The French battleship MN Richelieu at sea.. [188] The Jean Bart left Casablanca in August 1945 to Cherbourg, where was, by then, the only usable French graving dock on the French Atlantic coast, and entered in one of the Brest Laninon docks in March 1946. French battleship Richelieu (1939), a fast battleship. People. The rate of fire was 6.5 rounds per minute, against sea targets, and 5 rpm against aircraft. [2] The Jean Bart, moored in Casablanca harbor, stayed uncompleted as facilities to complete her were completely lacking. No hits were recorded. 2 turret, due to premature explosion of the shells. [41] The Italian Littorio- class battleships had a peculiar underwater protection system, designed by the Italian chief designer, Generale Ispettore del Genio Navale Pugliese, which incorporated a 3.8-meter (12 ft) diameter cylindrical expansion space. [41] However, the fore and aft main quadruple turrets of the British King George V-class battleships will have independent mounting,[55] as these ships will have nearly the same beam, 103-foot (31.39 m) versus 102.25 ft (31.10 m), and 1-inch (25.4 mm) more for the main guns caliber, 14-inch (356 mm) versus 13 in (330 mm), than on the Dunkerque. [165] While she was passing down the Straits of Malacca on 9 September, at 07:44 a magnetic mine detonated 17 meters (56 ft) to starboard. They remain the largest French-built warships. All Vichya Dominion ships receive 1.5% (6%) less damage. The ship was equipped with 380 mm guns, had a high speed, strong armor and very good torpedo protection. But on the Dunkerque, with a 31.10 m (102.25 ft) beam and 330 mm (13.0 in) guns, the four barrels of each turret were not mounted independently (in separate cradles) because this would have meant an unduly large barbette diameter. By this, France was breaking the Washington Treaty and the 1930 London Treaty, since 88,000 long tons (89,412 t) of new battleships (instead of 70,000 long tons (71,123 t)) had been ordered since 1922 and before 31 December 1936. [114], In each Engine Room, there were two sets of turbines, each driving a four-bladed propeller with a diameter of 4.88 meters (16.0 ft). New quadruple 37 mm (1.5 in) zénithaux[lower-alpha 13] mountings, intended to be used against dive-bombing aircraft, would have been installed on each side of the quarterdeck near the aviation hangar. Captain Marzin, aware of the signature of the Franco-German Armistice, and having received instructions from Admiral Darlan that his ship remain under the French flag, otherwise he had to scuttle her or to flee to the U.S.A., determined to escape what he considered as a British mouse trap. [31][32] They are all superior to those for earlier battleships (such as the Dunkerque) or those given for the King George V-class battleships, (12,500 tons and 34.80%)[33] or for the Littorio-class battleships (13,600 tonnes (13,400 long tons) weight of armor and 36% of 37,750 tonnes (37,150 long tons) standard displacement). It also appeared that the APC shells were effective in bombing concrete positions, but did not exploded and tended to bury themselves when they hit the ground. She was then transferred to the British Eastern Fleet to cover for British battleships undergoing refit; this was despite reportedly strong anti-Gaullist sympathies on board and limitations of her radar and ammunition (only available from US sources). She received, in the beginning of 1944, a British built 284 P4 type gunnery radar. French patrol boat Richelieu (1915), an auxiliary patrol boat. [56][111] The Italian Littorio-class battleships reached 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) with a 230 meters (750 ft) hull and 140,000 hp. The next operation (Operation Dukedom), in mid-May, to intercept the Haguro, was concluded by the sinking of the heavy cruiser by the 26th Division destroyers, before Richelieu and HMS Cumberland could intervene. The French Navy's design staff spent the decade following the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty attempting to produce a satisfactory design to fill 70,000 tons as allowed by the treaty. [48], Eight days later (on 24 July 1934), the French Navy Board set the new French battleships' specifications as follows:[49], Thirteen months later, the Service Technique des Constructions navales (S.T.C.N.) It was also decided to install a new weight-saving propulsion plant, generating the same power of 150,000 horsepower (110 MW), but using more compact Sural boilers, than those fitted on the Dunkerque. The French Navy Board (the Conseil Supérieur de la Marine, the French equivalent to the British Board of Admiralty) unanimously recommended on 25 June 1934 to leave the 1934 naval