French battleship Richelieu The Richelieu was a French battleship , a scaled - up version of the s and the lead ship of her class . Ordered in 1935 , and designed to counter the Italian s , " Richelieu " was the first French 35 , 000 - ton battleship and the first modern battleship built after the 1922 Treaty of Washington . She featured a main armament of eight 380 mm guns in two quadruple turrets in forward superfiring positions . Her armour and underwater protection were equal to her contemporaries , except for the Japanese s , but she was limited by a weak anti - aircraft artillery suite and optical - only fire control . In trial runs her speed was a little higher than her European contemporaries , and only surpassed by the U . S . Navy ' s modern , fast battleships . She left Brest in northwestern France for Dakar in French West Africa ( modern - day Senegal ) in June 1940 to avoid capture in the shipyard where she was nearing completion . She served during World War II , first on the Vichy Regime side , notably fending off a 1940 Allied attempt on Dakar , then later joined the Allies in 1943 . After refitting in New York Navy Yard , she operated with Royal Navy 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 . Background and genesis . The first post - World War I battleship of the French Navy , " Dunkerque " , was ordered in 1932 . She was designed to outclass the German " pocket battleship " , which had been laid down in 1929 . The German Reichsmarine had ordered two units similar to the " Deutschland " , namely the and , which outgunned all existing heavy cruiser s . Only , and the two s could catch the " Deutschland " and her sister ships . " Dunkerque " had a displacement of 26 , 500 tons and was armed with eight 330 mm guns . She had a speed of 29 . 5 knots and protection able to resist the " Deutschland " s 280 mm shells . The French stayed well within the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty limits of 35 , 000 tons and 406 mm ( 16 in ) to avoid jeopardizing the United Kingdom ' s efforts to obtain more drastic naval armament limitations in the negotiations conducted by the League of Nations , from 1926 to 1932 . The result was the " Dunkerque " , smaller and more lightly armed than battleships built circa 1920 . Germany then ordered two units in February 1934 , first announced as part of the . These were laid down in May – June 1935 , just after Adolf Hitler announced German rearmament in violation of the Versailles Treaty , and just before the Anglo - German Naval Agreement . and emerged as fast battleships , heavier ( 31 , 800 tons ) than " Dunkerque " and much better armoured , with nine improved guns , still of 280 mm caliber . Italy believed the " Dunkerque " class changed the balance between the battleship fleets in the Western Mediterranean , and so in May 1934 announced the building of two 35 , 000 tons battleships , armed with nine 381 mm guns . The French reaction was to order , on 16 July 1934 , a second " Dunkerque " - class ship , , and to plan the first French 35 , 000 ton battleship . Eight days later , on 24 July 1934 , the " Conseil Superieur de la Marine " , the French equivalent of the Board of Admiralty , released the specification of the new French battleships as follows : Thirteen months later , the " Service Technique des Constructions Navales , ( S . T . C . N . ) " ( The French equivalent of the Royal Navy ' s Department of the Director of Naval Construction ) established a definitive project . It was submitted to the Minister 14 August , accepted on 31 August , and laid down 22 October 1935 to become " Richelieu " . France in turn abrogated naval limitation treaties , in that 88 , 000 tons of new battleships had been ordered between 1922 and 31 December 1936 , against a limit of 70 , 000 tons allowed by the 1922 Treaty of Washington and the 1930 Treaty of London . However , on 18 June 1935 , the United Kingdom had unilaterally signed the Anglo - German Naval Agreement with the Third Reich . This cancelled " de facto " the limitations of the Treaty of Versailles with respect to displacement of various types of warships and granted Germany a total tonnage for the Kriegsmarine equal to 35 % of the total tonnage of the Royal Navy . France proved unable to counter both German and Italian navies , as the Versailles and Washington treaties allowed , but she believed the was the answer to the , and the " Richelieu " - class battleships the answer to the Italian battleships and . Design and characteristics . Vice Admiral Durand - Viel , the Chief of the Navy ' s General Staff , was very concerned about continuity between the " Richelieu " battleship class and the preceding " Dunkerque " battleship class ( whose lead ship had been ordered only two years before ) . In order to reduce to a minimum planning and construction delays and to create homogeneous combat groups , a similar main and secondary artillery disposition was therefore envisaged . Armament . The designs for the two front turrets used on " Dunkerque " - class battleships were scaled up for the " Richelieu " , the resulting 1936 - model quadruple turrets built by Saint - Chamond , were nearly more than the