French cruiser Colbert (1928)

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Career

Built By:	Brest Naval Yard
Laid down:	12 June 1927
Launched:	20 April 1928
Commissioned:	4 March 1931
Fate:	scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942
Penant:
General Characteristics
Type:	heavy cruiser
Displacement:	10,000 tons (standard) 12,780 tons (full load)
Length:	636.5 feet (194 metres)(overall)
Beam:	63 feet (9.10 metres)
Draught:	20.75 feet (6.35 metres)
Propulsion:	3-shaft Rateau-Bretagne SR geared turbines, 9 Guyot boilers, 90,000 shp
Speed:	31 knots
Range:	4500 @ 15 knots
Complement:	752
Armament:	8 203 mm (8 inch) 50-calibre guns (4 × 2) 8 90 mm (3.5 inch) 55-calibre anti-aircraft guns (8 × 1) 8 37 mm anti-aircraft guns (4 × 2) 12 13.2 mm AA (4 × 3) 6 550 mm (21.7 inch) torpedo tubes (2 × 3);
Armour:	belt 60 millimetres; deck 25 millimetres; turrets and tower, 30 millimetres.
Aircraft:	2 Loire-Nieuport 130, 2 catapults

The Colbert was a French heavy cruiser of the Suffren class, that saw service in World War II. She was named for Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French minister of finance under King Louis XIV.

Colbert was part of the 1st Light Division of the 1st Squadron in the Mediterranean, which also included Algérie and Dupleix. In September 1939, at the start of World War Two, Colbert was part of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, which also included Algérie, Dupleix, Foch, Duquesne and Tourville.

On 14 June 1940, the French navy executed Operation Samoyède. The 3rd French squadron, including cruisers Foch, Algérie, Dupleix and Colbert, bombarded Genoa, supported by the French Naval Air Arm.

Following the French surrender, Colbert and much of the French fleet was taken out of action and kept at Toulon. On 27 November 1942, she was successfully scuttled by her crew in the Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon, despite the presence of German officers attempting to take control. She was blown apart when her magazine exploded.