building plan unchanged, and to order the building of a new Dunkerque-class battleship with improved vertical (belt) armor: the Strasbourg's laying down was ordered on July 16, 1934. The horizontal turning speed was 12°/second, and the elevation speed was 8°/s. The Richelieu-class battleships were the last and largest battleships of the French Navy. It was therefore envisaged a similar main and secondary artillery disposition. [58] This method has been effective at Mers-el-Kebir, when the first British 381 mm (15.0 in) shell striking the Dunkerque ultimately hit the second 330 mm (13.0 in) turret; this killed all crew in the turret's right half, but the left half remained operational. [7] For France, the priority was the safety of the waterborne connections between France and her African colonies/protectorates (via the Marseille-Algiers and Bordeaux-Casablanca-Dakar routes). In the morning, Swordfish bombers from the Hermes torpedoed Richelieu below the armored deck. One torpedo is likely to have hit the depth charges moored during the night. Szerző: Richelieu class battleships inboard profile.svg: Sas1975kr; derivative work: Maxrossomachin [83] The 152 mm (6.0 in) amidships turrets were not even mounted on the Jean Bart; nor were barbettes installed. To save weight, particularly in the heights, the anti-ship fire control system for the 152 mm (6.0 in) battery would have not been installed, but the two remaining fire control directors for the 152 mm (6.0 in) battery, on the aft tower and on the fore tower in the upper position, would have been fitted with a stereoscopic 8-meter (26 ft) OPL rangefinder. The 152 mm (6.0 in) turrets could not fire on aerial targets, as the corresponding uppermost rangefinder on the fore tower had not been put in service; moreover, shells and powder charges were lacking. This caused a 40-foot (12 m) long hole, and disabled the starboard propeller shaft; flooding caused her stern to touch bottom. 1 turret, one new-built 380 mm gun and three guns, constructed before 1940, intended for Jean Bart, which had been seized by the Germans during the war, two having been installed in shore batteries, in Norway and in Normandy, the third used for trials at the Krupp proving ground in Meppen, Germany. She soon took the President of the French Republic in an official visit to Copenhagen, and went on to Oslo. Two systems with 3-meter (9.8 ft) OPL rangefinders provided for the flag staff were installed on the wings of the admiral’s bridge. [77], The triple 152 mm (6.0 in) Model 1936 Dual Purpose turret was a further development of the 152 mm (6.0 in) Model 1930 Low-Angle turret. In the minutes of the 21 September 1945 meeting of the Navy Higher Council, Rear Admiral Barjot wrote: "The design of aircraft carrier presented to the Council is called, by a member, "caricature" in regard to a project which would be established with the wish to create an efficient aircraft carrier...Despite the war learnings, the outdated myth of big gun goes on dominating our naval doctrine...It was surprising enough to see in 1945 the Navy General Staff supporting, doctrinally, against the aircraft carrier solution, the battleship solution". 1.1. The aircraft were (flying boat) seaplanes of the Loire 130 type. [18]), On the background, the quarter deck (14 August 1943 picture),[19] with four quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors mountings, and nine 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon AA single mountings, on the former aircraft hangar; On the foreground, two single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon mountings on the roof of the axial 152 mm (6.0 in) turret, The French Navy had pioneered a dual-purpose (DP) battery on a battleship,[20] in the early 1930s; seven years later, with the shortcomings seen with the 130 mm (5.1 in) and 152 mm (6.0 in) DP turrets and 37 mm (1.5 in) twin automatic AA mountings, the solution of having a low-angle secondary battery and a high-angle tertiary battery was a feature of the new battleships in construction, as in the Italian and German navies.