French cruiser Colbert (1928)

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For other ships of the same name, see French ship Colbert.

Career (France)
The Colbert
Namesake:	Jean Baptiste Colbert
Builder:	Brest Naval Yard
Laid down:	12 June 1927
Launched:	20 April 1928
Commissioned:	4 March 1931
Fate:	scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942
General characteristics
Class and type:	Suffren class cruiser
Displacement:	10,000 tonnes (standard) 12,780 tonnes (full load)
Length:	196 metres
Beam:	20 metres
Draught:	7.3 metres
Propulsion:	3-shaft Rateau-Bretagne SR geared turbines, 9 Guyot boilers, 100,000 shp
Speed:	32 knots
Range:	4500 at 15 knots
Complement:	773
Armament:	8 203mm/50 Modèle 1924 (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 carried:	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.

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.