In 1959, the year which it was put into service, the Colbert participated as flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet for an important naval inspection at Mers-el-Kébir. The Colbert became particularly famous with a large public in the middle of the 1960’s. The ship was had been in fact turned into a “floating government residence” became the “Yacht of the Republic”. It crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice with General de Gaulle on board : in 1967 during a 27 day tour in 10 Latin American countries, and in 1967 to Canada for an official visit which was made famous by resounding “Long live free Quebec”.