French battleship Dunkerque

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	24 December 1932
Launched:	2 October 1935
Commissioned:	1 May 1937
Fate:	Scuttled 27 November 1942
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement:	36,380 tonnes
Length:	215.1 m
Beam:	8.7 m
Width:	31.1 m
Propulsion:	6 Indret boilers 4 Rateau geared turbines 135,585 hp
Speed:	trial: 31,06 knots (design 29.5 kt)
Range:	7.500 nm at 15 kt
Complement:	1381
Armament:	2 quadruple 330 mm turrets 3 quadruple and 2 double 130 mm dual purpose turrets 4 twin 47 mm AA turrets 5 twin 37 mm AA guns 32 single 13.2 mm AA machine guns
Armour	225 mm (side belt) 30 mm (anti-torpedo bulkheads) 125–115 mm (deck) 330/310 mm (turrets)
Aircraft	4 floatplanes 1 catapult
Motto:

The Dunkerque was the first of a new class of warship of the French Navy labeled as a "fast battleship". Not quite the size of a full battleship, they were designed to counter the threat of the German pocket battleships of the Deutschland class. The design was very innovative, having the entire main armament mounted forward. This was similar to the arrangement of the Royal Navy's Nelson class battleships but those had three turrets carrying nine guns, and the angles of fire for the two rearmost turrets were limited by the turret in front. In contast, the Dunkerque used two quadruple turrets which gave unrestricted fire. The mounting of the main armament in quadruple turrets was a feature unique to the late-design French battleships, and was also found on subsequent designs such as the Richelieu and Jean Bart.

During the Phony War, Dunkerque was used along with her sister-ship Strasbourg to escort convoys.

After the collapse of France, she was docked in Mers-El-Kebir, along with Strasbourg. The sinking of these ships became one of the main objectives of the British attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir on 3 July 1940. Dunkerque was severely damaged by gunfire during this attack, settling on the bottom of the harbour. Two days later, she sustained further damage by torpedo-bombers from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal.

After being refloated and temporary repairs completed, Dunkerque finally returned to Toulon in February 1942. She was in armistice custody, disarmed and in drydock, when the Germans invaded the so-called "Free Zone" on 27 November 1942. She was scuttled, along with Strasbourg, in the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon. Her commanding officer, Capitaine de vaisseau Amiel, initially refused to sink his ship without written orders, but was finally convinced to do so by the captain of the nearby light cruiser La Galissonnière. Demolition charges were ignited, destroying the ship and setting the wreckage ablaze.