richelieu

Class: Richelieu

(All ships of this class are listed in our pages)

Category: BattleShip

Nation: France

Main statistics:

Displacement: 47 550 tons
Length: 248 meters
Speed: 32 knots
3 planes
8 x 15'' guns

Additional information on the web : [DAubigny]

The Richelieu with camouflage painting for the war in the Indian Ocean in 1944

The battleships of this class should have allowed France to accede in the club of the major naval powers. They replaced the older units built during World War I. None of those units were ready when France signed the armistice with the German in June of 1940. Forced to take refuge in African harbors, they were not really operational and saw their role confined to floating battery. Only the Richelieu took part in combats during World War 2 after she had joined the Free French and had a complete refit in the USA.
The two big turrets with all the main artillery in front of the ship distinguish those ships from all other battleships. The secondary artillery is grouped in the rear.

Clemenceau

1939	January 17th	Laid down. Battleship, named Clemenceau.	Bay of Biscay
1940	June 18th	Cancelled.
1940	about June 25th	Evacuation of the French harbors. Fell in the hands of the Germans in Brest: .
1943	June	Launched. Launched by the Germans to recuperate the dry dock space.
1944	August 27th	Sunk in an allied air raid.
1951	August 1st	Scrapped.

Gascogne

1940

Cancelled. Not build. Should have been built in Saint Nazaire. She was built on a blueprint from the other ships of the same class, with half of her artillery on the rear. Her guns were used after the war to complete the Jean Bart: battleship, named Gascogne.

Bay of Biscay

Jean Bart

1936	December 12th	Laid down.	Bay of Biscay
1940	March 6th	Launched. Battleship, named Jean Bart.
	June 19th	Evacuation of the French harbors. Left Saint Nazaire when 79% completed, to escape the German advance: slightly damaged by German airplanes.
	June 22nd	Arrived in Casablanca.	North Atlantic
	June 25th	Remained faithful to Marshall Pétain's governement: .
1942	November 8th	Landing at Casablanca.
	November 10th	Damaged by US planes.
	November 13th	Rallying to the Free French: .
1946	-	Building works resumed in Brest to complete the battleship.	Bay of Biscay
1955	May 1st	Commissioned.
1970	-	Scrapped.	France

Richelieu

1935	October 22nd	Laid down. Battleship, named Richelieu.	Bay of Biscay
1939	January 17th	Launched.
1940	June 18th	Commissioned. Leaves Brest in a hurry to flee the advancing German panzers. She is 95% completed.
	June 23rd	Arrive at Dakar.	North Atlantic
	June 25th	Remained faithful to Marshall Pétain's governement: .
	July 8th	Dakar: British carrier attack: damaged by the Hermes.
	September 23rd	Dakar: operation "Menace".
1942	November 23rd	Rallying to the Free French: .
1943	January 30th	Leaves Dakar for a extensive modernization in the USA.	US East Coast
	October 19th	Arrived in Algier, back from the refit in the United States.	Western Mediteranean Sea
	November 20th	Arrival in a new area.	North Sea
1944	April 12th	Arrived at Trincomalee, coming from Europe.	Indian Ocean
	April 19th	Sabang: first carrier raid.	Indonesia
	July 25th	Second carrier raid against Sabang.
	October 31st	Back in Toulon from her first campaign in the Indian Ocean.	South of France
1945	April 15th	Arrived in Colombo for its second tour in the Indian Ocean.	Indian Ocean
	April 30th	Landing at Rangoon.
	May 12th	Tracking the Haguro.
1961	-	Scrapped.	France