[21][22][23]. [190], The Jean Bart was admitted to active service on 1 May 1955. [93][94] On 29 December, she sailed for France, and arrived in Toulon on 11 February 1946. During WWII, there were no other 152 mm (6.0 in) guns used as an anti-aircraft battery; however, they were successfully used post-war in two Worcester-class U.S. Navy cruisers and three Tiger-class cruisers of the Royal Navy, albeit with much better RPC and fire-control devices than the pre-WWII French ones. On 7 July, the day after the air attack against Dunkerque at Mers-el-Kebir, the sloop HMS Milford transmitted by W/T an ultimatum from Captain Onslow, Commanding Officer of HMS Hermes, provisionally ranked Rear Admiral, in identical terms as the one of Mers-el-Kébir. [17], The OPfK Model 1935 incorporated a dye bag and fuze (dispositif K) to color[lower-alpha 3] her splashes and the hits she inflicted. As the explosion was extremely violent, it was conjectured that the impact on the ship was magnified by the shallow water in which she was moored, with less than five metres of water under the keel, and that a torpedo, hitting the depth charges laid earlier in the night, made them explode. [51], The propulsion of the Richelieu was assured by six Indret boilers, and four Parsons turbines. [64][65] On 25 September, Captain Marzin having resolved to rearm the 380 mm No. The 152 mm guns of the axial turret were replaced by Canadian-built ones.[100]. Mr. Louis Kahn, Chief Naval Constructor, French Navy, who had designed the Joffre-class aircraft carrier in the late 1930s,[183] presented a project for a transformation into an aircraft carrier operating forty/fifty-four planes, for a cost of 5 billion Francs, and with a delay of five years or less. Due to the advance of German troops, Richelieu hastily left Brest bound for Dakar on 18 June 1940, having on board 250 shells but only 48 powder charges for her main battery. All British or U.S. battleships built in the late 1930s, having to respect the 35,000 tons displacement limit, had a speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) – the King George V class – or 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) – North Carolina or South Dakota classes; they were 225 meters (738 ft) or 215 meters (705 ft) long, with a propulsion plant developing respectively 110,000, 120,000, or 130,000 shp. [8], Thus, in the late 1920s, the most powerful battleships had been designed before the Washington Treaty, and were armed with four double turrets of 15-inch (381 mm)[lower-alpha 2] or 16-inch (406 mm)[lower-alpha 3] caliber guns. The overall anti-aircraft armament was massively reinforced, with 48 20 mm (0.79 in) AA guns in single mounts replacing the original 13.2 mm (0.52 in) Hotchkiss machine guns, and 14 quad 40 mm (1.6 in) turrets replacing the original 37 mm (1.5 in) semi-automatic guns. [85], Relieved by HMS Howe, Richelieu returned to Europe. [92], As on the Dunkerque, aircraft installations (aircraft hangar, crane and two catapults, for four seaplanes) were fitted on the Richelieu's stern. *Cover: Richelieu at sea in 1944 (as seen by the AA on the bridge and dark paint of the bridge). The main turrets were protected with a 405 mm (15.9 in) thick armor on the barbette, above the upper armored deck; 430 mm (17 in) armor on the faces, inclined to 30°; from 170 mm (6.7 in) to 195 mm (7.7 in) on the roof; 270 mm (11 in) on the turret I rear wall; and 260 mm (10 in) on the turret II rear wall. She took part in the return of French forces to Indochina in 1945, and served into the 1960s. 1.2. During a call at Colombo, she was visited by Admiral Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Theatre. The auxiliary fire control system abaft the funnel, for the 380 mm (15 in) battery, was to be mounted about 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) higher than in the Richelieu, requiring a greater funnel height. Magenta class 6,715 tons. [42] Consequently, the French Navy asked to quickly have a second Dunkerque-class battleship; she was included in the 1934 Estimates.[43]. These ships, strongly armored as their protection absorbed more than 40% of their standard displacement, with a very large beam of 36 metres (118 ft), got a very classic design, eight 380 mm (15 in) guns in double turrets (two forward and two aft) and the secondary anti-ship artillery as six double 150 mm (5.9 in) turrets on the sides. She featured a main armament of eight 380 mm guns in two quadruple turrets in forward superfiring positions. In April 1935, the French Naval Board decided to upgrade the 130 mm (5.1 in) turret design on the Dunkerque with five 152 mm (6.0 in) turrets on the Richelieu and to make them dual-purpose. First, in July 1938 it was proposed to increase the turret armor thickness to 190 mm (7.5 in) on the faces (instead of 130 mm (5.1 in)), 120 mm (4.7 in) on the roofs, and 100 mm (3.9 in) on the sides (instead of 70 mm (2.8 in)); the barbettes would have remained at 100 mm (3.9 in). [134], The most conspicuous change with the Gascogne would have been the return to a main artillery arrangement with a quadruple 380 mm (15 in) gun turret aft. The starboard shafts were badly damaged, the outer one being distorted, and the inner one blocked. 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