French ship Dupleix

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Four ships of the French Navy have been named Dupleix in honour of the XVIIIth Century Governor of Pondichéry and Gouverneur Général of the French possessions in India marquess Joseph François Dupleix:

• A corvette (1856-1887): famous for her involvement in the Japanese revolution.

• A 7700 tonne armoured cruiser (1897-1919): built in Rochefort and launched on the 28 April 1900. She joined the Atlantic naval division in 1903, was put in reserve in 1905, and recommissioned on the 1st November 1910 to join the Asian division. She arrived in Hong-Kong on the 5 August 1914, taking part in a number of operations in the Chinese sea and in the Indian Ocean. She went back to Toulon on the 18 December 1914 to join the Naval Army. On the 19 May 1915, the came under command of the vice-admiral commanding the squadron of the Dardanella, and took part in several missions. After refitting in Saint-Nazaire from April and October 1916, she joined Western Africa. On the 17 April 1919, the Dupleix left Dakar for Brest where she was decommissioned.

• A 10 000 tonne cruiser (1929-1942) : Built in Brest and launched on the 9 October 1930. Based in Toulon, she was part of the 1st light division of the 1st squadron. In 1937, she was completely refitted. From the 14 October 1939 to the end of January 1940, she was part, along with the Algérie, of Force X, based in Dakar. As such, she captured the German cargo Santa-Fé. In June 1940, she took part in operations against Genoa. Scuttled in Toulon on the 27 November 1942, she was repaired in 1943 by the Italians, and sunk again.

• The present Dupleix is a F70 type anti-submarine frigate

Two French commercial ship have also borne the name:

• A three-masted barque (1901-1917) sunk by the German commerce raider Seeadler on the 5 March 1917
• A cargo ship (1914-1942) sunk in the Pacific by a Japanese submarine.