Sergey Suliga Battleships "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg. Dunkirk-class battleships Dunkirk-class battleship
Dunkerque
Historical data
common data
EU
real
dock
Booking
Armament
Ships of the same type
General information
Dunkerque was built specifically to deal with German pocket battleships. Due to its narrow specialization, it is difficult to classify this ship. In the French navy, ships of the type Dunkerque officially listed as battleships, but they were often ranked as battlecruisers. By this time, all the leading maritime powers had battleships armed with guns of 381 mm or more, against which the French 330 mm guns looked completely unconvincing. It is now generally accepted that ships of the type Dunkerque became the founders of a new class - high-speed battleships.
The ship is named after a city in northern France.
Battleship scheme Dunkerque
building
Dunkerque became the first major French ship built after the First World War. The battleship was laid down at the Brest naval shipyard on December 24, 1932. Since the Salu dock was too small for a 209-meter hull (the total length of the ship was 215.1 m), the ship was built without a bow. On October 2, 1935, the ship was launched and transferred to dry dock 8th Laninon harbor, where the missing bow was attached in place. Previously, the ship was handed over to the fleet on February 1, 1936. The acceptance tests of the battleship began on April 18, 1936, even before the completion of work on the superstructure, and lasted until the end of April 1937.
Modernizations and conversions
In October 1937, anti-aircraft armament was reinforced on the ship by installing 6 quadruple 13.2-mm / 76 machine guns.
In May 1938, 4 twin 37mm/50 mounts were removed, adding 2 more quad 13.2mm/76 machine guns.
In December 1939, the ship's air defense was again strengthened by the installation of 4 twin 37-mm / 50 Mod guns. 1933.
Service History
Dunkerque in Toulon
Dunkerque officially became part of the French fleet on May 1, 1937, and at the end of the month Vice Admiral Devitz raised his flag on it. On May 17, the ship left Brest to take part in the Speedhead Parade, timed to coincide with the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth. In 1938, the battleship made a trip to the West Indies and Dakar. On September 1, the battleship became the flagship of Vice Admiral Jensul.
14th of April Dunkerque left Brest but led a special detachment of cruisers and destroyers to cover the training cruiser returning from the West Indies Jeanne d'Arc.
In May 1939, the ship was in Brest and participated in the reception of the English Home Fleet (Home Fleet), and at the end of the month took part in joint maneuvers with it as part of the French Atlantic Fleet, returning to Brest in June. The following month, Vice Admiral Zhensul moved his flag to Strasbourg. In August, the French fleet was put on alert.
The Second World War
With the outbreak of war, the French Atlantic Fleet was reorganized into several search groups. Dunkerque became part of the 1st squadron or the Raider Connection, based on Brest. This formation, under the command of Vice Admiral Marcel Jensul, was intended to intercept German heavy cruisers of the type Deutschland, because at least two of them were known to be at sea.
On September 1, the Raider Formation left Brest to cover the transition to Casablanca of the minelayer cruiser Le Pluton, which was supposed to put up a defensive barrier off the Moroccan coast, and the passage of the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc to Martinique. On September 6, it returned to Brest to participate in the search for the liner Ile de France. During this operation, a seaplane was lost by the battleship, and another one was damaged.
Dunkerque on October 22, as part of the search group, he went to sea to cover the KJ3 convoy from Kingston (Jamaica), as intelligence reported that it was possible to intercept it German raider Deutschland. The group guarded the convoy until it arrived in a safe area, after which it returned to Brest.
November 25 Dunkerque with light cruisers Georges Leygues and Montcalm and with 8 destroyers joined the English detachment from the battlecruiser Hood and 4 destroyers for joint hunting for Deutschland. In fact, the connection tried to intercept the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. As a result of a heavy storm, a leak opened in the forward compartments of the battleship. After an unsuccessful four-day search, the allied formation entered Belfast to receive fuel. German ships managed to slip unnoticed on November 27 to reach Wilhelmshaven. Therefore, the search was suspended and on December 2 Dunkerque returned to Brest.
Battleship firing from the main caliber
Soon Dunkerque attracted to another allied operation - guarding a convoy from Halifax to London as part of 7 passenger liners with Canadian troops. They decided to use the transition to Canada for another important task - transporting gold to the United States in order to pay for military equipment. Dunkerque delivered 100 tons of gold to Halifax. December 22 Dunkerque along with a light cruiser Gloire and English battleship Nelson left Halifax, covering the convoy, and after the end of the operation returned to Brest.
The first months of 1940 Dunkerque and Strasbourg were based in Brest, but soon, due to the threat of war with Italy, the Admiralty decided to transfer them to the Mediterranean base of Mers-el-Kebir (Algeria). But no activity was observed off the African coast, and Jensul's squadron was returned to Brest to participate in the proposed operations off the coast of Norway. With the invasion of the Germans in this country, operations were canceled. April 27 Dunkerque, Strasbourg accompanied by light forces, they again arrived at Mers-el-Kebir.
On June 10, the war with Italy began. June 15 Dunkerque and Strasbourg came out to intercept the German Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which, according to intelligence, could break through Gibraltar.
Mers el Kebir
Dunkerque under fire from British battleships
After the surrender of France, the British government decided to conduct an operation to neutralize the French fleet, codenamed "Catapult". The strongest was the French squadron at the Mers-el-Kebir base. It included battleships Dunkerque, Strasbourg, provence, Bretagne, 6 destroyer leaders and a seaplane carrier Commandant Teste. The base was covered by coastal batteries, and 42 fighters were located at the airfields nearby. In Oran, a few miles to the east, there were a large number of destroyers, guards and minesweepers. To neutralize the ships in Mers-el-Kebir, the British allocated Admiral Somerville's "H" (H) compound, which included a battlecruiser Hood, battleships Resolution and Valiant, aircraft carrier Ark Royal, light cruisers Arethusa, Enterprise and 11 destroyers.
In the morning the English formation approached Mers-el-Kebir. At 7 o'clock GMT, a destroyer entered the harbor Foxhound. He transferred to Dunkerque Admiral Zhensul ultimatum. Long negotiations came to nothing.
At 16:56 formation "H" opened fire on the standing French ships. Dunkerque gave the mooring lines and began to go to sea after the battleship Strasbourg. Dunkerque started firing at 17:00 and fired about forty 330-mm shells at the English battleship Hood, before taking multiple hits.
Battleship damage from 4 hits
Hit No. 1 - in the tower of the main caliber No. 2
The first 381-mm projectile hit the turret of the main caliber No. 2. The turret was turned towards the British ships - at an angle of about 100 ° from the diametral plane to the starboard side. The shell hit at an angle of 20° on the sloping part of the roof of the turret above gun No. 8 (the thickness at this point was 150 mm) and ricocheted without breaking. A dent was formed in the cemented slab at the top, and a piece of armor was torn out from below. Fragments of armor pierced the knurler cylinder on the right side of the gun and hit the gunner's position on the right side. At the end of its journey, the fragment was reflected from the side wall of the tower and fell into the charging tray of gun No. 8. Those in the tray powder charges ignited and the servants of the right half-tower died in the fire. The personnel in the turret's command compartment were also lightly damaged. The left half-tower and the reloading compartment were not damaged - the armored bulkhead between the half-towers and fire dampers in the supply system helped. The fire did not cause significant damage - the feed system worked for all four guns. The tower could continue to fire from guns No. 5 and 6, and after the restoration of the electric fuse, gun No. 7 could also resume fire.
Hit No. 3 - in the area of \u200b\u200bthe engine room No. 1
The second shell hit the unarmored part of the deck in the stern. Passed without a break through the hangar of seaplanes and midshipmen's cabins and left 2.5 m below the waterline. In the direction of travel, the projectile broke the electric cable of the crane for lifting seaplanes and the cable going to the steering gear. As a result, the battleship had to switch to steering with a four-horsepower Renault backup engine. A number of compartments in the stern were flooded, including the port side fuel tank. But the seaplane was removed before the battle and the aviation fuel was drained, so these first two hits had little effect on the combat readiness of the battleship.
Around 18:00 Dunkerque received a simultaneous hit by two more 381-mm shells. The third shell hit the main armor belt on the starboard side in the area of compartment J - 1.2 m from the bulkhead between compartments J and K. It pierced the 225 mm belt and went through the reloading compartment of 130 mm guns. Continuing its movement towards the center of the ship, it broke through two anti-shatter bulkheads and exploded in the air conditioning and fan compartment. The compartment was completely destroyed, all its personnel were killed or seriously injured. The shell fragments and the explosion destroyed several bulkheads and a ventilation duct. The 20 mm bulkhead between the medical compartment and the air-cooling unit compartment of engine room No. 1 was also destroyed. Several charges and 130 mm shells caught fire and exploded in the starboard reloading compartment. And here all the servants were killed. In the absence of ventilation, smoke from fires and combustion products of 130-mm charges filled the engine room. In the department, 20 people died and only ten managed to escape. Explosions of 130-mm projectiles in the supply system also led to a strong fire in the cable tunnel and put them out of action. Immediately after receiving information about the fire in the reloading compartment of the 130-mm turret No. 3 on the starboard side, its cellars in the compartment H were flooded. And an hour later, after the signal about the smoke that penetrated the supply system of the turret No. 4 (130-mm turret on the left side) , her cellar was also flooded.
Hit No. 4 - in the area of \u200b\u200bthe boiler room No. 2
The fourth shell hit the main armor belt at the beginning of compartment L - 0.3 m from the waterproof partition between compartments K (boiler compartment No. 2) and L (boiler compartment No. 3), 2.5 meters below the upper edge of the belt - above the very water edge. It pierced a 225 mm belt and a 40 mm thick armor deck bevel. The projectile passed through the almost full fuel tank of compartment K and exploded on the anti-torpedo bulkhead. The explosion destroyed the lower armored deck throughout these compartments, the armored bevel over the fuel tank, the anti-torpedo bulkhead and the starboard tunnel for cables and pipelines. The shell fragments caused a fire in the right boiler of boiler room No. 2, damaged several valves on the pipelines and broke the main steam pipeline between the boiler and the turbine unit. The products of the explosion and hot steam quickly filled the compartment, killing most of the people in it. The pressure surge caused the destruction of the chimneys of both boilers and damaged the hydraulic system for locking the armored doors between the compartments. The cessation of the ventilation operation led to the fact that the air in the boiler room No. 3 became unbreathable and the ship's commander ordered all personnel to be evacuated from it.
