Richelieu in September 1943, after refit. Aircraft equipment have been removed from the aft deck and replaced with anti-aircraft artillery. |
|
| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Richelieu |
| Builder: | Brest Navy Yard |
| Laid down: | 22 October 1935 |
| Launched: | 17 January 1939 |
| Commissioned: | June 1940 / October 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 1967 |
| Struck: | 1968 |
| Fate: | scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Richelieu class battleship |
| Displacement: | 35,000 tons (standard) 47,548 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 247.9 m (813 ft) |
| Beam: | 35 m (115 ft) |
| Draught: | 9.7 m (32 ft) |
| Propulsion: | four Parsons geared turbines, 150,000 hp |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range: | 8,500 nautical miles (15,740 km) |
| Complement: | 70 officers, 1,550 men |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
metre wavelength RADAR from February 1941[1] |
| Armament: |
8 x 380mm (15 inch)/45 Modèle 1935 guns in quadruple mounts at bow |
| Armour: | Belt: 343 mm Decks: 50 to 170 mm Turrets: 445 mm |
| Aircraft carried: | Three flying boats (Loire 130) |
| Aviation facilities: | two catapults, crane, four-aircraft hangar (before refit) |
The Richelieu was a battleship of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She served during World War II, on the Vichy Regime side, notably fending off an Allied attempt on Dakar, and later with Allied forces in the Indian Ocean in 1944 and 1945. She took part in the return of French forces to Indochina in 1945, and served into the 1960s.
Contents |
On 1932, the first modern battleship of the French Navy,Dunkerque, was ordered. Dunkerque was designed to outclass the German "pocket battleship" Deutschland, which had been laid down in 1929. In 1931-1932, the German Reichsmarine had ordered two more similar units,Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee,[2] outgunning all existing heavy cruisers.[3] Only HMS Hood, and the two Renown class battlecruisers could catch Deutschlandand her sister-ships.[4]
Dunkerque had a displacement of 26,500 tons, and was armed with eight 330 mm guns, with a speed of 29.5 knots, and a protection able to resist to the Deutschland 280 mm shells.[5] This was well below the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty limits of 35,000 tons and 406 mm (16 in), and thus Dunkerque was much weaker than battleships built around 1920, as the French Government wants not to jeopardize the efforts of the United Kingdom to obtain more drastic naval armament limitations, in the Disarmament negiotiations, conducted by the League of Nations, from 1926 to 1932.
Then, Germany ordered in February 1934, two units, first announced as part of the Deutschland class, but which were laid down, in May–June 1935, just after Adolf Hitler has announced German rearmament in violation of the Versailles Treaty, and just before the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau emerged as fast battleships, heavier (31,800 tons) than Dunkerque and much better armored, armed with nine improved, but still 280 mm guns.[6] But in May 1934, as it was considered, in Italy, that the Dunkerque class broke the balance between the battleship fleets in Western Mediterranean[7] the building of two 35,000 tons battleships, armed with nine 381 mm guns was announced[8] · .[9] The French reaction was to order, on July 16, 1934, a second Dunkerque class ship, Strasbourg, and to plan the first French 35,000 ton battleship.[10]
Eight days later, on July 24, 1934, the Conseil Superieur de la Marine, French equivalent to the Board of Admiralty, defined the characteristics of the new French battleships as follows :
Thirteen months later, the Service Technique des Constructions navales, (S.T.C.N.), French equivalent of the Department of the Director of Naval Construction, in the Royal Navy, established a definitive project which was submitted to the Minister, on August 14, 1935, adopted on August 31, and Richelieu was laid down, on October 22, 1935. So acting, France was not respecting the naval limitation Treaties, as 88,000 tons of new battleships have been ordered, before December 31, 1936, as only 70,000 tons had been allowed to France by the 1922 Treaty of Washington and the 1930 Treaty of London. But, on June 18, 1935, the Anglo-German Naval Agreement had been signed, between the United Kingdom unilaterally, and the Third Reich, cancelling de facto the limitations of the Treaty of Versailles concerning the limitations of displacement of the various types of warships, and gretting Germany a total tonnage for the Kriegsmarine equal to 35% of the total tonnage of the Royal Navy. Having lost the hope of being able to counter both German and Italian Navies, as the Versailles and Washington Treaties allowed it, France considered that the Dunkerque battleship class was the answer to the Scharnhorst battleship class and the Richelieu class battleships the answer to the Italian battleships Littorio and Vittorio Veneto .
Vice admiral Durand-Viel, Chief of Navy General Staff, was very concerned about the continuity between the Richelieu battleship class and the preceding Dunkerque battleship class, whose leadship had been ordered only two years before.
The French Navy Board had indicated, in July 1934, a minimum calibre, 380 mm, which was dictated by the choice of the Regia Marina, and the maximum, 406 mm, was still the limit fixed by the Washington Treaty. For the number of guns, eight was the minimum determined by the practice for spotting efficient salvos, and it was one of the reasons for which the Regia Marina had not been satisfied by the 23,300 tons battleship project of 1931, with six 381 mm guns only. The maximum of nine guns corresponded to a battery of three triple turrets, as on the new Italian battleships.
