By the mid-1930s, the French again embarked on a naval construction program to counter the German and Italian fleets, resulting in the two s and four s; of the four "Richelieu"s, two were cancelled by the start of World War II, and only one was completed in time to see action during the war. A final design, the , was authorized in 1940 after the war began but France's defeat in the Battle of France ended the program. The two "Dunkerque"s saw limited action during the war, with being sunk during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir to prevent her from being seized by the Germans. and were also sunk there, and the third member of the class, , was seized by the British and turned over to the Free French Naval Forces. Refloated and returned to Toulon, "Dunkerque" and "Provence" were later scuttled there with the former's sister ship when the French intentionally scuttled the fleet to prevent German soldiers from capturing the vessels. "Richelieu" meanwhile was overhauled in the United States and served with the Free French from 1943. , with only one main battery gun turret operational, briefly engaged United States forces during Operation Torch in November 1942, and was eventually completed in the late 1940s. Both she and "Richelieu" served as training ships before eventually being decommissioned in 1968.