quadruple turrets of the " Dunkerque " or the triple turrets of the " Littorio " . The weight of one of " Richelieu " s 380 mm barrels was , a little heavier than those of her contemporaries with guns of the same calibre . The shell was an Armour Piercing Capped ( APC ) shell , registered in the French Navy as " Obus de Perforation " ( " OPf " ) , a further development of the OPf Model 1935 , in use on the " Dunkerque " . The shell was long and weighed , less than the shell ( ) , that had a glancing hit on the " Jean Bart " at the battle of Casablanca ( 1942 ) , and some kilos more than the weight of the shells of or ( ) , that lightly damaged the " Richelieu " at the battle of Dakar ( 1940 ) . The OPfK Model 1935 incorporated a dye bag and fuze ( " dispositif K " ) to color her splashes and the hits she inflicted . No High Explosive ( HE ) variant of the shell was originally provided . ) The French Navy had pioneered a dual - purpose ( DP ) battery on a battleship , in the early 1930s ; seven years later , with the shortcomings seen with the and DP turrets and 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 Italian and German navies . Early designs for the secondary armament retained the guns in five quadruple dual - purpose turrets , as per the " Dunkerque " - class battleships , but with quadruple turrets amidships , instead of double turrets . Since torpedo surface attacks were considered more dangerous than aircraft , a heavier gun was required for the anti - surface battery . In April 1935 , the French Naval Board decided to upgrade the turret design on the " Dunkerque " with five turrets on the " Richelieu " and to make them dual - purpose . The triple Model 1936 Dual Purpose turret was a further development of the Model 1930 Low - Angle turret already proven on the French cruiser and the 7600 - ton cruisers , at least comparable to the German SK C / 36 gun turrets , or the Italian triple turrets Model 1934 or 1936 . However for anti - aircraft purposes , the Model 1936 turret was thought to be complex , fragile , and a too heavy turret . The loading mechanism was also prone to jamming at elevations above 45° . For short range anti - aircraft defence for " Dunkerque " - class battleships , the French Navy envisaged an automatic version ( ACAD Model 1935 ) of the semi - automatic anti - aircraft turret with twin mountings ( CAD Model 1933 ) . The firing rate was expected at 120 rpm or above . However by November 1940 it became evident that this would not be provided in time for the " Richelieu " s completion . Thus , a drastic revision of the AA battery was needed . The midship turrets had to be canceled , and twelve / 45 Model 1930 guns in six twin mountings , CAD Model 1931 , would instead be fitted , as they had been on the last tons heavy cruiser , the " Algérie " . The CAD Model 1931 turrets were dual - purpose . These guns proved to be the only reliable arms of the " Richelieu " until 1943 , due to the obsolescent , as only optical fire control for the 380 mm battery , or uncompleted for anti - aerial targets , for the 152 mm battery . The defence against aircraft would have been complemented by six or eight Hotchkiss quadruple MG mountings ( CAQ Model 1929 ) on the upper platforms of the forward and after towers . Fire control systems , rangefinders , aviation facilities . The fire control system was very similar to the " Dunkerque " s . The same noteworthy weight accumulation in the fore tower top as on the " Dunkerque " proved to be a problem when the " Richelieu " was torpedoed at Dakar , as a whiplash effect on the main mast around which they were mounted provoked more serious effects on the fore tower systems than on those on the after tower , despite that the latter was nearer the torpedo explosion . The most conspicuous difference in the " Richelieu " and " Dunkerque " profiles 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 came out obliquely aft underneath the control tower . As on the " Dunkerque " , aircraft installations ( aircraft hangar , crane and two catapults , for four seaplanes ) were fitted on the " Richelieu " s stern . The components were the same , trainable catapults operated with compressed air , which could launch a aircraft at , and a recovery crane with a capacity of . The aircraft were ( flying boat ) seaplanes of the Loire 130 type . There were , however , differences from the " Dunkerque " s aircraft installations , with on the quarterdeck between the aviation hangar and the stern on the " Richelieu " , instead on " Dunkerque " , this enabled a second catapult to be worked in , the catapults being offset to port and starboard " en échelon " with an elevator between them . Two planes were to be stowed in the hangar on the same level , wings folded and in line , instead of being placed on the two platforms of a two - tier hangar lift , and two on the catapults with wings deployed . Protection . On " Richelieu " , the armor weight was and corresponded to 39 . 2 % of the total weight , for a normal displacement , with of fuel ( half of full load ) . This figure may be compared to those given for the " Dunkerque " , 35 . 9 % , or the " Strasbourg " , 37 . 