The quadruple turret arrangement was saving more than 25% weight on turret armoring, compared to four double turrets, while retaining the same firepower, but it appeared quickly that the 380 mm caliber was the largest feasible for a quadruple turret. With a 32 m beam, and 406 mm (16-inch) caliber guns, the Nelson class battleships had accommodated only triple turrets. But on the Dunkerque, with 31 m beam and 330 mm (13-inch) guns, the four barrels of each turret were not yet mounted independently in individual mounts because this would have meant an unduly large barbette diameter. For that reason the right and left hand pair of barrels where placed in a common mount each.[5] It will not have been the case on the fore and aft 14-inches quadruple turrets of the British King George V class battleships, which had 34 m beam and 356 mm caliber, 3-meter more beam and only 1-inch more calibre than on Dunkerque.
The drawback of the quadruple turret was the risk of receiving a single unlucky shot which would destroy one turret, and would cripple one half of the main battery: the quadruple turrets of Dunkerque class battleships had been divided internally, with a 25 to 40 mm bulkhead to localise damage.[11] This device will be noted as effective at Mers-el-Kebir, when the first British 381 mm shell, striking Dunkerque, rebounced on the 330 mm turret II, killing all servants in the right half turret, as the left one remained operational.[12]
But the «all forward» arrangement of two quadruple turrets, and more broadly the proximity between the magazines of the main artillery turrets, induces the greatest risk, crippling the totality of the main battery, or even provoking the loss of the ship. On Dunkerque, to avoid this risk, the forward turrets had been positioned 27 m apart from one another, more than on the Nelson class battleships.[13] Nevertheless, the French Navy studied various other solutions with three turrets (one quadruple and two double, two triple and one double, or three triple). In every case, with three turrets, there would has been an excess of weight, in comparison with two quadruple turrets, and, in counterpart, a propulsion plant power reduced to 100,000 hsp, and a speed loss of 2;5 knots, for a little benefit of distributing the main armament on a greater length.[14] So following the proposal of the head of STCN, the Chief of Navy General Staff choose as early as November 1934 the «all forward» arrangement with two quadruple turrets.[15]
The solutions used on Dunkerque class battleships were retained on Richelieu, in a scaled up version: «all forward» disposition, in two 2476 tons quadruple turrets Model 1936, built by Saint-Chamond, weighing 3,096 tons with the weight of the barbette. It was nearly 1,000 tons more than the about 1,500 tons quadruple turrets of Dunkerque[16] or triple turrets of Littorio.[17] The world heaviest turrets will have been the three-460 mm gun turrets on Yamato,[18] with 2,774 tons, the U.S. Navy heaviest built turrets, the 1704 tons turrets of Iowa class battleships,[19] the heaviest Royal Navy turrets ever built, the three-406 mm gun turrets of Nelson class battleships weighing 1568 tons, and the four-356 mm gun turrets of King George V, weighing 1550 tons.[20]
Each Richelieu turret was divided in two half turrets, by a 25 to 45 mm bulkead. The guns, in the half turrets, were in pairs, and although each gun was in a separate cradle, the relative movement of the guns of each pair was limited. The guns were so close (1.95 m, only 0.30 m more than on Dunkerque) that a wake effect between shells fired simultaneously by a half turret lead to an excessive dispersal, which has not been corrected before 1948 on Richelieu.[21] The turrets were positionned 33 m apart from one another, 6 meters more than on Dunkerque.
The weight of one barrel was 110 tons,[16] less than the 181 tons barrel on Yamato,[18] or 130 tons barrel on Nelson,[20] nearly the same weight as the 112 tons barrel on Nagato,[18] the 109 tons barrel on Bismarck,[22] the 107 tons barrel on Iowa,[19] 102 tons barrel on Littorio,[17] or the 97 tons barrel on Queen Elizabeth, and more than the 80 tons King George V barrel.[20]
The maximum angle of elevation of the Model 1936 turret guns was 35°.With a 830 m/s muzzle velocity, the maximum range was theoretically 41,500 m, practically 37,800 m. The rate of fire was from 1.3 rounds per minute to 2 rpm. The maximum training speed was 5°/s, and the maximum elevating speed 5.5°/s. The 380 mm shell was an Armor Piercing Capped (APC) shell, registered in the French Navy as Obus de Perforation (OPf).The OPf Model 1935 was an extrapolation of the 330 mm OPf Model 1935, in use on the Dunkerque. The 380 mm shell was 1,905 m long and weighed 884 kg, less than the 406 mm Massachussets shell (1224 kg),[19] which hardly struck Jean Bart, at the battle of Casablanca (1942), and some kilos more than the weight of the 381 mm shells of HMS Barham or HMS Resolution (875 kg),[20] which near missed Richelieu at the battle of Dakar (1940).
The OPfK Model 1935 incorporated a dye bag and fuze (dispositif K) to colour ( yellow for Richelieu and orange for Jean Bart) not only splashes but hits, thereby facilitating spotting for ships operating in formation while in combat. No Highly Explosive (HE) variant of the 380 mm shell was originally provided. A total of 832 APC shells are intended to be provided, slightly fewer than in the Dunkerque class battleships (896 rounds).