As a result of these four hits, only the boiler room No. 3 and the engine room No. 2 continued to operate, which set the internal shafts in rotation. Therefore, even theoretically, the speed Dunkerque could not exceed 26 knots. Due to damage to the electrical wiring, the power supply to the aft part of the ship was completely cut off, the starboard network failed, and the aft 130-mm towers were left without power. Steering was carried out using an auxiliary engine. Due to the loss of one of the main substations, bow emergency diesel generators were turned on. The directors of the 330 mm and 130 mm guns went out of action without power. Tower of the main caliber No. 1 continued to fire on Hood, tower number 2 could not fire due to lack of electricity.
Due to the damage received, the ship could not go to sea, so at 17:10 Admiral Zhansul received an order to cease fire and anchor opposite the village of Saint-Andre, under the protection of the coast and Fort Santon. At 17:13 the battleship dropped anchor at a depth of 15 meters. And at 18:00 with the help of tugboats and patrol boats Terre Neuve and La Setoise Dunkerque stuck to the shore - about 30 meters of its bow was pulled to the shallows. The battleship took about 700 tons of water through holes and about 150 tons of ballast was taken into the port side tanks to equalize the roll. The emergency parties began to repair the damage. At 19:00, Zhansul ordered to evacuate the crew - about 360 crew members remained on board, engaged in repair work. 800 people from Dunkerque went ashore and were sent from Oran to Toulon on liners Champollion and Mariette Pacha. The wounded were taken to the hospital in Sant'Andre.
On July 5, the fires were extinguished, work began to restore power supply, patch up holes and pump out water. Admiral Zhansul informed the command that within a few days it was possible to repair the boiler and steam collectors and go to Toulon for a major overhaul. Admiral Esteva, commander of the naval forces in North Africa, in a press release he said that the damage to the battleship was not great and in a few days he would come to Toulon on his own. The British command immediately gave the order to Admiral Somerville to attack the French battleship.
At 19:00 on July 5, Force H left Gibraltar with 2 battleships, an aircraft carrier, 2 cruisers and 10 destroyers. Because Dunkerque stood near the village of St. Andre, Somerville decided that the shelling could lead to casualties among the civilian population. Therefore, in agreement with the Admiralty, it was decided to carry out the attack by torpedo bombers from an aircraft carrier Ark Royal .
At 04:20 on July 6, 1940, when Ark Royal was about 100 miles from Oran, Swordfish torpedo bombers began to take off from its side under the cover of fighters Blackburn Skua .
Explosion Terre Neuve
Dunkerque was not ready for an air attack. All of the battleship's 130-mm guns were out of order, and the power supply to their directors was also not restored. The attendants of anti-aircraft guns and machine guns were evacuated. The team was ordered by Admiral Zhansul and the commander of the battleship Seguin to leave the ship in the event of an air attack. Air reconnaissance was not conducted, there was no fighter cover. Around Dunkerque anti-torpedo nets were not installed. On the starboard side of the battleship was patrol ship Terre Neuve to which the bodies of the dead were transferred. On board the guard were depth charges, most with fuses removed, the danger of which was neglected.
March 1st, 2018, 06:52 pm
The Dunkirk-class battleships were a type of battleship in the French navy during World War II. Two ships were built: Dunkirk (Fr. Dunkerque) and Strasbourg (Fr. Strasbourg).
Ships of this type, built in the 1930s, were the first fast battleships. Dunkirk, designed to deal with the German "pocket battleship" type "Deutschland", was built under the restrictions of the Washington agreement and austerity. In this regard, the standard displacement of the Dunkirk was 26,500 tons, which is less than the limit of 35,000 dl. tons, established by the Washington Treaty. A feature of Dunkirk was the original location of the main battery artillery - eight 330-mm guns were placed in two four-gun turrets installed in the bow.
After Italy announced the construction of Littorio-class battleships with a standard displacement of 35,000 tons, the French Parliament allocated funds for the construction of a second battleship, the Strasbourg. The armor of the Strasbourg was strengthened to withstand the more powerful guns of the new Italian battleships.
With the outbreak of World War II, the Dunkirk and Strasbourg, along with the ships of the British Royal Navy, guarded the sea lanes in the Atlantic from German raiders. After the surrender of France, the battleships were in Mers-el-Kebir. The British feared that the new French ships might fall into the hands of Nazi Germany or Italy, which would change the balance of power in the Mediterranean. A strong British squadron was sent to Mers-el-Kebir with an ultimatum. An attempt to force the French to move into Allied-controlled ports or to sink ships was unsuccessful, and the British opened fire on the ships of the French fleet stationed in the port. Strasbourg broke through the blockade and moved to Toulon. "Dunkirk" could not break through, was damaged by artillery fire and sat on the ground, but after repairs was also transferred to Toulon. There, in November 1942, both battleships were scuttled by French crews to avoid being captured by the Germans.
Battleships of the Dunkirk type are highly ambiguous by specialists. These ships stood well against the battleships of the First World War, but when compared with later fast battleships such as the Littorio, Bismarck and Iowa, the Dunkirk-class battleships had too small a caliber of guns and weak armor. Some experts note that, due to their high speed and relatively powerful weapons, they can more likely be attributed to battlecruisers in concept.
Characteristic
Project
Country
Flag of France.svg France
Previous type type "Lyon"
Subsequent type type "Richelieu"
2 built
Scrapped 2
Main characteristics
Displacement standard
"Dunkirk" - 26,500 tons,
Strasbourg - 27,300 tons
complete
"Dunkirk" - 34 884 tons,
Strasbourg 36,380 tons
Length 209/215.1 m
Width 31.1 m
Draft 9.6 m
Booking "Dunkirk"
main belt - 225 mm;
bulkhead - 50 mm;
main deck - 130 ... 115 mm;
lower deck - 40 ... 50 mm;
GK towers 330 mm (forehead), 250 mm (side), 150 mm (roof);
barbets - 310 mm;
felling - 270 mm
"Strasbourg"
main belt - 283 mm;
bulkhead - 50 mm;
main deck - 130 ... 115 mm;
lower deck - 40 ... 50 mm;
GK towers 360 mm (forehead), 250 mm (side), 160 mm (roof);
barbets - 340 mm;
4-gun turrets of 130-mm guns - 130 mm (forehead), 90 mm (roof);
felling - 270 mm
Engines 4 TZA Parsons
Power "Dunkirk" - 110 960 l. With.,
Strasbourg - 112,000 liters. With.
Propeller 4 screws
Travel speed 29.5 knots (54.6 km/h)
Cruising range 16,400 nautical miles at 17 knots
The crew of "Dunkirk" - 1381 people,
Strasbourg - 1302 people
Armament
Artillery 2x4 - 330mm/52,
3x4 and 2x2 - 130mm/45
Anti-aircraft artillery 5 × 2 - 37 mm / 50,
8×2 - 13.2 mm machine gun
Aviation group 1 catapult, 3
"Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg" are remembered not only for being the first French capital ships built after the First World War. They are rightfully considered the firstborn of a new generation of warships - a generation of high-speed battleships that became a symbol of naval power in the 30s and 40s. Thus, in the history of military shipbuilding, they can claim the same place of honor as the one built after the Russian- Japanese war English Dreadnought. After all, it was the Dunkirk laying that stimulated a new round of the naval arms race, of course, not as large-scale as before the First World War, but which caused the appearance of super battleships of hitherto unimaginable size and power: ships of the Bismarck, Litgorio, Iowa, " Yamato", "Richelieu" and others.
Sections of this page:
Career "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg"
Service in peacetime
Dunkirk officially became part of the French fleet on May 1, 1937, and at the end of the month Vice Admiral Devin raised his flag on it. On May 17, the ship left Brest for Spithead to participate in the naval parade on the occasion of the coronation English king George VI. After returning to Brest, the newest battleship made a trip to the West Indies and Dakar in 1938, and then became part of the Atlantic Fleet. On September 1, he became the flagship of Vice Admiral Zhensul, whose name will be associated with his first baptism of fire.
On April 14, Dunkirk left Brest at the head of a special detachment of cruisers and destroyers to cover the training cruiser Joan of Arc returning from the West Indies. In connection with the Czechoslovak question, the international situation became extremely complicated, and the German battleships ("pocket battleships" ) were just off the coast of Spain.
In May 1939, the ship was in Brest and participated in the reception of the English Home Fleet (Home Fleet), and at the end of the month took part in joint maneuvers with it as part of the French Atlantic Fleet, returning to Brest in June. The following month, Vice Admiral Jensul transferred his flag to Strasbourg, which served pre-war service with Dunkirk. In August, the ships were put on alert.
First ten months of the war
With the outbreak of war, the French Atlantic Fleet was reorganized into several search groups. "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg", together with the aircraft carrier "Béarn", three light cruisers and 8 newest destroyers, formed the 1st squadron or Raider Force, "based on Brest. This formation, under the command of Vice Admiral Marcel Jensul, was created exclusively to intercept German "pocket battleships", because it was known that at least two of them were at sea. In addition, this group could be used to escort the most important Atlantic convoys between the island of Ushan and the Azores and the islands of Cape Verde and m. Palm (Gulf of Guinea) The British Admiralty was very interested in the active operations of the new French ships, since they themselves did not have high-speed battleships for action against the German raiders - "pocket battleships" and battlecruisers "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau".