3 % , with a or normal displacement . All these figures are very comparable to those of the " Iowa " - class battleships ( tons for the armor weight and 41 . 6 % of tons standard displacement ) , or for the , ( tons for the armor weight , and 41 . 30 % of the tons standard displacement . They are all superior to those for earlier battleships ( such as the " Dunkerque " ) or those given for the " King George V " - class battleships , ( tons and 34 . 80 % ) or for the " Littorio " - class battleships ( weight of armor and 36 % of standard displacement ) . The armor thicknesses were as follows : The British " King George V " - class battleships and had a thicker armored belt than the " Richelieu " ( ) , but their turrets were less protected ( ) , and the horizontal armor ( ) was equivalent , but their command spaces were only protected against shrapnel . The U . S . Navy ( , , and ) battleships had an equivalent protection . The German s , with on the main artillery turrets , on the conning tower , for the armored belt and ( to for the horizontal armor were also equivalent to " Richelieu " . The Italian " Littorio " had a thicker armored belt ( ) than the " Richelieu " , but otherwise they were less protected , with on the main artillery turrets , on the conning tower , on the upper armored deck and on the main deck . As on the " Dunkerque " , the underwater protection consisted of a sandwich of void spaces , light bulkheads , liquid loading compartments or compartments filled with a rubber - based water - excluding compound ( " ébonite - mousse " ) , and a heavy internal holding bulkhead to absorb the explosion of a torpedo head . The maximum width was around . The reduction of comparing with " Dunkerque " was necessary to accommodate three boilers side by side in the boiler rooms . This figure of width was impressive , compared with the on the " King George V " , on the " Scharnhorst " , or on the " Bismarck " . The Italian " Littorio " - class battleships had a peculiar underwater protection system , designed by the Italian chief designer , " Generale Ispettore del Genio Navale " , which incorporated a diameter cylindrical expansion space . But the Achilles ' heel s of battleships facing torpedo attacks were their vitals that could not be protected , such as the shaft of the " Richelieu " at Dakar , on 8 July 1940 , or the rudder of the " Bismarck " in May 1941 . Propulsion . The French designers of the " Richelieu " had various constraints : a beam to accommodate the barbettes of four gun turrets , a long hull , limited by the length of the Navy shipbuilding infrastructure , and thus a length / beam ratio of 7 . 3 to 1 . All this required machinery generating 150 , 000 shp to reach the requested by the French Navy Board . It was then the greatest mechanical power installed on a battleship , surpassed only on U . S . Navy " Iowa " - class battleships in 1943 – 1944 . All British or U . S . battleships built in the late 1930s , having to respect the tons displacement limit , had a speed of – the " King George V " class – or – " North Carolina " or " South Dakota " classes ; they were or long , with a propulsion plant developing respectively 110 , 000 , 120 , 000 , or 130 , 000 shp . The Italian " Littorio " - class battleships reached with a hull and 140 , 000 shp . The German battleship " Bismarck " had a speed with 138 , 000 hp , and reached 30 . 5 knots with forcing for 150 , 000 shp , with a length / beam ratio of only 6 . 9 as she had nearly the same hull length as the " Richelieu " , but a wider beam ( ) . The propulsion of the " Richelieu " was assured by six boilers , and four Parsons turbines . The boilers were of a new type , so - called Suralimenté , meaning pressure - fired ( and thus the abbreviation of Sural ) boilers . These boilers were operated at a pressure of 27 kg / cm² ( 384 psi ) at , as on the " Dunkerque " , but forced circulation and pressure firing resulted in steam production per cubic meter well in excess of conventional boilers ( 14 . 4 kg / m³ ) . They were long versus 5 . 33 m on the " Dunkerque " , height versus , and moreover wide versus . Thus , 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 the " Dunkerque " . The maximum fuel load for peace - time cruising was , but in wartime this figure was reduced to to maximize the underwater protection system ' s effectiveness , since filling the liquid loading compartments to the brim created additional pressure on bulkheads instead of absorbing the pressure of explosion . The radius of possible travel was at , at , and at . During speed trials , in April 1940 developing 123 , 000 hp were maintained with near displacement , and in June were maintained for 3 hours and 30 minutes , with displacement and 155 , 000 hp , and were reached with 179 , 000 hp forcing . Service . Laid down in October 1935 , " Richelieu " was floated out the n°4 graving dock , on 17 January 1939 to be fitted out in the n°9 dock in the Brest Navy Yards . The 43 m bow section and the 8 m stern section , built separately , had to be assembled there , as the Salou building dock was only 200 m long . Thirty - nine months between laying down and launching was not an impressive performance , as two years only had been necessary for " Strasbourg " , or " King George V " and " Prince of Wales " which were laid down on 1 January 1937 and launched respectively in February and May 1939 , or " Vittorio Veneto " and " Littorio " laid down on 28 October 1934 , and launched on 25 July and 22 August 1937 . This long delay was the consequence of the difficult social climate in France , in 1936 , but also of the British Government representations , which urged a slowing down of construction , as following the 1922 Treaty of Washington and 1930 Treaty of London , France would have had to expect 1 January 1937 , to outpass the 70 , 000 tons global tonnage limit for new battleships , including the " Dunkerque " class . One year later , in January 1940 , the last 380 mm barrel had been installed , as , in April 1940 , the first three 100 mm turrets , and the starboard catapult . In April 1940 , first speed trials were carried out , and during one hour 30 knots were maintained developing 123 , 000 shp . In late April and early May , the three last 100 mm turrets were embarked , the fire control directors for the main and secondary batteries fitted atop the towers , and the 152 mm guns installed in the after turrets . On 13 June , during the full power speed trials , 32 knots were maintained during three and half hours developing 155 , 000 shp , and 32 . 6 knots reached developing 175 , 000 shp . The day after , the gunnery trials were carried out , six shots being fired for each 380 mm and 100 mm guns , « without major damage » , but the main battery replenishment system gave concern , as a quarter of an hour was necessary to hoist one shell and its powder charges from the magazine to the barrel . On 15 June , the French Admiralty placed " Richelieu " under Admiral de Laborde , " Amiral Ouest " , C . in - C . French Navy at Brest , with order to prepare to send the battleship to the Clyde . On 18 June , in the early morning , new orders were received to provide a colonial withdrawal . Due to the advance of German troops , the battleship left Brest bound for Dakar on 18 June , at 16 . 00 , escorted by destroyers " Fougueux " and " Frondeur " . " Richelieu " had on board , for her main artillery , 250 shells but powder charges for only 48 rounds , and no munition of 152 mm On 20 June , the escort was replaced off Cape St . Vincent ( Portugal ) , by the destroyer " Fleuret " and " Richelieu " reached Dakar on 23 June . At Dakar , under Vichy ' s orders . In these late days of June 1940 , at Dakar , the authorities , , " Gouverneur Général de l ' A . O . F . " , highest administrative authority in French West Africa , Rear Admiral Plançon , Flag Officer , French Navy West Africa , or the town authorities , were prone to continue to fight against Germany , together with the British : the aircraft carrier HMS " Hermes " was moored in the inner harbour . Captain Marzin , aware of the signature of the Franco - German Armistice , and having received instructions from Admiral Darlan that his ship remain under the French flag , otherwise he had to scuttle her or to flee to the U . S . A . , determined to escape what he considered as a British mouse trap . Thence , against the advice of " Gouverneur Général " Cayla , who considered this departure as a desertion , he decided to return to Casablanca , on 25 June , escorted by the destroyer " Fleuret " , which had accompanied " Richelieu " for five days , and Rear Amiral Plançon warned the " Amiral Afrique " , Flag Officer at Casablanca , that " " Richelieu " and " Fleuret " have left Dakar , steering probably towards you " . Knowing this , the British Admiralty , fearing " Richelieu " returned to France , ordered and to leave Gibraltar to intercept her off the Canaries Islands , and the French Admiralty , fearing the battleship joining the British , summoned Captain Marzin to return to Dakar , which he did obediently , arriving on 27 June , shadowed by , as has left . " Richelieu " moored in the roadstead , in order not to be blocked in the harbour , and this was a correct decision as the gun attack on Mers - el - Kébir showed . Moreover , some cargo ships under British flag having been seized , Captain Marzin arranged that they were moored on either sides of " Richelieu " , but primarily on port , to protect the battleship from an aircraft torpedo attack , coming from North - East . British attack on 8 July 1940 . On 7 July , the day after the air attack against " Dunkerque " at Mers - el - Kebir , the sloop HMS " Milford " transmitted by W / T an ultimatum from Captain Onslow , Commanding Officer of , provisionally ranked Rear Admiral , in identical terms as the one of Mers - el - Kébir . There was no answer from the French authorities , but , knowing since Mers - el - Kébir that such a British ultimatum was not a bluff , Captain Marzin decided to leave in the early morning to try to gun or her escort cruisers . During the night , a commando of Royal Marines , under Lieutenant - Commander Bristowe , succeeded to drop furtively , from a fast motor boat , four depth grenades under the stern of " Richelieu " , but the grenades did not explode . Nevertheless , Lieutenant - Commander Bristowe received the DSO . At about 05 . 