Remote Power Control (RPC) was to be fitted for both training and elevation; however the failure of the Sautter-Harlé-Blondel system fitted on the Dunkerque class battleships resulted in a loss of confidence in the application of this technology to heavy armored turrets, and it was never fitted.[23]
The French Navy had been precursor in fitting dual-purpose battery on battleships,[24] in the early 1930s, and seven years later, with the shortcomings of the 130 mm and 152 mm DP turrets and of the 37 mm twin automatic AA mountings, the solution of having a low-angle secondary battery and a high-angle tertiary battery was a feature of the new battleships in construction, as in the German and Italian navies.
For the secondary artillery, all early projects were keeping the 130mm caliber Dual-Purpose, in five quadruple turrets, at the same position as on the Dunkerque class battleships, but with two quadruple turrets amidships, instead of double turrets. A tertiary anti-aircraft «75mm zénithaux» battery was considered, to complement the 130 mm DP battery of the early design sketch.
As, in that time, the torpedo surface attacks were considered more dreadful than aircraft bombing, an heavier calibre was required for the anti-ship battery. Since the Nelson class battleships, the Royal Navy has adopted a six 152 mm double turrets battery as secondary artillery on battleships. The Kriegsmarine had chosen 150 mm guns on Scharnhorst, and the Regia Marina was fitting the 35,000 tons battleships with 152 mm calibre guns. It was decided to adopt triple 152 mm turrets, as fitted on the most recent light cruisers, Émile Bertin and La Galissonnière class cruisers which were then being built. The S.T.C.N. proposed two solutions, five 152 mm turrets, and six 75 mm single mountings, or four 152 mm turrets, without the fifth turret (central axial), or with two center line aft turrets in superfiring position, and eight 75 mm single mountings, but it was difficult to install this AA battery, keeping it out of the blast effects of the main and secondary batteries.
The French Navy Board, in April 1935, resolved to fit Richelieu with five 152 mm turrets in the same disposition as the 130 mm battery on Dunkerque. It was decided that these 152 mm turrets had to be dual-purpose, and that the tertiary 75 mm AA battery had to be abandoned, as the sustitution of 152 mm DP turrets, weighing 306 tons[16] to the 130 mm turrets, weighing 200 tons, was inducing an excess of weight of about 500 tons. It was also decided to install a new weight-saving propulsion plant, developing the same power, 150,000 hsp, but using Sural (suralimenté) boilers, instead of the more conventionnal boilers fitted on Dunkerque. It was thence possible to reduce the number of boilers rooms from three to two, which allowed to reduce the length of the «citadel» on nearly five meters, and consequently the weight of the armored belt. As other weight-reduction measures, the thickness of the armored belt was reduced, from 360 mm previewed, to 330 mm, and its inclination increased from 11°30' to 15°24' to compensate the thickness reduction. The thickness of the longitudinal bulkheads, of the conning tower, and of the turrets and barbettes of the 152 mm guns were reduced too.
The triple 152 mm Model 1936 Dual Purpose turret, was an extrapolation of the 152 mm Model 1931 Low-Angle turret. The guns, mounted on separate cradles, were 1,85 m apart. The training speed was 12°/second, and the elevation speed 8°/s. The gun maximum elevation was 90°, with theoretically loading at every elevation. The muzzle velocity was 870 m/s. The shells used, against sea targets, were Semi Armored Piercing (SAP) shells, registered in the French Navy as OPfK Model 1931, with dye bag, weighing 56 kg, or 57,1 kg (OPfK Model 1937). Against aircraft, the 152 mm/55 Model 1930 guns were firing High Explosive (HE) shells, registered OEA (Obus Explosif en Acier) Model 1936, weighing 54,7 kg, or 49,3 kg (OEA Model 1937). Starshells, registerd as OEcl (Obus Eclairant) Model 1936, weighing 47 kg, were to be provided for the amidships turrets. The rate of fire was 6.5 rounds per minute, against sea targets, and 5 rpm against aircraft. The maximum range against sea targets, with a 45° elevation, was 24,500 m. Full RPC was fitted. On Richelieu, the planned ammunition outfit was two thousands SAP shells, nearly one thousand HE shells and 650 illunminating shells, for three triple turrets fitted.[25]
The 152 mm Model 1931 Low-Angle turret proved to be highly satisfactory, at least comparable to the German single or twin 150 mm guns turrets, or the Italian triple 152 mm turrets Model 1934 or 1936. But for anti-aircraft purpose, the 152 mm Model 1936 turret was considered as complex and fragile, with a too slow rate of fire against rapid-moving aerial targets, with a deficient RPC, and prone to jamming in loading at angles superior to 45°. The reason of this failure had to be looked for in the too great weight, 227 tons without the barbette, of the 152 mm DP Model 1936 turret, nearly 55 tons heavier than the 172 tons for the 152 mm Model 1931. It must be noted that there will not have been other examples of 152 mm guns used as anti-aircraft battery, but, post war, two U.S. Navy cruisers of the Roanoke class and three Royal Navy cruisers of Tiger class, with much more performing RPC and control fire direction devices than the French ones used just before WWII.