On September 2, the Raider Connection left Brest to cover the transition to Casablanca of the minelayer cruiser Pluton, which was supposed to put up a defensive barrier off the Moroccan coast (he died on September 13 from the explosion of his own mine, repeating the fate of the Russian Yenisei near Port Arthur), and the passage of the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc to Martinique. On September 6, it returned to Brest to participate in the search for the France liner. During this operation, Dunkirk suffered its first losses - one of its seaplanes was lost and another was damaged.
On September 30, a message came that the British ship "Clement" was sunk by the "pocket battleship" "Admiral Graf Spee", which, according to intelligence, was somewhere in the South Atlantic. The English and French Admiralties decided to organize a search group (the British called such detachments "killer groups") based on Dakar. On October 7, the Strasbourg and two divisions of destroyers left Brest and, outside the port, connected with the British aircraft carrier Hermes and the three French destroyers accompanying it. Three days later, the search group, now called Force "X" (X), was reinforced by the French heavy cruisers "Algeri" and "Duplet" with two destroyers transferred from the Mediterranean squadron. Vice-Admiral Duplat, who chose Algeri as the flagship, took command of the formation. On October 16, the group intercepted and sank the German merchant ship "Halle" with artillery fire (according to German data, the crew sank it themselves), then returned to Dakar and on the 23rd again went on patrol. Already on the 25th Force "X" captured the German ship "Santa Fe" and again returned to Dakar to refuel the destroyers. The search for "Admiral Spee" continued at the end of October and throughout November, but were unsuccessful. At the end of the month, "Strasbourg" returned to Brest, where the current repairs were carried out at the shipyard in December. In the same December, the Admiral Spee was intercepted by an English cruiser group at the mouth of the La Plata River, damaged in battle, driven into the neutral harbor of Montevideo, where, with no hope of a breakthrough, it was blown up by the crew.
"Admiral Count Spee", the object of the long hunt "Strasbourg; was the last German 'pocket battleship' built and the first to die in the Second World War.
Meanwhile, "Dunkirk", which led another search engine. group, on October 22 went to sea to cover the KJ3 convoy from Kingston (Jamaica), as intelligence reported that it was possible to intercept it by another "pickpocket" - "Deutschland". The group guarded the convoy until it arrived in a safe area, after which it returned to Brest.
The activity of the French ships in the first months of the war was highly appreciated by the Allies, and on November 8, Churchill said in the House of Commons: “I want to draw your attention to the remarkable contribution to the common cause of the French fleet, which over the past many generations has never been as powerful and effective as it is now. ". And later he wrote in his memoirs that France's assistance at sea at the beginning of the war exceeded all expectations.
On November 25, Dunkirk, with the light cruisers Georges-Leig and Montcalm and 8 destroyers, left Brest for a rendezvous with the British formation of the battlecruiser Hood and 4 destroyers, in order to jointly hunt for the Deutschland, which reportedly moved to the North Sea. In fact, this Anglo-French formation was pursuing a more tidbit - the line cruise sulfur "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau". The Germans, who went to sea to divert the allied forces from the South Atlantic, where the ring around the Admiral Spee was shrinking, sank the auxiliary British cruiser Rawalpindi on November 23, but he managed to broadcast a radiogram. At 4 p.m. on the 25th, the British and French ships joined at Cape Lands End. The operation proceeded in very bad weather conditions, and as a result of a severe storm, a leak opened in the forward compartments of the Dunkirk. Due to storm damage to the hull, difficulties arose with anchors and at times the speed had to be reduced to 10 knots. After an unsuccessful four-day search, the allied formation was withdrawn to receive fuel in Belfast. But on November 30, a message came that German ships had been discovered north of the 65th parallel, and the formation had to urgently go to sea. It could have turned out to be an interesting battle between pairs of battlecruisers, a kind of revenge for the prelude to the Battle of Jutlad. "Hood" was certainly stronger than any "German", but "Dunkirk", against which "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" were created, would have had a hard time. Rapid-firing German 283-mm guns could, hitting the mostly unarmored hull and superstructures of a French ship, literally stuffed with vital equipment, quickly deprive it of its combat capability. True, it was in favor of the Allies that the lower-sided German ships suffered much more from stormy weather: water flooded the bow towers of the Civil Code and their cellars, the bow cockpits flooded through the gaps between the deformed skin sheets, large masses of water even fell on the bridges - and nasal superstructure platforms. In addition, the Nelson and Rodney hurried to the aid of the allies to the best of their ability. However, the Germans, straining the mechanisms with their last strength, managed to slip between Bergen and the Shetland Islands and, with difficulty raking 12 knots against the ice waves, reached Wilhelmshaven on November 27. The search had to be stopped and Dunkirk returned to Brest on December 2.
Soon London requested the participation of "Dunkirk" in another important operation - the escort of a convoy of seven passenger liners with Canadian troops for the British Expeditionary Force in Europe along the Halifax-London route.
They decided to use the transition to Canada for another important task - the transportation of gold to the United States in order to pay for military equipment. Dunkirk delivered 100 tons to Halifax, Bearn, which went directly to the States for planes - 250 tons, later the Pasteur liner "transported another 400 tons. On December 22, Dunkirk, along with the light cruiser Gloire" and the English battleship Nelson "left Halifax, covering the convoy, and after the end of the operation returned to Brest.
The first months of 1940, both new French battleships were based in Brest, but soon, due to the threat of war with Italy, the Admiralty decided to transfer them to the Mediterranean base of Mers-el-Kebir (Algiers). But no activity was observed off the African coast, and Jensul's squadron was returned to Brest to participate in the proposed operations off the coast of Norway. With the invasion of the Germans in this country, operations were canceled.
"Scharnhorst" and "Gneieenau" (1939, 32,000 tons, 31 knots, 9 283/54.5.12 150/55.14 105/65 zen., 2x3 TA, side armor 45-350, GK turrets 180 -360, barbettes 350-200 mm) were created in response to Dunkirk and Strasbourg and were dangerous opponents for them.
In accordance with the plan of action of the allies in the Mediterranean, the control of its western part was entrusted to the French fleet, and the eastern part was left to the British. But due to the active operations of the British fleet off Norway, France had to temporarily be made responsible for the entire Mediterranean Sea. April 27 "Dunkirk", "Strasbourg", accompanied by light forces again arrived in Mers-el-Kebir. With their appearance, the 2nd squadron of three Provence-class battleships, as well as several heavy cruisers and destroyers under the overall command of Vice Admiral René Godfroy, moved to Alexandria (Egypt) to reinforce the English squadron of Admiral Cunningham, which was based on two obsolete battleships. Three weeks later, when Cunningham received reinforcements from England, Provence and Brittany returned to Mers-el-Kebir, and Lorraine remained with the British at the head of the French Force "X". The final disposition before the start of the war in the Mediterranean was as follows: in Toulon - the 3rd squadron of 4 heavy cruisers and 12 destroyers; in Mers-el-Kebir and Algiers - Admiral Jensul's fast battleships "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg", two old battleships of Rear Admiral Jacques Boxen, two divisions of cruisers and many destroyers; in Bizerte - 6 divisions of submarines; in Malta, English submarines; in Alexandria - Cunningham's squadron and the French Force "X" subordinate to him. Communication with the British was carried out through Admiral Esteva (Admiral of the South) with headquarters in Bizerte. In the meantime, the Wehrmacht, whose tank columns had broken through the front on the Somme, were finishing off individual pockets of resistance of the French troops.
Italy on June 10 declared war on France, which lasted only 15 days - until the victory of the German army and the conclusion of a truce. The Italian fleet had in service only two high-speed battleships of the Giulio Cesare type (former dreadnoughts of the First World War, modernized in response to the construction of the Dunkirk), two were finishing their modernization, and two of the newest types were hastily equipped for combat operations. But there was a hypothetical danger of large German ships breaking through the Strait of Gibraltar to join the Italians. The Germans were not at all going to drive their most valuable units into a bag of the Mediterranean Sea to certain death, they themselves needed them for operations in the North Atlantic. But fear has big eyes, all the more so because the shameful for the English and French fleets raid on the Mediterranean Sea by the German "Goeben" and "Breslau" at the beginning of the First World War was fresh in my memory. Discovered by British air reconnaissance between the Faroe Islands and Iceland, two German supply ships were prints behind the Scharnhorsg and Gneisenau, which, allegedly, were going to break through Gibraltar. On June 15, Jensul's squadron, led by Dunkirk and Strasbourg, urgently went to interception, but returned with nothing.
On June 23, near Minorca, four divisions of Italian cruisers under the command of Admiral Sansonetti tried to intercept several French cruisers covering a convoy between Oran and Marseille. Dunkirk and Strasbourg were the last to come out of Mers-el-Kebir, and a division of cruisers from Algiers. Under the onslaught of superior forces, the Italians, who were not accustomed to the risk in such cases, began to retreat to the bases. It was impossible to shorten the distance and the chase had to be stopped. "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg" returned to Mers-el-Kebir, where they were found, which came into force from 3 o'clock in the morning on June 25, a truce with Germany and Italy.
Back at 12-45 on June 24, the commander-in-chief of the French fleet, Admiral Darlan, sent a telegram to all naval bases with his vision of the terms of the truce:
1. Demobilized ships must remain French, under the French flag, with French crews and based on French bases in the mother country and in the colonies.
2. Special secret sabotage measures should be taken to prevent the ships from being taken by force by any enemy or foreign state.
3. If, under the terms of the armistice, the above is not accepted, all ships without additional order should go to the USA or be flooded if there is no way to prevent their capture by the enemy. In any case, they should not fall intact into the hands of the enemy.
4. Ships thus interned must not take part in operations against Germany or Italy without orders from the commander-in-chief.