00 British Summer Times ( GMT + 1 ) , six Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from HMS " Hermes " 814th Squadron FAA , under Lieutenant - Commander Luard , attacked " Richelieu " on port , under fire from the AA MG of the battleship and of the colonial sloop " Bougainville " . " Richelieu " was struck , surprisingly , on starboard aft , either because a torpedo with a magnetic warhead had passed under the keel before exploding , or because one of the aircraft had attacked on starboard , contrary to what the British asserted . As the explosion was extremely violent , it was conjectured that the impact on the ship was magnified by the shallow water in which she was moored , with less than five metres of water under the keel , and that a torpedo , hitting the depth charges laid earlier in the night , made them explode . The main fire control directors atop the fore tower were lifted out of their tracks , damaging them because of the whiplash effect on the mast around which they were placed . The main rudder servo - motors were completely unserviceable , the turbo - dynamos were severely shaken . The starboard shafts were badly damaged , the outer one being distorted , and the inner one blocked . A breach long and high was opened in the hull , and there was a rapid flooding of the compartments abaft the after armored bulwark , and even in the armored citadel , through the cable tunnels which were no longer watertight . On 9 July , Captain Onslow radioed to Admiral Plançon that he sincerely expressed the hope that the operation he had undertaken with much grief , the day before , had not caused any killed or wounded among the officers and crews . This was fortunately the case . The battleship was quickly entered in the inner harbour , and pumping out began immediately with some difficulties , as pumps powerful enough for this operation were not easily available , and no graving dock was able to accommodate " Richelieu " , at Dakar . Despatched by Vichy authorities , Admiral de Laborde arrived for inspection on 14 July 1940 . In three days , the Governor General and the Naval Commander , suspected of pro - British sympathies were removed from their posts , Governor General Cayla was sent to Madagascar , Rear Admiral Plançon was replaced temporarily by Rear Admiral Platon , and on 17 August by Rear Admiral Landriau . , " Gouverneur Général de l ' A . E . F . " ( French Equatorial Africa ) , who had been formerly " Gouverneur Général de l ' A . O . F . " ( 1938 – 1939 ) arrived at Dakar in late July , in charge of both French West and French Equatorial Africa . Battle of Dakar ( 23 – 25 September 1940 ) . During July and August , repair of " Richelieu " began . The objectives were to control the flooding , repair the hull , and to insure that the main and second batteries of " Richelieu " were able to effectively fire as soon as possible . In order to patch the breach in the hull , a mattress 11 . 5 meters square reinforced with steel strands was fabricated to be put in place in early September , and the Dakar D . C . N . ( " Direction des Constructions Navales " ) dockyard began the construction of a steel cofferdam , to be placed in October so the remaining water could then be pumped out . For the artillery , the crew of the No . 1 380 mm turret were sent to man the two 240 mm guns of the coast defence battery of Cape Manuel , the most southern promontory of Cap - Vert peninsula . The No . 2 ( 380 mm ) and No . 7 ( 152 mm axial ) turrets only could be manned , and the latter one for anti - ship fire only , as the No . 1 fire control director , for 152 mm turrets in anti - aircraft purpose was never put in service . As only less than two hundred SD21 powder charges had been embarked in Brest , the eight hundred powder charges with SD19 propellant for " Strasbourg " s 330 mm guns left stored at Dakar the previous year , were reconditioned in 600 powder charges for 380 mm guns . In late July , Free French forces took control of three ( Middle Congo , , and Chad ) of the four colonies of French Equatorial Africa , as well as Cameroon . Subsequently , Sir Winston Churchill and General de Gaulle decided to organize an operation ( Operation Menace ) to similarly take control of French West Africa . The Force M ( for Menace ) , British cruisers , and troopships carrying 8 , 000 men , escorted by small sloops flying the Free French ensign , left Liverpool on 26 August 1940 , and joined a cover force of two battleships and the aircraft carrier HMS " Ark Royal " , off Gibraltar , all steering then to Freetown ( Sierra - Leone ) . In the meantime , the Vichy authorities obtained the authorization from the German Armistice Commission to send , on 9 September , from Toulon towards Libreville ( Gabon ) three 7 , 600 - ton type light cruisers of the 4th Cruiser Division , and three large destroyers , grouped in Force Y , under Rear Admiral Bourragué . Intercepted in the Gulf of Guinea , by British cruisers which were intended to force him to turn back to Casablanca , he found finally refuge at Dakar with two cruisers , " Georges Leygues " , flagship , and " Montcalm " on 19 September . On 21 September , Vice Admiral Lacroix , formerly Flag Officer of the Force de Raid 1st Light Squadron , who had been on the destroyer " Mogador " when she was damaged at Mers - el - Kébir , was flown to Dakar to replace him . On 23 September 1940 , the Anglo - Free French force arrived off Dakar , and were greeted with gunshots . The Free French forces attempted vainly to land near Rufisque , 25 km south - east of Dakar . During the two following days , " Richelieu " , in the position of floating battery in the inner harbour of Dakar , was narrowly missed by some 250 British shells fired by and , and bombs from s aircraft , luckily receiving only light damage . When " Richelieu " , on 24 September , opened fire against British battleships with her guns , she suffered severe damage to three barrels of her No . 2 turret , due to premature explosion of the shells . This was first traced to the use of the propellant ( SD19 powder ) from " Strasbourg " ; the powder charges reconditioned at Dakar . However , during 1941 , an inquiry commission , whose chairman was Admiral concluded to a misconception of the shell base . On 25 September , Captain Marzin having resolved to rearm the 380 mm No . 1 turret , " Richelieu " fired twenty 380 mm gun rounds , against HMS " Barham " , without result , but without incident . Then , after the oceanic submarine " Bévéziers " damaged HMS " Resolution " , Force M withdrew . In October , repair of the hull resumed , but the mattress failed to be effective , and the cofferdam , fitted with a kind of ballast tank , was not put in place before mid - December . The breach was sealed only on 28 February . The damaged barrels were not yet repaired , because of the obstruction of the German Armistice Commission . The Dakar dockyard capacities were only able to remove the starboard central propeller with a floating crane , but not to repair the blocked shaft . The anti - aircraft battery was reinforced , by some 13 . 2 mm Browning MG mountings and four twin 37 mm CAD Model 1933 mountings , some being removed from the damaged destroyer " L ' Audacieux " , but the 152 mm turrets were not able yet to fire on aerial targets . On 24 February 1941 , Captain Deramond replaced Captain Marzin as Commanding Officer of " Richelieu " . On 24 April 1941 , " Richelieu " could sail at 14 knots ( 26 km / h ) , on three engines . In April 1941 , " Richelieu " was the first French battleship to be fitted with French early radar , designated as " electro - magnetic detector " , " Détecteur Electro - Magnétique ( D . E . M . ) " , which had been shipped from France , in November 1940 , by the large destroyer " Le Terrible " . Operated on a 2 - meter wavelength , the two emission antennæ fitted on the fore tower yards , and the two reception antennæ on the aft tower , its range was of 80 km against aircraft flying over 1 , 500 m , 50 km at 1 , 000 m , and 10 to 20 km on ships . In July 1941 , three Loire 130 seaplanes from Brest E4 squadron were shipped . They were registered as HDR ( " Hydravions Du Richelieu " ) 1 , 2 , and 3 , so the catapults could be tested in October . In November 1942 , Allied forces successfully landed near Casablanca , Oran and Algiers , and the French forces in Morocco and Algeria , and those that escaped the German forces landing in Tunisia , joined the Allies . In December , Governor General Boisson , who had a good relationship with the Consulate of the United States in Dakar , agreed that the French forces in West Africa joined the Allies , under the authority of Admiral Darlan in Algiers . The decision was soon taken to refit " Richelieu " with the help of the United States . The two aircraft catapults , the 37 mm AA mountings and the 13 . 2 mm MG , intended to be replaced during the refit , were removed . " Richelieu " left Dakar , on 30 January 1943 , together with the cruiser " Montcalm " and reached New York on 11 February , to refit at the New York Navy Yard . But the battleship staff had a sharp memory of the 1940 fights , as , during the demonstrations for the battleship ' s arrival in New York , Captain Deramont left the grand stand when General de Gaulle ' s representative , , reminded that the Free French had not stopped fighting the enemy for three years . On the Allies ' side . Refit in New York City . In April 1943 , Captain Lambert replaced Captain Deramont as Commanding Officer . After two and a half years in tropical waters without docking , a shipyard overhaul was badly needed . In the Brooklyn Navy Yard the hull was scraped and repaired , the starboard outer shaft was straightened , and the inner shaft was replaced – ordered from Bethlehem Steel , delivered and fitted in June . The three ruined barrels of " Richelieu " s upper main battery turret were replaced by barrels previously fitted on " Jean Bart " ( the second ship of the " Richelieu " class , which was staying at Casablanca ) . The fourth barrel from " Jean Bart " was used for trials at the Dahlgren firing range in Dahlgren , Virginia . There was still serious concern about the main battery munitions , as " Richelieu " was provided in March 1943 with 407 APC shells , a little less than half her designed provision ( 832 APC shells ) , with no replenishment of shells possible from occupied France , nor from the U . S . Navy ( which had no battleship armed with 380 mm guns ) . An initial order for 930 rounds was placed on May 1943 with Crucible Steel , on the basis of OPf Model 1936 plans traced at Dakar . The OPfK Model 1943 , with a simpler base plug , was 1 . 