As, at the very beginning of the war, on November 1939, it became evident that the projected 37 mm ACAD Model 1935, automatic anti aircraft twin mountings, would not be provided in time for the completion of Richelieu, a drastic revision of the AA battery was needed. The amidships 152 mm turrets had to be landed, and twelve 100 mm/45 Model 1930 guns in six twin 100 mm mountings, CAD Model 1931, were intended to be fitted, as they had been on the last 10,000 tons Treaty cruiser Algérie, and were intended on the planned De Grasse class cruisers. To respect the priority of completing Richelieu, four mountings had to be removed from the reconstructed battleship Lorraine,[26] and two from a battery near Marseilles.[27] The 152 mm amidships turrets were not even mounted on Jean Bart, neither barbettes installed. The 100 mm mountings were fitted on Richelieu, in Avril-May 1940.
The 100 mm CAD Model 1930 turrets were dual-purpose. SAP shells (100 mm OPf Model 1928) weighing 15 kg, were fired on sea targets, with a muzzle velocity of 765 m/s and a 15,800 m maximum range, but it seems that 10 rounds per gun only were embarked, as it was considered that the anti-ship fire would be mainly insured by the stronger 152 mm guns. HE shells (100 mm OEA Model 1928) weighing 13,5 kg, were fired on aerial targets, with a muzzle velocity of 780 m/s and a 10,000 m ceiling (at 80° maximum elevation). The rate of fire was 10rpm. Illuminating shells (100 mm OEcl Model 1928) were provided, in replacement of the 152 mm OEcl Model 1936, which seemed, if they had been provided, to have been landed with the 152 mm amidships turrets, as they were not mentionned in the war time ammunition inventories.[25]
The 100 mm guns proved to be the most reliable arms of Richelieu in her early war carrier, till 1942.
For the short range anti-aircraft defence, the French Navy had planned to develop, for the Dunkerque class battleships, an automatic twin version 37 mm ACAD Model 1935 of the semi-automatic twin mountings CAD Model 1933, which had a 30 to 40 rpm rate ot fire theoretically. Hand loaded, using six-round box magazine, the rate of fire was practically 15 to 20 rpm, as in the same time, the British Pom Pom gun, or the Swedish designed Bofors 40 mm/L60 gun had a 120 to 200 rpm rate of fire. Thence the 37 mm ACAD Model 1935 was expected to have such a rapid rate of fire. But in 1940, only a a prototype ACAD mounting designated Model 1936 was trialled aboard the old patrol sloop Amiens and apparently successfully used during the Dunkirk evacuation.[28]
Six ACAD Model 1935 mountings would have had to be fitted, four abeam the after funnel superstucture, and two abeam turret II. Four fire control directors equipped with a two-meter range finder and linked to the mountings by a RPC system driven by Sautter-Hallé electric servo-motors where intended to be installed, two, for the forward mountings, abaft turret II, one deck higher, and two for the after mountings, abeam the mountings, one deck higher. This 37 mm battery would have been complemented by six or eight 13.2 mm Hotchkiss quadruple MG mountings, CAQ Model 1929, on the upper platforms of the forward and after tower.[29]
The most conspicuous difference in the Richelieu profile with the Dunkerque, was the mounting of the fire control director system aft, not on a separate tower located behind the funnel, but on a kind of mack, so that the funnel opening was taken out obliquely aft underneath the control position tower.[30]
Otherwise, the fire control director system was closely modeled as on Dunkerque. Three fire control directors were mounted one over the other atop the fore tower, with, bottom up, the director A, for the main artillery, with a 14-meter triple stereoscopic OPL (Optique de Précision de Levallois-Perret) range finder, and for the 152 mm artillery, two fire control directors, with, in the director 2, in central position, for anti-ship gunnery, a 8-meter double stereoscopic OPL range finder, and in the director 1, in upper position, for anti-aircraft gunnery, a 6-meter double stereoscopic OPL range finder. The same noteworthy weight accumulation in the hights of the fore tower, as on Dunkerque, proved to be a shortcoming, when the Richelieu was torpedoed at Dakar, as a whipslash effect provoked more serious avaries on the directors of the fore tower, than on the after tower, which was however nearer of the torpedo explosion.[31]
On the after tower, there was only the auxiliary director for the 152 mm artillery (director 3) with a 6-meter double stereoscopic OPL range finder. The auxiliary director for the main artillery, (director B), was between the funnel and the axial aft 152 mm turret, with an 8-meter double stereoscopic OPL rangefinder. All the directors were gastight and were fitted with light steel plating against the MG attacks of strafing aircraft.
Each main artillery turret was fitted with a 14-meter double stereoscopic OPL range finder, as each 152 mm turret, with a 8-meter double stereoscopic OPL range finder. Two directors with a 3-meter OPL range finder provided for the flag staff, were installed on the wings of the admiral’s bridge. When the 100 mm AA battery was fitted, they were replaced by directors fitted with a 4-meter OPL range finder for the fire control of this battery. Two directors also fitted with 4-meter range finder were then mounted on the navigation bridge, one deck lower. There was also a 3-meter SOM (Société d'Optique et de Mécanique de haute précision) stereoscopic «tactical» range finder atop the bridge.
