page_title: French battleship Provence
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: French battleship Provence / Service / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: The Provence, ONI203 booklet for identification of ships of the French Navy, published by the Division of Naval Inteligence of the Navy Department of the United States (9 November 1942). Français&#160;: Le Provence, livret ONI203 pour l'identification des navires de la marine française, édité par la Division du Renseignement Naval du Départment de la Marine de États-Unis (9 novembre 1942).
context_page_description: Provence was one of three Bretagne-class battleships built for the French Navy in the 1910s, named in honor of the French region of Provence; she had two sister ships, Bretagne and Lorraine. Provence entered service in March 1916, after the outbreak of World War I. She was armed with a main battery of ten 340 mm guns and had a top speed of 20 knots.
  Provence spent the bulk of her career in the French Mediterranean Squadron, where she served as the fleet flagship. During World War I, she was stationed at Corfu to prevent the Austro-Hungarian fleet from leaving the Adriatic Sea, but she saw no action. She was modernized significantly in the 1920s and 1930s, and conducted normal peacetime cruises and training maneuvers in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. She participated in non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War.
  In the early days of World War II, Provence conducted patrols and sweeps into the Atlantic to search for German surface raiders. She was stationed in Mers-el-Kébir when France surrendered on 22 June 1940. Fearful that the Germans would seize the French Navy, the British Royal Navy attacked the ships at Mers-el-Kébir.
context_section_description: At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Provence was in Toulon along with Bretagne in the 2nd Squadron, with Provence serving as the flagship of Vice Admiral Ollive. On 21 October, she went into drydock for periodic maintenance, which lasted until 2 December. Two days later, Provence and Bretagne, along with numerous cruisers and destroyers, sortied from Dakar to cover French merchant shipping off West Africa and the Azores. Around the middle of the month, the French warships returned to port.
  Provence was then sent to Casablanca, where she joined Force Y. The unit conducted several fruitless sweeps into the Atlantic. While in Gibraltar, she was damaged and forced to return to Toulon for repairs. While en route, she intercepted the Italian passenger ship Oceania; Provence dispatched her to Marseilles so she could be inspected for contraband. Provence sailed for Oran on 24 January 1940, and then returned to Force Y in Dakar. Force Y was transferred to Oran on 11 April, arriving five days later. On 27 April, Provence, her two sisters, and several cruisers were moved to Alexandria. On 18 May, Provence and Bretagne returned to Mers El Kébir.
  Following the French surrender on 22 June, the French fleet was to be disarmed under German and Italian supervision, under the terms of the Armistice. The British high command, however, was concerned that the French ships would be seized by the Axis powers and placed in service. The Axis navies would then outnumber the British Royal Navy. Prime Minister Winston Churchill therefore ordered Vice Admiral James Somerville, the commander of Force H, to neutralize the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir. He was instructed to order the French vessels to comply with one of various possible courses of action: these were as follows, either to join the British with the Free French, or to move the ships to French possessions like Martinique where they would be outside the reach of the Axis powers, or to move them to the USA where they would be interned, or to scuttle themselves, or be sunk. On 3 July, Somerville arrived and delivered the ultimatum. After 10 hours of discussions and the French rejection of any part of the ultimatum, the British ships opened fire.
  Provence returned fire about 90 seconds after the British attacked, though she had no success against her assailants. Bretagne was hit by several 15-inch (380 mm) shells and exploded, killing most of her crew. Provence was also hit several times and badly damaged; the shells set her on fire and caused her to settle to the bottom of the harbor, but she did not explode like her sister ship. The ship was subsequently refloated and temporarily repaired, and on 5 November, she was transferred to Toulon, arriving on the 8th. Provence was escorted by the destroyers Épée, Fleuret, Le Hardi, Lansquenet, and Mameluk. Beginning on 1 January 1942, Provence became the flagship of the Flag Officer, Training Division. On 27 November, the German Army occupied Toulon, and to prevent them from seizing the fleet there, including Provence, the French scuttled their ships. At the time, Provence was moored next to the old pre-dreadnought Condorcet and the seaplane carrier Commandant Teste. The Italians moved into Toulon and raised Provence on 11 July 1943. Two of her 340 mm guns were removed from the ship and emplaced in a coastal battery at Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer outside Toulon. The Axis then scuttled the ship a second time, as a blockship in the harbor. Provence was ultimately raised in April 1949 and was broken up for scrap.
caption: Provence in harbor
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