to Navy SEALs or British Special Boat Service. Five out of the six existing naval commandos are based in Lanester, just across the Scorff river from Lorient. The Naval Fusilier & Commando Training School is also based here. • Lann-Bihoué Naval Aviation Base: Five squadrons ("flottilles") are based in Ploemeur. Their tasks include airborne early warning, maritime patrol and air-sea rescue.

Submarine Base Lorient was the location of an extensive submarine base, built by the Germans in World War II and used subsequently by the French Navy. Head of the U-Boat Arm Karl Dönitz decided to construct the base on 28 June 1940. Between November 1940 and January 1942 a number of gigantic reinforced concrete structures were built. including three on the Keroman peninsula. They are called K1, K2 and K3. In 1944 work began on a fourth structure. The base was capable of sheltering thirty submarines. Lorient was damaged by Allied bombing raids but the naval base survived the war. Following the German surrender the base was used by the French Navy, named for Jacques Stosskopf, a hero of the French Resistance who had worked there. The base was decommissioned in 1995 and turned over to civilian use.

Sailing The converted submarine base has been home port to several skippers and their sailing teams: • Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore), • Pascal Bidégorry (Banque Populaire), • Franck Cammas (Groupama), winner of the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race • Samantha Davies (Roxy), • Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve), • Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac), • Yann Elies (Generali), • Alain Gautier (Foncia), • Sébastien Josse (British Telecom), • Marc Thiercelin (DCNS)

Lorient was also a staging port during the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, as well as the starting point of la Solitaire du Figaro (2009 edition).

Eric Tabarly built three out of his six Pen Duick boats in Lorient.