As on the Dunkerque class battleships, the directors provided raw target data to the transmitting station located beneath the armored decks, with continuous transmission to the director and the guns.[32]
Look out and target designation facilities were similar in principle to those of Dunkerque. The lower lookout station (veille basse) for close-range contacts was on platform 3 of the fore tower. The middle level (veille éloignée) for both surface and aerial contacts was on plateform 6, and the upper look out station (veille haute) was primarily for spotting torpedoes and mines on platform 9.[33]
For night firing, there were five 1.20 m searchlight projectors, one atop the admiral's bridge, and two on either side of the funnel structure.[34]
As on Dunkerque, aircraft installations (aircraft hangar, crane and two catapults, for four seaplanes) were fitted on Richelieu's stern. The materiels were the same, 22 m trainable catapults operated with compressed air, which could launch a 3.5 tons aircraft at 103 km/h, a recovery crane with a capacity of 4.5 tons. The aircraft were hull seaplanes Loire 130 type, single-engined (720 hp Hispano-Suiza 12-cylinder liquid cooled) with a 3,500 kg weight, a 210 km/h maximum speed, a 165 km/h cruise speed at 1,500 m, two 75 mm MG and two 75 kg bombs.
The differences in aircraft facilities with Dunkerque resulted of the disposition of the Sural boilers, three side by side on the boilers rooms, instead of two, so there was only one boiler room under the funnel, instead of two. Consequently, the aft 152 mm turret on center line,(turret VII), was on frame 68.85, on Richelieu, versus on frame 44.30, on Dunkerque, as the aft lateral secondary turrets were respectively on frame 54,45, versus 53.30[35] · .[36] Incidentally, the turret VII was abaft turrets V and VI, on Dunkerque, which corresponded to the French traditional mode of turret numerotation, from bow to stern, as the turrets V and VI were abaft the turret VII on Richelieu. With 36,50 m on the quarterdeck between the aviation hanger and the stern, on Richelieu, instead 30 m on Dunkerque, this enabled a second catapult to be worked in, the catapults being offset to port and starboard en echelon with an elevator between them . The planes were moved on rails from the hangar to the elevator where they were placed on both catapults.
Two planes were to be stowed in the 25 m long hangar, on the same level, wings folded, in line, instead to be placed on the two platforms of a two-tiers hangar lift, and two on the catapults, wings deployed.[37]
| Ship | Protection (tons) |
Protection (%) |
Displacement (tons) |
With fuel (tons) |
Fuel load |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richelieu | 16,045 | 39.2 | (normal) 40,927 | 2,905 | 1/2 |
| Dunkerque | 35.9 | (normal) 30,750 | 2,860 | 3/4 | |
| Strasbourg | 37.3 | (normal) 31,570 | 2,860 | 3/4 | |
| Iowa | 18,700 | 41.6 | (standard) 45,000 | ||
| Bismarck | 17,258 –17,540 |
43.92 41.28 |
(light) 39,931 (standard) 41,781 |
||
| King George V | 12,500 | 34.8 | |||
| Littorio | 13,600 | 36 |
On Richelieu, the weight of protection was 16,045 tons, and corresponded to 39.2 % in the weight distribution, for a 40,927 tons «normal» displacement, with 2,905 tons of fuel (half of full load).[38] This figure may be compared to those given for Dunkerque, 35.9 %, or Strasbourg, 37.3 %, but with a 30,750/31,570 tons «normal» displacement, with 2,860 tons of fuel (¾ of full load).[39] The comparison with foreign battleships is more difficult to set up. The figures given for the Iowa class battleships are 18,700 tons for the protection weight and 41.6 % of 45,000 tons «standard» displacement,[40] which corresponds to 42.19 % for Richelieu at «standard» displacement. For Bismarck, the figures are 17,258 tons or 17,540 tons for the protection weight, and from 43.92 % to 41.28 %, as the percentage is calculated with 39,931 tons «light» displacement or 41,781 tons «standard» displacement.[41][42] As all these figures are very near one another, it is clear that they are all superior to those given for the King George V class battleships, 12,500 tons and 34.80 %,[43] or for the Littorio class battleships with 13,600 tons weight of protection for 37,750 tons standard displacement, and 36 %.[44]
The armored belt, with an inclination of 15°24’, was 327 mm thick, between frame 51.50 and frame 182.95, from 3.38 m above the waterline to 2.50 m under the water line. The forward bulkhead, at frame 182.95, and the after bulkhead, at frame 51.50, extended from the main deck to the 30 mm floor of the munitions magazines, and were 233 mm thick. The forward bulkhead thickness was increasing to 355 mm between the first and the second platform decks.
The upper armored deck at main deck level was 150 mm thick above the machinery plant and was increasing to 170 mm above the main artillery magazines. The lower armored deck was 40 mm thick, and extended to frame 233, improving the protection of the forward part of the ship, left unprotected on Dunkerque. Abaft the after transverse bulkhead, there was, at first platform deck level, a 100 mm armored deck with angled sides in form of a carapace above the shafts, increasing to 150 mm above the steering gear.
On the conning tower, the armor was 340 mm thick on face and sides, 280  ;mm on rear, and 170 mm on the roof.