A few hours later, the ships began to disarm in the bases, lowering national flags and guises to half. All radio stations of the fleet stopped working at the request of the Germans, but they were soon allowed to transmit the results of the negotiations. I think readers will be interested to know under what conditions the existence of the French fleet was allowed under the terms of the armistice with Germany. Two articles were assigned to this issue in the text of the armistice agreement:
Article 8. The French navy, with the exception of ships required by the French government for the protection of French interests in the colonies, must assemble in ports for counting and disarmament under German or Italian control. The choice of these ports is determined by the registration of ships in peacetime. German government solemnly announces to the French government that it does not intend to use the French fleet in ports under German control for its own purposes, with the exception of those combat units that will be needed for coastal patrols and minesweeping. Moreover, it solemnly and sincerely declares that it does not intend to make any demands on the French navy for the duration of the peace. With the exception of that part of the French fleet which is designated to represent French interests in the colonies, all ships outside French territorial waters are to be recalled to France. Article 9. The French High Command provides the German High Command with detailed information on all minefields laid by France, as well as on all harbors, coastal batteries and coastal defense facilities. Minesweeping is to be carried out by French forces on the scale indicated by the German High Command.
On June 24, an armistice agreement with Italy was signed in Rome. Article 12 was devoted to naval issues, which was identical to article 8 of the German-French agreement. At the end of the month, the Dunkirk and Strasbourg with 6 destroyers, which were stationed in Mers-el-Kebir, were joined by the Provence, Brittany, four destroyers and the Commandant Test hydroair transport. The ships began to demobilize their crews and prepare for disarmament in accordance with the terms of the truce.
Drama in Mers el Kebir
With France out of the fight, the English fleet was able to cope with the combined naval forces of Germany and Italy. But the British, not without reason, feared that modern and powerful French ships could fall into the hands of the enemy and be used against them. After all, not counting Compound "X" neutralized in Alexandria and several cruisers, destroyers, the aircraft carrier "Bearn" and small ships scattered around the world, only two very old battleships "Paris" and "Courbet", 2 super destroyers found refuge in English ports (leader), 8 destroyers, 7 submarines and other trifles - in total no more than a tenth of the French fleet, judging by the displacement, and complete insignificance, judging by their real strength. As early as June 17, Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, Admiral Dudley Pound, reported to Prime Minister W. Churchill that in Gibraltar, under the command of Vice Admiral James Sommerville, Force "H" (H) was concentrated, led by "Hood" and the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", which was supposed to follow the movements of the French fleet.
When the truce became a fait accompli, Sommerville was ordered to neutralize the "greatest potential threat" French ships in the ports of North Africa. But the French ships were quite powerful, stationed in their own bases and under the protection of coastal batteries.For such an operation, an overwhelming superiority of forces was required in order to persuade the French to comply with the requirements of the British government or, in case of refusal, to destroy.Sommerville's formation looked impressive: linear cruiser "Hood", battleships "Resolution" and "Valient" (8 381-mm guns on each of the three), aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", light cruisers "Aretyuza" and "Enterprise" and 11 destroyers. - in Mers-el-Kebir, chosen as the main object of attack, were "Dunkirk", "St Rasbourg, Provence, Brittany, the leaders of the Volta, Mogador, Tiger, Linke, Kersaint and Terribl, the seaplane carrier Kommandant Test. Nearby, in Oran (just a few miles to the east), there was a collection of destroyers, guards, minesweepers and unfinished ships transferred from Toulon, and in Algiers, eight 7800-ton cruisers. Since the large French ships at Mers-el-Kebir were moored to the pier with the stern to the sea and the bow to the shore, Sommerville decided to use the surprise factor as well. In general, the British counted on a repetition of Abukir.
Battlecruiser "Hood" (1920, 36,300 tons, 31 knots, 8 381/42, 6 140/50, 14 102-mm grains, side armor 127-305, turrets 381-178, barbettes 305-152 mm ), the flagship of Compound "H" at Mers-el-Kebir, and earlier - a partner of "Dunkirk" in the search group.
Formation "H" approached Mers-el-Kebir on the morning of July 3, 1940. Exactly at 7 o'clock GMT, the lone destroyer Foxhound entered the harbor with Captain Holland on board, who informed the French flagship at Dunkirk that he had an important report for him. Holland had previously been a naval attache in Paris, many French officers knew him intimately, and under other conditions Admiral Jensul would have received him with all cordiality. Imagine the surprise of the French admiral when he learned that the "report" * is nothing more than an ultimatum. And observers have already reported the appearance on the horizon - the silhouettes of British battleships, cruisers and destroyers. It was a calculated move by Sommerville, reinforcing his truce with a show of force. It was necessary to immediately show the French that they were not joking with them. Otherwise, they could prepare for battle and then the situation would change radically. But this allowed Zhensul to play offended dignity. He refused to talk to Holland, sending his flag officer, Lieutenant Bernard Dufay, to negotiate. Dufay was a close friend of Holland and spoke perfect English. Thanks to this, the negotiations were not interrupted before they began.
In Sommerville's ultimatum, written on behalf of "His Majesty's Government", after reminders of joint military service, German perfidy and the previous agreement of 18 June between the governments of Britain and France that, before capitulating on land, the French fleet would join the British, or be scuttled, by the French the commander of the naval forces in Mers el-Kebir and Oran was offered a choice of four options for action:
1) go to sea and join the British fleet to continue the fight until victory over Germany and Italy;
2) go to sea with reduced crews to go to British porgs, after which the French sailors will be immediately repatriated, and the ships will be kept for France until the end of the war (full monetary compensation was offered for losses and damage);
3) in case of unwillingness to generally allow the possibility of using French ships against the Germans and Italians, so as not to violate the truce with them, go out under an English escort with reduced crews to French ports in the West Indies (for example, to Martinique) or to US ports, where ships will be disarmed and stored until the end of the war, and the crews will be repatriated;
4) in case of refusal of the first three options - to flood the ships within 6 hours.
The ultimatum ended with a phrase that should be quoted in full: "In case of your refusal of the above proposal, I have orders from His Majesty's Government to use all necessary forces to prevent your ships from falling into the hands of the Germans or Italians." This, simply put, meant that the former allies would open fire to kill.
Admiral Sommerville's ships: above - "Resolution" (1916, modernized in 1930-1. 29150 tons, 22 knots, 8 381/42, 12 152/45, 8 102-mm zen, side armor 102-300 , towers 279-330, barbets 178-254), below - "Valient" (1916, modern, in 1937-9, 29150 tons, 24 knots, 8 381/42, 20 114-mm univ., armor similar).
Jensul rejected the first two options at once - they directly violated the terms of the armistice with the Germans. The third was also hardly considered, especially under the impression of the German ultimatum received that morning: "Either the return of all ships from England or a complete revision of the armistice." At 9 o'clock, Dufay transmitted to Holland the answer of his admiral, in which he stated that, he has no right to surrender his ships without an order from the French Admiralty, and he can sink them according to the order of Admiral Darlan that has remained in force only in case of danger of capture by the Germans or Italians, all that remains is to fight: the French will respond to force with force.Mobilization measures on the ships were stopped and preparations began to go to sea.It also included preparations for battle if necessary.
In 1050, the Foxhound raised the signal that if the terms of the ultimatum were not accepted, Admiral Sommerville would not allow the French ships to leave the harbor. And in confirmation of this, the English seaplanes in b2 30 dropped several magnetic mines on the main fairway. Naturally, this made negotiations even more difficult.
The ultimatum expired at 14:00. At 13 10 a new signal was raised on the Foxhound: "If you accept proposals, raise a square flag on the main mast; otherwise I open fire at 11-00." All hopes for a peaceful outcome collapsed. The complexity of the position of the French commander was also in the fact that on that day the French Admiralty was moving from Bordeaux to Vichy and there was no direct connection with Admiral Darlan. Admiral Zhensul tried to prolong the negotiations, raising in response a signal that he was waiting for the decision of his government, and a quarter of an hour later - a new signal that he was ready to receive the representative of Somerville for an honest conversation. At 1500 Captain Holland boarded the Dunkirk for talks with Admiral Gensul and his staff. The maximum that the French agreed to during a tense conversation was to reduce the crews, but they refused to withdraw the ships from the base. As time went on, Sommerville's concern that the French would prepare for battle grew. At 16 15 , when Holland and Jensul were still trying to maintain friendly relations, a dispatch came from the British commander, stopping all discussions: "If none of the proposals is accepted by 17 30 B.S.T (British Summer Time, i.e. British Summer Time) - I repeat, by 17 30 - I will be forced to sink your ships!" At 16 35 Holland left Dunkirk. The stage was set for the first clash between the French and the British since 1815, when the cannons of Waterloo were fired.
The hours that had passed since the appearance of the English destroyer in the harbor of Mers el Kebir had not been in vain for the French. All ships were parted, couples, crews dispersed to combat posts. The coastal batteries that had begun to be disarmed were now ready to open fire. 42 fighters stood at the airfields, warming up the engines for the launch. All the ships in Oran were ready to go to sea, and 4 submarines were just waiting for an order to form a barrier between Capes Aiguil and Falcon. Minesweepers were already trawling the fairway from English mines. a squadron in Toulon of four heavy cruisers and 12 destroyers and six cruisers in Algiers were ordered to go to sea ready for battle and rush to connect with Admiral Gensul, about which he had to warn the British.
And Sommerville was already on a combat course. His squadron in the ranks of the wake was 14,000 meters north-north-west of Mers el-Kebir, heading - 70, speed - 20 knots. At 16 56 (at 17 54 British time) the first volley was fired. Fifteen-inch shells from the Resolution fell close short of range into the pier behind which the French ships stood, covering them with a hail of stones and fragments. A minute and a half later, the Provence was the first to respond, firing 340-mm shells directly between the masts of the Dunkirk standing to its right. Admiral Jensul was not at all going to fight at anchor, just a cramped harbor did not allow all the ships to start moving at the same time (the British were counting on this!). The battleships were ordered to form a column in the following order: Strasbourg, Dunkirk, Provence, Brittany, Super destroyers had to go to sea on their own - according to their ability. "Strasbourg", the stern moorings and the anchor chain of which were given away even before the first salvo hit the pier, began to move immediately. And as soon as he left the parking lot, a shell hit the pier, the fragments of which killed the halyards and signal yard on the ship and pierced the pipe. At 17 10 (18-10) Captain 1st Rank Louis Colline brought his battleship to the main fairway and headed for the sea at a 15-knot course. All 6 destroyers rushed behind him.