The main turrets were protected with a 405 mm thick armor on the barbette, above the upper armored deck, 430 mm on the faces, inclined to 30°, from 170 mm to 195 mm on the roof, 270 mm on turret I rear wall and 260 mm on turret II rear wall. This thickness on the rear walls, lesser than on Dunkerque or Strasbourg, with about 340–350 mm, was explained by the use of a cemented steel on Richelieu.
The 152 mm guns turrets were less armored than the Dunkerque quadruple 130 mm turrets, with a 100 mm thickness on barbettes, 130 mm on the faces angled at 45°, 70 mm on sides and roof, and 60 mm on the rear. The 100 mm turrets had only a 30 mm plating.[45]
The British King George V class battleships and HMS Vanguard will have had a thicker armored belt than Richelieu (356 mm), but their turrets will have been less protected (330 mm). Their horizontal armor (152 mm) will have been equivalent[46] but their command spaces will have been only protected against splinters.[47]
The U.S. Navy battleships will have had an equivalent armored belt (330/340 mm) asRichelieu, on the North Carolina and South Dakota classes, and a little less thick (310 mm) on the Iowa class. The main artillery turret protection was less thick (406 mm) on the North Carolina class, equivalent (430 mm) on the Iowa class, and thicker (457 mm) on theSouth Dakota class. The horizontal armor was a little less thick (104 mm) on the North Carolina class, equivalent (127/165 mm) on the South Dakota and Iowa classes. The conning tower was better protected, with 406 mm on the North Carolina and South Dakota classes, and with 445 mm on the Iowa class.[48]
The Italian Littorio had a thicker armored belt (350 mm) than Richelieu, but otherwise, they were less protected, with 350 mm on the main artillery turrets, 260 mm on the conning tower, 50 mm on the upper armored deck et 100 mm on the main deck.[49] The German Bismarck class battleships had a less thick armor than Richelieu on the main artillery turrets (356 mm), thicker on the conning tower(356 mm), equivalent for the armored belt (320 mm), and for the horizontal armor(80 mm + 115 mm)[50]
As on Dunkerque, the underwater protection consisted in a «sandwich» of void spaces, light bulkheads, liquid loading compartments or compartments filled with rubber-based water-excluding compound (ébonite-mousse), and a heavy internal holding bulkhead to absorb the explosion of a torpedo head. The compartment outboard of the inclined armor belt had a maximum depth of 1.5 m, and had a filling of ébonite mousse. Inboard this compartement, there was a 18 mm bulkhead, inclosing a void compartment 0.9 m deep, then an oil fuel bunker 3.4 m deep (0.5 m less than on Dunkerque), then a 10 mm bulkhead, containing a void compartement 0.67 m deep, backed by a 30 mm torpedo bulkhead of special steel. The maximum depth was around 7 meters.[51] The reduction of 0.5 m comparing with Dunkerque was necessary to accommodate three boilers side by side in the boiler rooms. But this figure of 7 m width was impressive, compared with the 4.10 m on King George V, 5 m on Scharnhorst, or 6 m on Bismarck.[52] The Italian Littorio class battleships had a peculiar underwater protection system, designed by the Italian chief designer,Generale Ispettore del Genio Navale Pugliese. During the British aircraft attack of the Italian battleship fleet in Taranto, it did not succeed to avoid the sinking of Littorio in shallow water. But the Achilles' heel of battleships facing torpedo attacks was their vitals which could not be protected, as Bismarck's rudder in May 1941, or Richelieu's shaft, at Dakar, in 1940, or HMS Prince of Wales's shaft off Kuantan, in December 1941.
The French designers of Richelieu had various constraints: a 33.5 m beam to accommodate the barbettes of four 380 mm gun turrets, a 245 m long hull, limited by the length of the Navy shipbuilding infrastructures, thus a ratio length/beam of 7.3. All this induced a machinery developing 150,000 shp,[53] to reach the 29.5/30 knots, requested by the Admiralty. It was then the greatest machinery power installed on a battleship. It will have been surpassed only on U.S. Navy Iowa class battleships in 1943-1944. An equivalent speed had been reached, with less power (144,000 hsp),[54] on HMS Hood, but with a 262 m hull, a 42,000 tons displacement, and a ratio length/beam of 8, but without shipbuilding restraint nor any displacement Treaty limit. All British or U.S. battleships, built in the late 1930s, having to respect the 35,000 tons displacement limit had a speed of 29 knots (King George V class), or 28 knots (North Carolina or South Dakota classes), they were 225 m or 215 m long, with a propulsion plant developing respectively 110,000, 120,000, or 130,000 shp[55] · .[56] The Italian Littorio class battleships reached 30knots, with a 230 m hull and 140,000shp.[57] The German battleship Bismarck had a 29 knots speed with 138,000 shp,[50] and reached 31 knots with 150,000 shp forcing,[42] but her ratio length/beam, was only 6.9 as she had, for the same hull length as Richelieu, a wider beam (36 m).
The propulsion was assured by six Indret boilers, and four Parsons turbines. The boilers were of a new type, so-called «suralimenté», which meant pressure-fired, thence the abbreviation of Sural boilers. These boilers were operated at a pressure of 27 kg/cm² (350°C), as on Dunkerque, but forced circulation and pressure firing resulted in steam production per m³ well in excess of conventional boilers (14.4 kg/m³).[58] They were 6;30 m long versus 5;33 min on Dunkerque, 4.65 m heigh versus 5.34 m, and moreover 4;50 m wide versus 6.50 m. Thence, due to the 2-meter greater beam of Richelieu, it was possible to install three boilers side by side, in two boiler rooms, instead of three rooms, as on Dunkerque. Boiler Room 1 was underneath the fore tower, with, from starboard to port, boilers n°10, n°11, and n°12, followed by the forward Engine Room housing the geared turbines for the wing shafts. Boiler Room 2 directly underneath the funnel, with boilers n°20, n°21, and n°22, produced the steam for the turbines of the center shafts, in aft Engine Room. A 18 mm bulkhead separated the forward Engine Room from the Boiler Room 2, dividing the machinery plant in two independent units. In each Engine Room, there were two sets of turbines, each driving a four-bladed propeller with a diameter of 4,88 m. Each set comprised a single High Pressure (27 kg/cm²) turbine, a Medium Pressure (10 kg/cm²) turbine, and Low Pressure forward and reverse turbines (1.25 kg/cm²and 4 kg/cm²). Four turbo generators, each of 1500 kW, were distributed, for two of them, in the forward engine room, and, for the after pair, in a separate compartment directly abaft the main machinery spaces, adjacent of the magazines for the after 152 mm turrets.
The maximum fuel load for peace-time cruising was 5,866 tons, but in wartime, this figure was reduced to 4,700 tons, to maximise the effectiveness of the underwater protection system, as filling the liquid loading compartments to the brim create additional pressure on bulkheads, instead of absorbing the pressure of explosion. The radius was 9,850 nmi at 16 knots, 8250 nmi at 20 knots, and 3,450 nmi at 30 knots.
During speed trials, in April 1940, developing 123,000 shp, 30 knots were sustained, with near 42,000 tons displacement, and in June, 32 knots were sustained during 3h30, with 43,800 tons displacement and 155,000 shp, and 32.68 knots were reached with 179,000 shp forcing.
The keel was laid down on 22 October 1935 in Brest.[59] The hull was floated out on 17 January 1939.[60] Richelieu then left the Salou graving dock, to be armed in one of the Laninon docks at Brest Navy Yards. The bow and the stern, built separately, were attached there, as the Salou graving dock was only 200 m long.[61][62] Machinery trials began at the end of March 1940.[63]
In April 1940, Richelieu went to sea for the first time. In late May and mid-June, the Commanding Officer, Captain Marzin carried out speed and gunnery trials, reaching 32 knots, and firing a few shots from her main and secondary batteries. Due to the advance of German troops, Richelieu hastily left Brest bound for Dakar on June 18, having on board 250 shells but only 48 powder charges for her main battery.[64][65] Escorted by the destroyers Fougueux and Frondeur, she reached Dakar on June 23.
As the local political conditions seemed very dubious in regard of the acceptance of the armistice between France and Germany, Captain Marzin decided to proceed to Casablanca two days later, shadowed by a powerful British battle group. Richelieu was sent back to Dakar by the French Admiralty on 28 June where she moored in the outer roadstead, protected only, on the side of the high sea, by a line of five freighters.[66] Her anti-aircraft artillery was very weak. The 152 mm turrets could not fire on aerial targets, as the corresponding uppermost range finder on the fore tower had not been put in service; moreover, shells and powder charges were lacking. Only the six 100 mm turrets were usable. The short range anti-aircraft artillery was only four double 37 mm mountings, four quadruple 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine guns, and two twin 13.2 mm MGs.[35]
The 22 June 1940 armistice prompted British anxiety that the French Navy would be taken over by the Axis Powers. This led to attacks from the Royal Navy against the French warships (Operation Catapult), to seize them (in British harbours), sink them (at Mers el-Kebir), or intern them (at Alexandria). During the night of July 7 to 8, five days after the attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, a team from HMS Hermes attempted to damage Richelieu with depth charges moored under her stern, but they did not explode. In the morning, Swordfish bombers from Hermes torpedoed Richelieu below the armored deck. This caused a 40' long hole, and disabled the starboard propeller shaft; flooding caused her stern to touch bottom. One torpedo is likely to have hit the depth charges moored during the night. The crippled battleship was pumped out after a few days and made seaworthy for emergencies, and moored inside Dakar harbour.[67]
On 24 September, Richelieu took part in the defence of Dakar against British and Free French forces. There was a gunnery duel between Richelieu and the British battleships HMS Barham and HMS Resolution: the HMS Barham was hit twice by the shore batteries manned by ratings from Richelieu. In the engagement the Richelieu was struck by two 15-inch shells, causing no serious damage, in spite of 250 near misses.[62][68] Richelieu was damaged in the battle the first time her main battery was fired: a 380 mm shell blew back and disabled two guns in the number 2 main turret: this was traced to the use of a wrong type of propellant. Firing continued during the first day with the other two guns of No 2 main turret. For the second day of the engagement, No 1 main turret was used instead. The propellant for the second day was changed, however this caused serious problems regarding range-finding. In 1941, an inquiry commission under Admiral de Penfentenyo de Kervérégen concluded there had been a mistake in the design of the shell base.[69]
During the two days, the Richelieu fired a total of 24 rounds. No hits were recorded. The third day, as HMS Resolution had been struck by a torpedo from a French submarine, the British and Free French force retired.