When a salvo of 381-mm shells hit the pier, the Dunkirk gave up the mooring lines and poisoned the stern chain. The tug, helping to weigh anchor, was forced to cut off the mooring lines when a second salvo hit the pier. The commander of the "Dunkirk" ordered to immediately empty the tanks with aviation gasoline and at 1700 (1800) gave the order to open fire with the main caliber. Soon the 130-mm guns came into action. Since Dunkirk was the closest ship to the British, Hood, a former partner in hunting down German raiders, concentrated his fire on it. At that moment, when the French ship began to move away from its parking lot, the first shell from the "Hood" hit him in the stern and, passing through the hangar and non-commissioned officers' cabins, exited through the side skin 2.5 meters below the waterline. This projectile did not detonate because the thin plates it pierced were not enough to cock the fuse. However, in its movement through the Dunkirk, he interrupted part of the electrical wiring on the left side, disabled the crane motors for lifting seaplanes and caused the fuel tank to flood. left, side. The return fire was quick and accurate, although distance determination was difficult due to the terrain and being between the Dunkirk and the British fort Santon.
At about the same time, Brittany received a hit, and at 17 0 3 (18 03) A 381-mm projectile hit the Provence, which was waiting for the Dunkirk to enter the fairway in order to follow it. A fire started in the stern of the Provence and a large leak opened. I had to stick the ship to the shore with its nose at a depth of 9 meters. K 17 07 (18 07 ) the fire engulfed the Brittany from bow to stern, and two minutes later the old battleship began to capsize and suddenly exploded, taking the lives of 977 crew members. The rest began to be rescued from the Kommandant Test hydro-air transport, which miraculously avoided hits during the entire battle.
Entering the fairway with a 12-knot course, the Dunkirk was hit by a salvo of three 381-mm shells. The first one hit the roof of the main gun turret #2 above the port of the right outer gun, denting the armor heavily. Most of the projectile ricocheted and fell to the ground about 2,000 meters from the ship. A piece of armor or part of the projectile hit the charging tray inside the right "semi-tower", igniting the first two quarters of the unloaded powder caps.
The second shell hit next to the 2-gun 130-mm starboard turret, closer to the center of the ship from the edge of the 225-mm belt and pierced the 115-mm armored deck. The projectile severely damaged the reloading compartment of the tower, blocking the supply of ammunition. Continuing its movement towards the center of the ship, it broke through two anti-shatter bulkheads and exploded in the air conditioning and fan compartment. The compartment was completely destroyed, all its personnel were killed or seriously injured. In the meantime, several cartridge cases caught fire in the starboard reloading compartment and several 130-mm shells loaded into the elevator exploded.
And here all the servants were killed. The explosion also occurred at the air duct to the forward engine room. Hot gases, flames and thick clouds of yellow smoke penetrated into the compartment through the armor grille in the lower armored deck, where 20 people died and only ten managed to escape, and all the mechanisms failed. This hit turned out to be very serious, as it led to a power outage due to which the fire control system failed. The intact nose turret had to continue firing under local control.
The third shell fell into the water next to the starboard side a little further aft from the second one, dived under the 225-mm belt and pierced all the structures between the skin and anti-tank guns, upon impact with which it exploded.
Its trajectory in the hull passed in the area of KO No. 2 and MO No. 1 (outer shafts).
The explosion destroyed the lower armored deck throughout these compartments, the armored bevel over the fuel tank, anti-tank guns and the starboard tunnel for cables and pipelines. The shell fragments caused a fire in the right boiler of KO No. 2, damaged several valves on the pipelines and broke the main steam pipeline between the boiler and the turbine unit. Escaping superheated steam with a temperature of 350 degrees caused fatal burns to the personnel of the KO, who were standing in open places.
On Dunkirk, after these hits, only KO No. 3 and MO No. 2 continued to operate, serving the internal shafts, which gave a speed of no more than 20 knots. Damage to the starboard cables caused a brief interruption in the power supply to the stern until the port side network was turned on. I had to switch to manual steering. With the failure of one of the main substations, bow emergency diesel generators were turned on. Emergency lighting came on, turret #1 continued to fire quite frequently at the Hood.
Total until the ceasefire order is received at 17 10 (1810 ) "Dunkirk" fired 40 330-mm shells at the English flagship, the volleys of which fell very tightly. By this point, after 13 minutes of shooting almost motionless ships in the harbor, the situation no longer looked unpunished for the British. "Dunkirk" and coastal batteries conducted intense fire, which became more and more accurate, "Strasbourg" with destroyers almost went to sea. The only thing missing was the Mogador, which, when leaving the harbor, slowed down to let the tugboat pass, and a second later received a 381-mm shell in the stern. From the explosion, 16 depth charges were detonated and the stern of the destroyer was torn off almost along the bulkhead of the stern MO. But he was able to stick his nose to the shore at a depth of about. 6.5 meters and with the help of small ships approaching from Oran, he began to extinguish the fire.
The British, satisfied with the sinking of one and the damage of three ships, turned to the west and put up a smoke screen. "Strasbourg" with five destroyers went on a breakthrough. "Linke" and "Tiger" attacked the submarine "Proteus" with depth charges, preventing her from attacking the battleship. The Strasbourg itself opened heavy fire on the English destroyer Wrestler, which was guarding the exit from the harbor, forcing it to quickly retreat under the cover of a smoke screen. French ships began to develop full speed. At Cape Canastel they were joined by six more destroyers from Oran. To the northwest, within firing range, the English aircraft carrier Ark Royal was visible, practically defenseless against 330-mm and 130-mm shells. But the fight didn't happen. On the other hand, six Swordfish with 124-kg bombs raised from the deck of the Ark Royal, accompanied by two Skues at 17 45 (1845 ) attacked ‘Strasbourg’. But they didn’t get any hits, And with dense and accurate anti-aircraft fire one “Ske” was shot down, and two “swarfish” received such damage that they fell into the sea on the way back.
Admiral Sommerville decided to give chase on the flagship Hood, the only one that could catch up with the French ship. But by 19 (20) hours, the distance between Hood and Strasbourg was 44,000 m and did not think to be reduced. In an attempt to reduce the speed of the French ship, Sommervil ordered the Arc Royal to attack the departing enemy with torpedo bombers. After 40-50 minutes, the "swordfish" carried out two attacks with a short interval, but all the torpedoes dropped outside the curtain of destroyers passed by. The destroyer "Pursyuvant" (from Oran) informed the battleship in advance about the sighted torpedoes, and "Strasbourg" each time managed to shift the steering wheel in time. The chase had to be stopped. Moreover, the destroyers following the Hood were running out of fuel, the Valient and Resolution were in a dangerous area without an anti-submarine escort, and there were reports from everywhere that strong detachments of cruisers and destroyers were approaching from Algeria. This meant being drawn into a night battle with superior forces. Force H returned to Gibraltar on 4 July.
"Strasbourg" continued to leave at a 25-knot course until an accident occurred in one of the boiler rooms. As a result, five people died, and the speed had to be reduced to 20. nodes. After 45 minutes, the damage was repaired and the ship again brought the speed to 25 knots. Rounding the southern tip of Sardinia to avoid further collisions with Compound "H", at 20 10 July 4 "Strasbourg", accompanied by the leaders of "Volta", "Tiger" and "Terrible" came to Toulon.
But back to Dunkirk. At 17 10 (1810 ) On July 3, he was in such a state that he was about to leave. the sea was better not to think. Admiral Jensoul ordered the damaged ship to leave the fairway and go to the harbor of Saint-Andre, where Fort Santon and the countryside could provide some protection from British artillery fire. After 3 minutes, "Dunkirk" complied with the order and anchored at a depth of 15 meters. The crew proceeded to inspect the damage. The results were disappointing.
Turret No. 3 (2-gun 130-mm starboard) was out of order from a fire in the reloading compartment, the servants of which died. The starboard electrical wiring was broken and the emergency parties tried to restore the power supply to the combat posts by putting other circuits into action. The bow MO and its KO were out of order, as well as the elevator of tower No. 4 (2-gun 130-mm installation of the left side). Tower No. 2 (GK) can be controlled manually, but there is no power supply to it. Tower #1 is unharmed and powered by 400kW diesel generators. The hydraulic mechanisms for opening and closing the armored doors were disabled due to damage to the valves and storage tank. The rangefinders of the 330 mm and 130 mm guns do not work due to lack of power. The smoke from turret No. 4 forced us to batten down the bow 130-mm cellars during the battle. At about 8 p.m., new explosions occurred in the elevator of tower No. 3. What can I say, it's not fun. In this state, the ship could not continue the battle. But horrible, by and large, only three shells.
Luckily. "Dunkirk" was in the base. Admiral Jensul ordered to stick him aground. Before touching the ground, a shell hole in the area of KO No. 1, which caused the flooding of several fuel tanks and empty compartments on the starboard side, was sealed. The evacuation of unnecessary personnel immediately began; 400 people were left on board to carry out repairs. At about 19 o'clock, the tugboats Estrel and Cotentin, together with the Ter Neuve and Setus patrol ships, pulled the battleship to the shore, where it ran aground at a depth of 8 meters with about 30 meters of the central part of the hull. It was a difficult time for the 400 people left on board. Plastering began in places where the skin had been pierced. After full recovery. power supply, began the grim work of searching for and identifying dead comrades.
On July 4, Admiral Esteva, commander of naval forces in North Africa, issued a communiqué stating that "the damage to the Dunkirk is minor and will be quickly repaired." This ill-advised statement prompted a swift response from the Royal Navy. On the evening of July 5, Compound "H" again went to sea, leaving the low-speed "Resolution" in the base. Admiral Sommerville decided, instead of conducting another artillery battle, to act, to drink quite "modernly, to use aircraft from the Ark Royal aircraft carrier to attack -. stuck - to the shore of the Dunkirk. In 05- 20 On July 6, while 90 miles from Oran, the Ark Royal launched 12 Swordfish torpedo bombers, escorted by 12 Skue fighters, into the air. The torpedoes were set to a speed of 27 knots and a travel depth of about 4 meters. The air defense of Mers el Kabir was not ready to repel the attack in pat light and only the second wave of aircraft met more intense anti-aircraft fire. And only then followed the intervention of French fighters.