Temporary repairs were completed in Dakar, some light anti-aircraft mountings were added, partly taken from the wreck of the destroyer Audacieux, severely damaged by a heavy cruiser during the battle.[35]
During the first months of 1941, Richelieu was the first French battleship to be fitted with French early radar (designated as "electro-magnetic detection"). On April 24, 1941, Richelieu could sail at 14 knots (26 km/h), on three engines, the fourth propeller having been removed. During July 1941, three Loire 130 seaplanes were shipped.[70]
After French forces in Africa joined the Allies after the Allied landings in North Africa, in November 1942, Richelieu sailed for refitting at the New York Navy Yard on 30 January 1943.
The three ruined barrels of Richelieu's upper main battery turret were replaced by barrels previously fitted on Jean Bart, the second unit of the Richelieu class, which was staying at Casablanca. The fourth barrel from Jean Bart was used for trials at the Dahlgren firing range.[71]
The seaplane equipment (hangar, catapults and crane) had been removed. The space thus spared on the stern was used to mount 40 mm anti-aircraft guns on the rear deck. The overall anti-aircraft armament was massively reinforced, with 48 20 mm AA guns in single mounts replacing the original 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine guns, and 14 quad 40 mm turrets replacing the original 37 mm semi-automatic guns. Adoption of US-pattern secondary batteries made providing ammunition easier; a special factory had to be set up to produce ammunition for the main battery. She remained with only two range finders on the fore tower, and the rear mast was shortened. She was fitted with air and surface warning radar, but the U.S. Navy has been reluctant to provide radars for gunnery practice purposes.[72] All these modifications increased the deplacement by 3,000 tons. After sea trials (with a maximum speed of 30.2 knots) the refit was declared complete on 10 October 1943.[73][74]
Richelieu sailed for Mers el-Kebir on 14 October and thence to Scapa Flow, arriving on 20 November. She served with the British Home Fleet from November 1943–March 1944, participating in an operation off the Norwegian coast in January 1944. She was then transferred to the British Eastern Fleet to cover for British battleships undergoing refit. This was despite reputedly strong anti-Gaullist sympathies on board and limitations with her radar and ammunition (only available from US sources). She arrived at Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 10 April 1944, in time to join the attack by Task Force 65 on Sabang on 19 April (Operation Cockpit) and on Surabaya in May 1944 (Operation Transom), and to serve in Operations Councillor and Pedal in June. On 22 July, she sailed to attack Sabang and Sumatra (Operation Crimson) and returned to Trincomalee on 27 July.
Relieved by HMS Howe, Richelieu returned to Europe. After about a week in Toulon, she sailed for Casablanca, where she arrived on 10 October 1944, for careening. She was refitted in Gibraltar in January 1945, and rejoined the Eastern Fleet till the end of the war against Japan, arriving back at Trincomalee on 20 March 1945.[73] Now with Task Force 63 of the British East Indies Fleet, she joined in more bombardments of Sabang in April and of the Nicobar Islands in late April to early May. The next operation, to intercept the Haguro, was abortive.
Richelieu refitted at Durban in from 18 July to 10 August,[75] and arrived via Diego Suarez at Trincomalee on 18 August, learning of the Japanese surrender on 15 August.[76] She left Trincomalee on 5 September to participate in the liberation of Singapore, Operation Tiderace.[77] While she was passing down the Straits of Malacca on 9 September, at 07:44 a magnetic mine detonated 17 metres (19 yd) to starboard. She eventually limped into Singapore at noon on 11 September.[78]
After V-J Day, during the last four months of 1945, Richelieu took part in the return of French forces to Indochina, particularly at Nha Trang, with her Fusiliers Marins landing party, and delivering gun support. When Richelieu left for France, the crew received congratulations from General Leclerc, the French Commanding General in Indochina.[79][80] On 29 December, she sailed for France, and arrived in Toulon on 11 February 1946.
After 1946, she had the classic existence of a warship during peacetime. She alternated between training times, transporting the President of the French Republic for a visit in French West Africa colonies in 1947, and maneuvering with the aircraft carrier Arromanches (formerly HMS Colossus), when she joined the French Navy, and officially visiting Britain or Portugal.[81] During a careening in Toulon, in 1951, she was fitted with French-built radar, and received one new-built 380 mm gun and three 380 mm guns which had been intended for Clemenceau, These guns had been seized by the Germans during the war; two were installed in shore batteries in Norway and in Normandy, the third was used for trials at the Krupp proving ground in Meppen, Germany.[82]
On 30 January 1956, for the only time in her career, she maneuvered with Jean Bart for a few hours. Soon after, she was based in Brest as gunnery training school. From 25 May 1956, she was used as an accommodation ship in Brest, and was placed in reserve in 1958. Richelieu was condemned on 16 January 1968 and renamed Q432. She was scrapped by Cantieri Navali Santa Maria of Genoa in September 1968. One of her guns is on display in the harbor of Brest.[83]
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