Unfortunately, the commander of the Dunkirk evacuated the servants of anti-aircraft guns ashore, leaving only the personnel of the emergency parties on board. The patrol vessel "Ter Neuve" stood at the side, taking some of the crew members and the coffins with the dead on July 3. During this sad procedure at 06-28, a raid of British aircraft began, which went on the attack in three waves. The two "swordfish" of the first wave dropped their torpedoes prematurely and they exploded on impact without causing any harm. After 9 minutes, the second wave approached, but none of the three torpedoes dropped hit the Dunkirk. But one torpedo hit the "Ter Neuve", which was just in a hurry to move away from the battleship. The explosion literally tore the small ship in half, and the wreckage of its superstructure showered the Dunkirk.
At 0650, 6 more Swordfish appeared with fighter cover. The link, which came from the starboard side, came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and was attacked by fighters. Dropped torpedoes again did not reach the target. The last group of three cars attacked from the port side. This time two torpedoes rushed towards the "Dunkirk" diagonally from the left krumbol. One hit the Estrel tug, which was about 70 meters from the battleship, and literally blew it off the surface of the water. The second, apparently with a faulty depth gauge, passed under the keel of the Dunkirk and, hitting the aft part of the wreckage of the Ter Neuve, caused the detonation of forty-two 100-kilogram depth charges, despite the absence of fuses in them. The consequences of the explosion were terrible. A hole about 40 meters long was formed in the starboard plating. Several belt armor plates were displaced, and water filled the side protection system. The steel plate above the armor belt was torn off by the force of the explosion and thrown onto the deck, burying several people under it. The anti-torpedo bulkhead was detached from its mounts for 40 meters, other watertight bulkheads were torn or deformed. There was a strong roll to starboard and the ship settled with its nose so that the water rose above the armor belt. The compartments behind the bulkhead damage were flooded with salt water and liquid fuel. As a result of this attack and the previous battle on the Dunkirk, 210 people were killed. There is no doubt that if the ship were in deep water, such an explosion would lead to its quick death.
A temporary plaster was put on the hole, and on August 8 the Dunkirk was dragged into free water. Repair work progressed very slowly. And where were the French in a hurry? Only on February 19, 1942 "Dunkirk" in complete secrecy went to sea. When the workers arrived in the morning, they saw their tools neatly stacked on the embankment and ... nothing more. At 23- 00 The following day, the ship reached Toulon, carrying on board some of the scaffolding from Mers-el-Kebir.
English ships were not damaged in this operation. But they hardly fulfilled their task. All modern French ships survived and took refuge in their bases. That is, the danger that, from the point of view of the British Admiralty and the government, existed from the side of the former allied fleet, remained. In general, these fears seem somewhat far-fetched. Did the British consider themselves stupider than the Germans? After all, the Germans were able in 1919 to flood their fleet interned in the British base of Scapa Flow. But then, far from full crews remained on their disarmed ships, the war in Europe ended a year ago, and the British Royal Navy completely controlled the situation on the seas. Why, then, could it be expected that the Germans, who, moreover, did not have a strong fleet, would be able to prevent the French from sinking their ships in their own bases? Most likely, the reason that forced the British to treat their former ally so cruelly was something else ...
The main result of this operation can be considered that the attitude of the French sailors towards the former allies, who until July 3 were almost 100% pro-English, has changed and, naturally, not in favor of the British. And only after almost two and a half years did the British leadership become convinced that its fears regarding the French fleet were in vain, and that hundreds of sailors died in vain on his instructions in Mers-el-Kebir. Faithful to duty, the French sailors, at the first threat of the capture of their fleet by the Germans, sank their ships, including the Dunkirk and Strasbourg missed by the British. But more on that below.
Toulon tragedy
The Dunkirk, which arrived in Toulon, was put into one of Vauban's dry docks for final repairs, but due to lack of funds, work was carried out very slowly. Perfectly serviceable Strasbourg remained in Toulon during 1941-42. Before Admiral Zhensul became the Chief Inspector of the Fleet, he kept his flag on it. Later, Admiral de Laborde chose him as his flagship. Fuel was scarce and this limited the ship's actions to short trips near Toulon. The operations of "Strasbourg" during this period amounted to a quarter to a third of the pre-war.
On November 8, 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa and a few days later the French garrisons ceased resistance. Surrendered to the allies and all the ships that were on the Atlantic coast of Africa. In retaliation, Hitler ordered the occupation of southern France, although this was in violation of the terms of the 1940 armistice. At dawn on November 27, Toulon entered german tanks.
In this French naval base at that time there were about 80 warships, and the most modern and powerful, collected from all over the Mediterranean - more than half of the tonnage of the fleet. The main striking force, the High Seas Fleet of Admiral de Laborde, consisted of the flagship Strasbourg, the heavy cruisers Algeri, Dupley and Colbert, the cruisers Marseillaise and Jean de Vienne, 10 leaders and 3 destroyers. The commander of the Toulon Naval District, Vice Admiral Markus, had under his command the battleship Provence, the seaplane carrier Commandant Guest, two destroyers, 4 destroyers and 10 submarines. The remaining ships (the damaged Dunkirk, the heavy cruiser Foch, the light La Galissoniere, 8 leaders, 6 destroyers and 10 submarines) were disarmed under the terms of the armistice and had only part of the crew on board.
But Toulon was crowded not only with sailors. A huge wave of refugees, driven by the German army, flooded the city, making it difficult to organize defenses and creating a mass of rumors that caused panic. The army regiments that came to the aid of the base garrison were strongly opposed to the Germans, but the naval command was more worried about the possibility of a repetition of Mers el-Kebir by the Allies, who brought powerful squadrons into the Mediterranean. In general, we decided to prepare for the defense of the base from everyone and flood the ships as if they were threatened by the Germans, as well as by the allies.
At the same time, two German tank columns entered Toulon, one from the west, the other from the east. The first had the task of capturing the main shipyards and piers of the base, where the largest ships stood, the other was the command post of the district commandant and the Murillon shipyard. Admiral de Laborde was on his flagship when, at 05- 20 a message came that the Murillon shipyard had already been captured. Five minutes later, German tanks blew up the northern gates of the base. Admiral de Laborde immediately radioed a general order for the fleet to sink immediately. The radio operators repeated it continuously, and the signalmen raised flags on the halyards: "Sink! Drown! Drown!"
It was still dark and the German tanks got lost in the labyrinths of warehouses and docks of a huge base. Only at about 6 o'clock one of them appeared at the Milhod piers, where the Strasbourg and three cruisers were moored. The flagship had already moved away from the wall, the crew was preparing to leave the ship. Trying to do at least something, the tank commander ordered the cannon to be fired at the battleship (the Germans claimed that the shot happened by accident). A shell hit one of the 130 mm turrets, killing an officer and injuring several sailors who were setting demolition charges at the guns. Immediately, anti-aircraft guns returned fire, but the admiral ordered him to stop.
It was still dark. A German infantryman approached the edge of the pier and shouted at the Strasbourg: "Admiral, my commander says that you must surrender your ship intact."
De Laborde shouted back: "It's already flooded."
A discussion ensued on the shore. German and again a voice was heard: "Admiral! My commander conveys to you his deepest respect."
In the meantime, the ship's commander, having made sure that the kingstones in the engine rooms were open and there were no people left in the lower decks, gave a signal with a siren for execution. Immediately "Strasbourg" was surrounded by explosions - guns were called out one after another. Internal explosions caused the skin to swell, and the gaps and gaps formed between its sheets accelerated the flow of water into the huge hull. Soon the ship sat on the bottom of the harbor on an even keel, plunging 2 meters into the silt. The upper deck was 4 meters under water. Oil spilled from broken tanks.
There was also an interesting discussion on the heavy cruiser Algeri, the flagship of Vice Admiral Lacroix, which stood across the pier from the Strasbourg. When a German officer approached the pier, the cruiser had already taken 2,500 tons of water and was close to sinking. All the guns were blown up, with the exception of the aft tower, where they were just waiting for the order to light the fuse.
The German said: "We have come to seize the ship."
"You're a little late," Lacroix replied. "He almost sank."
"Are you going to blow it up?" - "Not".
"In that case," said the German, "we will come aboard."
"In that case," Lacroix replied, "I'll blow it up."
Immediately, flames burst from the windows of the pilothouse and almost simultaneously the aft tower exploded. "Algeri" burned for two days, and the cruiser "Marseillaise", which sat next to the bottom with a 30-degree list, burned for more than a week. The Colbert cruiser closest to the Strasbourg began to explode when two crowds collided at its side - the French who fled from it and the Germans trying to get on board. To the whistle of fragments flying from everywhere, people rushed about in search of protection, illuminated by a bright flame, set on fire on the catapult of the aircraft. On board the heavy cruiser "Duplay", moored in the Missiesi basin, the Germans managed to climb. But immediately explosions began and the ship sank with a large list, and then was completely destroyed by the explosion of the cellars in 08 30 . They were also unlucky with the battleship Provence, although it did not start flooding longer than the others, because it received a telephone message from the headquarters of the commandant of the base captured by the Germans: "An order has been received from Monsieur Laval (Prime Minister of the Vichy government - author) that the incident has been settled." When they realized that this was a provocation, the crew did 4 everything possible so that the ship does not get * to the enemy. The maximum that the Germans could do, who managed to climb the tilted deck leaving from under their feet, was to declare Provence officers as prisoners of war. and headquarters officials, led by the commander of the division, Rear Admiral Marcel Jarry.
Standing in the dock and having almost no crew, the Dunkirk was more difficult to flood. On the ship, they opened everything that could only let water into the hull, and then opened the dock gates. But it was easier to drain the dock than to raise the ship lying at the bottom. Therefore, everything that could be of interest was destroyed at Dunkirk: guns, turbines, rangefinders, radio equipment and optical instruments, control posts and entire superstructures were blown up. This ship never sailed again.
On June 18, 1940, in Bordeaux, the commander of the French fleet, Admiral Darlan, his assistant, Admiral Ophan, and a number of other senior naval officers gave their word to representatives of the British fleet that they would never allow the capture of French ships by the Germans. They fulfilled their promise by sinking 77 of the most modern and powerful ships in Toulon: 3 battleships, 7 cruisers, 32 destroyers of all classes, 16 submarines, hydro-air transport, 18 patrol and smaller ships.
In the hands of the enemy
The further fate of the fleet scuttled in Toulon was in the hands of the Germans and Italians. The former were not at all interested in the blown up ships lying under water, while the latter considered them not only as a means of possible strengthening of their naval forces, but as a potential threat in the future. It was necessary to take all measures so that these ships would not become the core of the new French fleet after the war. The Italians did not waste time, and after the German statement of December 3 that "all warships belonging to the French State were confiscated", they demanded the lion's share. Of the 70 ships of interest with a total displacement of 237,049 tons, they modestly asked for 212,559 tons, leaving the Germans with only 24,490 tons of small ships.
Crowds of Italian engineers rushed to Toulon. The specially formed Italian Salvage Company of Toulon, under the leadership of the chief Italian shipbuilder Giannelli, quickly gathered personnel and equipment from all Italian salvage firms and set to work with enviable energy. On December 22, the command of the Italian fleet even appointed a commander over those ships that could be raised in the near future. In early January 1943, despite the protests of the French Admiralty over the flagrant violation of the terms of the 1940 armistice, the leaders of the destroyers Lion, Tiger and Panthers, as well as the destroyer Trombe, were raised. These were ships, at the time of the sinking, practically devoid of a crew, which did not allow them to be destroyed properly. They were towed to Italy and, after repairs, completed for the Italian fleet. For 220 days spent under a false flag, these ships spent from 20 to 40 days at sea. But there is no evil without good. After the capitulation of Italy to the Allies in September 1943, the Lion and Panther were sunk in La Spezia, but the other two returned to their old owners, becoming the only ones from among the flooded Toulon fleet who returned to the service of the Republic.
By June, the Italians had raised or drained three cruisers, seven leaders and the Kommandant Test hydro-air transport at the docks, and before their surrender they were able to raise only 30 combat units, not counting 4 minesweepers and three small destroyers raised by the Germans, as well as ships that were not subject to repair and immediately went for scrap. To say, an enviable performance! Hundreds of tons of scrap metal, armor plates, catapults, other equipment and fittings went to Italy in a wide stream. In short - everything that could be removed and that could somehow be useful to the new owners. From the Strasbourg raised on July 17, they removed the catapult, superstructures and armor from one of the towers, from the Dunkirk remaining in the dock - the conning tower and internal equipment (pipelines, cables, fittings). To free the dock from the Dunkirk, the Italians cut off and towed the damaged bow. Allied aviation prevented further dismantling of the ship, during one of their raids on Toulon, damaging the aft part remaining in the dock. But in order to completely bring the Dunkirk to an unrecoverable state, the Italians even cut off the barrels of 330-mm guns. This, one might say, maritime looting, continued even after the fall of the Mussolini regime on July 25, 1943. Despite the fruitless protests of the French, the Italians in June, August and September also captured the destroyers Siroko, Lansknet and Hardy, the submarine Henri Poincaré. Although already on August 1, the new Italian government of Marshal Badoglio prepared an agreement with the allies, and on the 19th negotiations began in Lisbon. Now the Italians had to sink the captured ships so that the Germans would not get them.
As soon as the Germans learned about the "pasta" negotiations with the Allies, they immediately arrested all the Italians leading the rescue work in Toulon. The French leadership, taking advantage of the situation, turned to the Germans with a request to be allowed to place French guards on the raised ships, which would become the core of the post-war fleet. After brief negotiations, on September 25, the Germans agreed to consider the ships sunk in Toulon the property of the French fleet. But only on April 1, 1944, the French were allowed to take measures to preserve those ships that could be of combat value in the future: the Strasbourg, the Dunkirk, the Commandant Test hydro-air transport, the La Galissonier cruiser and four 1800-ton destroyers . Captain 1st Rank Emile Rosse was appointed to command this "fleet", who carefully selected 150-200 sailors for work. The rest of the ships were assigned for scrapping or used for various military experiments. The condition of the Dunkirk was so bad that it was impossible to restore them. Moreover, the Germans demanded in any way to take him out of the dock, which they intended to use for their ships.
Toulon was increasingly subject to Allied air raids. Nalrimer, during the raid on November 24, 1943, six of the raised ships (cruiser and 5 destroyers) went to the bottom for the second time, and the cruiser, 2 leaders and the destroyer received new damage. And the captain of the 1st rank, Rosset, decided to transfer the "Strasbourg" and "La Galissoniere" from the Toulon raid to the Bay of Lazare. By August, out of more than 35 podpet ships, allied aviation sank about 20, and by the time Toulon was taken, his raid was completely empty for the second time. Of course, it was not the skill of the American pilots (actually, their target was the German submarines). It was just that the ships stood idle and without enough people on board to conduct anti-aircraft fire and fight for survivability.
The final
On August 20, 1940, the battleship Lorraine, the cruisers Georges Leig and Montcalm from the Free French fleet, together with British and American ships, began bombarding coastal batteries and German fortifications near Toulon, preparing for the landing of allied troops. Admiral Ernst von Schörlen, commander of the defense of the coast of southern France, ordered the German commandant of Toulon, Admiral Heinrich Ruchfus, to flood all the ships in the base in order to block the fairway and destroy all coastal facilities of the base. On August 21, German tugboats approached the Strasbourg and the cruiser La Galissoniere, stationed near Saint-Mandre, to take them to the southern fairway and flood them there as fireships. In the northern fairway, the Germans have already flooded the Garonne tanker. "But Captain 1st Rank Rosset flooded around the barge in advance, so that the ships could not be moved from the spot. But the work of the Germans was carried out by American B-25 aircraft from the 321st bomber air group, acting on an erroneous message about the combat readiness of "Strasbourg". In fact, the ship did not have not only a crew, but also ammunition, and the rangefinders had long been stolen by the thieving Italians. Only a few Germans on board opened fire on the aircraft from small arms.
In total, 36 aircraft dropped 44,454 kg of general-purpose bombs and 108,454 kg of semi-armor-piercing bombs on two ships. Approximate places of hits in "Strasbourg" are shown in the figure.
Approximate locations of bomb hits in "Strasbourg", August 1944.
One general purpose bomb hit the upper deck in front of the catapult installation site, slightly to the right of its axis. The catapult itself was removed by the Italians long ago. The bomb penetrated the upper and main decks and exploded 6.1 meters from the starboard plating, forming a hole in it measuring 7.92 by 3.43 meters. Above the hole, the skin sheets were bent, the main one. the deck shifted upwards by 10.67 meters, and a deflection formed in the lower one with a diameter of 3 meters and a height of 17 mm.
Another bomb hit the starboard side between the hangar and the base of the catapult and exploded near the lower deck. The riveted seam of the skin was torn for 10.6 meters, swelling formed in the upper and main decks in the area of impact, a number of reinforcement on the lower deck was destroyed or damaged over a length of about 23 meters.
Another bomb hit the port side exactly opposite the previous one, pierced the upper deck and exploded 3 meters from the side just above the main one. The riveted seam parted over a length of 8.7 meters, the upper deck plating around the impact site was torn off and swollen.
A semi-armor-piercing bomb hit the port side 4.5 meters from the third hit, pierced the upper deck and exploded on impact with a strip of 100 mm armor between two hatches. The armor could not stand it and the bulkhead between the hatches was completely destroyed. As a result of this and the previous hit, several rooms were severely damaged, and three packages of electrical cables were broken by shrapnel.
Another general purpose bomb hit near the breech of the outer right gun of turret #2. At the point of impact, a hole 50 mm deep and 0.6 m in diameter formed in the barrel. The barrel of an adjacent gun was chipped and scratched by fragments. It was not possible to establish how much this hit damaged the guns, tjc. no firing was done after that.
Another similar bomb hit the 150-mm armor of the roof of the same tower and its fragments seriously damaged the forward superstructure. The next one exploded on the deck of the lower bridge, in which a hole measuring 1.73x1.14 m was formed. The casing of the nearby generator was pierced by shrapnel, and several cables were also broken.
The last semi-armor-piercing bomb hit in front of turret No. 2 just to the right of the centreline and exploded between the main and lower decks. By the force of the explosion, the skin of the upper deck was bent to the stern, which would prevent turret No. 2 from pointing to the starboard side. Bulkheads and fittings on the main deck received extensive damage over a length of 15.24 m.
Seriously damaged “Strasbourg” sat on the ground. The sinking was caused by close explosions of bombs in the water, which damaged the hull at the waterline. A proper damage control was not carried out due to the lack of a crew on board, but if there was one, the losses in people would have been enormous. The most severe damage was received by superstructures, "hull recruitment elements and electrical systems. The latter, no doubt, would have disabled the ship's control and made it difficult to fight for survivability. La Galissoniere sank nearby, and the Americans also managed to sink several German small ships. In that On the same day, 130 B-26 bombers paid a visit to the city itself.
Strasbourg was planned to be restored at a shipyard in the United States after liberation, but due to extensive damage, this idea had to be abandoned. The ship was raised only in 1946, when the French Admiralty, in need of ships, offered to convert its hull into a light aircraft carrier. Later, this plan was also rejected due to lack of funds, and the ship itself was used for experiments with underwater explosions. In May 1955, what was left of Strasbourg was sold for 458 million francs (-1.208 million dollars) and dismantled for metal in Toulon.
The remains of "Dunkirk" the French took out of the dock immediately after the end of the war - the dock was needed, and "Dunkirk" was left to rust in one of the nooks and crannies of the base. Only in 1958, the rest of the once beautiful ship was sold for scrap for 253 million francs.
Summary
In the Dunkirk and Strasbourg projects, French shipbuilders demonstrated some new concepts, which then formed the basis for the design of much more powerful Richelieu-class battleships. Both ships were a response to the German battleships of the "Deutschland" type and their defense was calculated to counteract guns no higher than 280-mm caliber. "Dunkirk" with good reason can be considered a battlecruiser, which is evidenced by its high speed, good autonomy and lack of truly powerful armor. The latter was clearly demonstrated in the battle at Mers-el-Kebir, where he was severely damaged by British 381-mm shells. The Strasbourg can be seen as a small battleship, as her vertical armor was considerably thicker, but her horizontal and caliber guns were relatively weak compared to other battleships of the Second World War.
The main drawback of the project was the limited displacement. And in any case, with such a limitation, the design of a ship balanced in all respects is hampered by the inevitable compromises in the choice of weapons and protection, which as a result led to the creation of a ship that was unable to withstand an artillery duel with most of its contemporary battleships. Only modernized Italian battleships with 320-mm guns of the Giulio Cesare and Andrea Doria types, Japanese Congo-class, as well as German Scharnhorst and Gneuzenau and american type"Alaska" (actually large cruisers).
When comparing the Dunkirk and Strasbourg with the previous Provence-class ships built, it might seem that the French went for a reduction in firepower in favor of protection, but this is not entirely true. Eight 330 mm guns were more powerful than 10 older 340 mm guns. Due to the increase in the range of artillery combat and the accuracy of bombing, protection, especially horizontal, was given more attention than before. If the Provence had a total deck thickness of only 89 mm, then the new ships were 155-165 mm. Mainly due to this, the relative armor weight increased from 34% to 40-42%.The principle of strengthening horizontal protection can be traced in all subsequent projects of battleships.
The underwater protection system was one of the deepest in the world. The explosion of 42 depth charges (almost 4 tons of explosives!) At the side of the Dunkirk confirmed its effectiveness, although the explosion force in that case was directed towards the surface of the water and away from the ship, and the ship itself was in the base, where it was easier to fight for survivability and, if necessary, you can stick to the shore. With minor modifications, this system was also used on the Richelieu class.
The universal 130 mm artillery was technically advanced in design. Already at the time of the Dunkirk design, the French shipbuilders were correctly convinced; that in a future war aviation will become one of the decisive factors. They were willing to sacrifice one or two main guns to give the ship decent defense against aircraft. But close air defense was weak. If the ships had actively participated in the war and would have made it to the end not in a dismantled form, but in the ranks, then they would probably have received a completely new light anti-aircraft battery that complemented their 16 130-mm guns, as they did on the "Richelieu" and Jean Baret.
The concentration of the main caliber in the nose was a bold but understandable decision. After all, the emphasis was on weight savings. When placing the main battery towers in the bow, only one director (post UAO) was required, the length of the armored citadel was reduced, the boats and aircraft equipment were well isolated from the effects of muzzle gases. But a serious drawback, also manifested in Mers el-Kebir, was the lack of fire in the aft sector.
The power plant turned out to be compact, but the location of only five compartments reduced its survivability. One hit could deprive the ship of power on two shafts at once. In part, this risk was offset by deep PTZ.
The project was distinguished by many innovative ideas and for their size, "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg" were in the highest degree powerful and well-protected ships. Particularly successful in design were the PTZ system, good horizontal protection and a powerful universal battery. As battlecruisers, they were excellent, but they were not suitable for combat with battleships.
Sergey Suliga Battleships Dunkirk and Strasbourg
Moscow-1995 - 34 p.
The firstborn of the era of fast battleships
Dunkirk in 1940
"Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg" are remembered not only for being the first French capital ships built after the First World War. They are rightfully considered the firstborn of a new generation of warships - a generation of high-speed battleships that became a symbol of naval power in the 30s and 40s. Thus, in the history of military shipbuilding, they can claim the same place of honor as the English Dreadnought built after the Russo-Japanese War. After all, it was the Dunkirk laying that stimulated a new round of the naval arms race, of course, not as large-scale as before the First World War, but which caused the appearance of super battleships of hitherto unimaginable size and power: ships of the Bismarck, Litgorio, Iowa, " Yamato", "Richelieu" and others.
It is unlikely that the French shipbuilders, unlike the designers of the Dreadnought, thought that their new ship will revolutionize naval technique. In principle, after all, they were solving a rather narrowly set task - to create a ship capable of quickly coping with the new German high-speed diesel battleships, which became better known as "pocket battleships". But the principles of horizontal and underwater protection first applied at Dunkirk, powerful universal and anti-aircraft batteries in multi-barreled installations, indicating the growing role of new types of weapons at sea - aviation and submarines, have become an integral attribute of all subsequent battleship projects.
The appearance of the "Dunkirk" could not help but cause a sarcastic grin from naval aesthetes, who were brought up for decades on the symmetrical profiles of battleships, dreadnoughts and cruisers. Ho, just here the French were not original - the bow arrangement of all the main artillery, with superstructures strongly shifted in the stern, a single chimney and auxiliary caliber guns in the towers, they borrowed from the English battleships Nelson and Rodney built in the 20s, which could have been considered the harbingers of a new era instead of the Dunkirk, if not for their 23-knot speed, which put these new ships on a par with the last dreadnoughts of the First World War. Shackled by the rigid framework of the Washington Treaty of 1922 on the total tonnage of its linear fleet, France at first took the path of building ships of moderate size. And here, the "Nelson" layout of the main caliber guns, which promised great weight savings, turned out to be most welcome, as well as the slope of the main armor belt taken from the same "Nelsons", which increased the effectiveness of the side protection. But the French, more than once accustomed to surprising the naval world with all sorts of new products, could not afford to borrow someone else's idea without introducing something of their own into it. This “something” was the four-gun turrets that finally appeared on the Dunkirk after a series of unfinished dreadnoughts and unrealized projects.
Unfortunately, fate did not allow Dunkirk and Strasbourg, which had such good “initial data”, to adequately prove themselves during the Second World War. Too quickly, France dropped out of the fight, and her beautiful ships had to fight not so much with the enemy, against whom they were created, but with allies. And it was under the English shells, torpedoes and bombs that the strength of the Dunkirk defense and the speed qualities of the Strasbourg were tested.
Design and construction
France, entered the first world war with a fleet with a total displacement of 690,000 g, but there were few modern ships in it. For example, linear and high-speed light cruisers were completely absent. Occupying for a long time the second place in naval forces after Britain, eight years after the appearance of the Dreadnought, which made all existing battleships obsolete, she could not recover from the shock, letting Germany and the USA go ahead. Even the newest French ships of the Courbet type (12 305-mm guns with a side salvo of 10 barrels) no longer met the requirements of the time, significantly inferior to the power of the so-called superdreadnoughts armed with 343-381-mm artillery. On March 30, 1912, France adopted the so-called Marine Law, according to which by 1922 it was necessary to have 28 dreadnoughts in the fleet, including several battlecruisers, but this grandiose program was not destined to be realized. During the war, only three Provence-class battleships (10 340-mm guns) were commissioned, and four out of five Normandie-class battleships (12 340-mm guns in 4-gun turrets) were launched. But since the fate of the country was decided on the land front, military and industrial priority was given to the army, which had to give up even part of the 340-mm and 140-mm guns intended for these ships. The construction of four more superdreadnoughts of the Lyon type with 16 (!) 340-mm guns, orders for which they planned to issue in January-April 1915, did not begin. Work on battlecruisers (also with the main caliber in the four-gun turrets) did not progress at all beyond the stage of preliminary projects.
"Provence", "Brittany" and "Lorraine" (above) became the last reinforcements of the French battle fleet in the First World War (1916, 23320 tons, 20 knots, 10 340/55, 22 138.6/55, 4 TA , side armor 160-270, towers 250-400, barbets 250-270 mm)
Normandie, Languedoc, Flandre, Gascony and Bearn (below) were laid down just before the war to form two full divisions (24832 tons, 21.5 knots) with three Provence-class battleships. 12 340/45, 24 138.6/55, 6 TA, side armor 120-300, turrets 250-340, barbettes 284 mm)
"Lyon", "Lille", "Duquesne" and "Tourville" (29600 T1 23 knots, 16 340/45, 24 138.6/55) were supposed to be the development of the Normandy class. It was planned to issue orders for them in 1915, but with the start of World War II, France was not up to laying battleships
Projects of battlecruisers of 1913, from top to bottom: designer Gilles (28100 tons, 28 knots, 12 340-mm guns, 270 mm armor), designer Durand-Ville (27065 tons, 27 knots, 280 mm armor) option "A" with 8 340 mm guns and version "B" with eight 370 mm guns
By 1920, work on the battleships under construction finally stopped. One of the main arguments in favor of such a decision was the appearance of much more powerful ships in service and on the stocks of Britain, the USA and Japan. To continue construction meant, at the cost of a significant strain on the industry undermined by the war, to burden the fleet with battleships that were obviously inferior in strength to possible opponents. The highest ranks of the fleet still considered battleships to be the basis of combat power, but the state of the French economy did not allow not only to start building new ships of this class, but also to redesign the Normandie type to meet new requirements or to “bring to mind” battlecruiser projects. Opinions were also divided on what type of new battleship should be. It is interesting to note that the naval budget for 1920 included appropriations for experiments with a 457-mm gun, ammunition for it, and experiments with armor. But, I think, this was done more out of a desire not to lose face in front of other powers and to show that France, too, is capable of something. After all, projects with guns of a similar (and even larger) caliber have already appeared in Britain and Japan. But in the end, France had to come to terms with the loss of the first roles at sea. The unfinished hulls of ships of the Normandie type were scrapped and only Bearn was put into operation, but ... as an aircraft carrier.