882 m long , and weighed 884 kg . Internally , it resembled contemporary U . S . Navy 356 mm shells . But during firing practice , the U . S . manufactured MC420 powder charges gave some concern , as they frequently snagged , spilling powder into the firing chamber , thus putting the turret out of service to sweep it . The152 mm battery was completely overhauled , and shells used on the " Brooklyn " and similar « light » cruiser classes were a fit because they were armed with 152 mm / 47 calibres Mark 16 guns . The U . S . Navy 152 mm SAP shell weighed 58 . 8 kg , and 48 kg for the HE shell , registered in the French Navy as 152 mm OPf Mle 1943 , for anti - ship fire , and OEA Mle 1943 , for anti - aircraft fire . The short range anti - aircraft artillery was massively reinforced , with fourteen quad Bofors 40 mm mountings , and forty eight Oerlikon 20 mm cannon guns in single mounts replacing the 37 mm semi - automatic guns and the 13 . 2 mm Hotchkiss machine guns . The quad Bofors 40 mm mountings were installed in three groups of four on the quarterdeck , and around the fore and aft towers , and two mountings abeam turret II . Two groups of nine Oerlikon 20 mm single mountings were installed , the first atop the former aviation hangar ( nicknamed « the cemetery » ) , the second abaft the wavebreaker on the fore castle ( nicknamed « the trench » ) . The remainder of the 20 mm battery was installed abeam the superstructures , on the towers , and atop the turrets No . 2 and No . 7 . Adoption of US - pattern anti - aircraft short ranged batteries made providing ammunition easier . " Richelieu " remained with only two fire control directors on the fore tower – the upper director for anti - aircraft gunnery was suppressed – and the rear mast was shortened . She was fitted with air and surface warning radars , designed for small warships – one SF type for sea watch , on the mast of the aft tower , and one SA - 2 type for air watch , with its radome atop the fire control directors on the fore tower . The U . S . Navy was opposed to providing radar for gunnery fire control purposes . All these modifications increased displacement by 3 , 000 tons . After sea trials ( with a maximum speed of 30 . 2 knots ) , in the Chesapeake Bay , the refit was declared complete on 10 October 1943 . In European waters . " Richelieu " sailed for Mers El - Kebir and Algiers on 14 October , to join the British Mediterranean Fleet . As the modern Italian battleships were then interned in the Great Bitter Lake , after the armistice between Italy and the Allies , a modern battleship was no longer needed in the Mediterranean . Thence " Richelieu " steered to Scapa Flow , arriving on 20 November . She joined the British Home Fleet , which was monitoring the large German warships remaining in Norway . Because of her lack of gunnery radar , she might not have joined the battle during which the German battleship " Scharnhorst " was sunk , on 26 December 1943 . She received , in the beginning of 1944 , a British built 284 P4 type gunnery radar . She participated in an operation off the northern coast of Norway , covering the Home Fleet aircraft carriers sent to attack the maritime German traffic ( Operation Posthorn , 10 – 12 February 1944 ) . As three battleships were then facing only one German battleship , , " Richelieu " was redirected to participate , as , in the battleship force supporting the Normandy landing . Due to her lack of high explosive shells for attacks against land targets , she was finally designated to join the British Eastern Fleet , in the Indian Ocean , to cover for British battleships undergoing refit . With the British Eastern Fleet , in the Indian Ocean . 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 , 16 – 20 April ) , and Surabaya ( Operation Transom , 6 – 27 May ) . During a call at Colombo , she was visited by Admiral Mountbatten , Supreme Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Theatre . Then , she took part to the battleship force covering an aerial bombing of Port - Blair , in the Adaman Islands ( Operation Pedal , 19 – 29 June ) . On 22 July , she sailed to attack Sabang and Sumatra ( Operation Crimson , 22 – 29 July ) . During this operation , Captain Merveilleux du Vignaux , new Commanding Officer since the beginning of May , decided , due to the shortcomings of the U . S . manufactured powder charges , to use for combat actions the remaining French SD21 powder charges with standard AP shells . It also appeared that the APC shells were effective in bombing concrete positions , but did not exploded and tended to bury themselves when they hit the ground . Thence it was resolved to order from British manufacturers specially designed 380 mm HE shells , which will be registered , in the French post war ammunition inventories , as 380 mm OEA Model 1945 . Relieved by HMS " Howe " , " Richelieu " returned to Europe . From Algiers to Toulon , where she arrived on 1 October 1944 , fifty two months after having left France , she hosted Amiral Lemonnier , Chief of the Navy General Staff . Due to the ruined state of the French dockyards , she sailed for Casablanca , where she arrived on 10 October 1944 , for careening . New British built radars were set up , one Type 281 B for air warning , on the fore tower mast , one Type 285 P fire control radar on the secondary directors together with two auto barrage units ( ABU ) . A new American SG - 1 radar for surface surveillance was installed too on the fore tower mast , as the small SF Type radar , which had been installed at New york was relocated to the roof of the conning tower . Then , the battleship was fitted with an FV1 jammer , to counter the German Fritz X and Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs , which had sunk the Italian battleship " Roma " and heavily damaged HMS " Warspite " , in September 1943 . She was refitted in Gibraltar in January 1945 , and rejoined the Eastern Indies Fleet till the end of the war against Japan , arriving back at Trincomalee on 20 March 1945 . Now with Task Force 63 of the East Indies Fleet , she joined in more bombardments of Sabang in April , and covering diversionary aerial attacks on Padang , in the southern coast of Sumatra , in reality covering aerial reconnaissance of the south Malayan coast as a preparatory step to landings scheduled for the autumn ( Operation Sunfish , 9 – 20 April 1945 ) . As the airfields in Japanese hands of Car - Nicobar and of the Adaman Islands represented a threat on the western flank of the Allied operations in Burma , they were bombed in late April to early May ( Operation Bishop , 27 April – 7 May 1945 ) . The next operation ( Operation Dukedom ) , in mid - May , to intercept the " Haguro " , was concluded by the sinking of the heavy cruiser by the 26th Division destroyers , before " Richelieu " and could intervene . " Richelieu " refitted at Durban from 18 July to 10 August , where the boilers which had been often emitting black smoke , during her Indian Ocean campaigns , were overhauled . She returned via Diego Suarez to Trincomalee , where she arrived on 18 August , learning of the Japanese surrender on 15 August . She left Trincomalee on 5 September to participate in the liberation of Singapore , Operation Tiderace . While she was passing down the Straits of Malacca on 9 September , at 07 : 44 a magnetic mine detonated to starboard . She eventually limped into Singapore at noon on 11 September . Her Commanding Officer and her landing party took part , beside General Leclerc , to the ceremonial during which General Itagaki surrendered to Admiral Mountbatten , on 12 September . Post - war . 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 , French Commanding General in Indochina . On 29 December , she sailed for France , and arrived in Toulon on 11 February 1946 . Then , she had the classic existence of a warship during peacetime . She alternated between training times , maneuvering with the aircraft carrier " Arromanches " ( formerly HMS " Colossus " ) , when she joined the French Navy , officially visiting Portugal , in 1946 , and transporting the President of the French Republic for a visit in French West Africa colonies in 1947 . In 1947 – 1948 , " Richelieu " was the flagship of a so - called " Force d ' Intervention " , assembling to the « Groupe " Richelieu " » , a Cruiser Group , and the Aircraft carrier Group , centred on " Arromanches " . Vice Admiral Jaujard , who was the Flag Officer , found that the antiquated command spaces of " Richelieu " were in no way up to the task , but did not succeed to obtain she was fitted with a new transmission center and combat information center . Gunnery practices , at the end of the campaign with the East Indies Fleet , had clearly shown the origin of the dispersal of " Richelieu " s main battery firings in the wake effect between shells fired simultaneously by the guns of the same half turrets . Retarding devices were installed on the outer guns at Cherbourg in March 1948 : a delay of sixty milliseconds , corresponding to a distance of between shells , reduced the dispersal of two - thirds , which was observed during gunnery trials at Mers - el - Kebir , in May 1948 . The rate of fire and the fire control system of the 100 mm AA battery needed , in these last 1940s , to be upgraded to counter the new fast moving aircraft . In 1949 , there were proposals to replace the CAD Model 1931 mountings , by the German twin 10 . 5 cm SKC 33 or the 100 mm CAD Model 1945 intended to be fitted on " Jean Bart " . But all these mountings had twice the weight of those installed on " Richelieu " ( 27 or 26 . 6 tons versus 13 tons ) , so it would have been required to fit the battleship with a bulge , as on her sister - ship , to maintain buoyancy . Due to the current financial climate , the decision was postponed . During a careening in Toulon , in 1951 , the guns from the 380 mm No . 2 turret , were discarded and replaced by those of No . 1 turret , after they have been relined , and she received , in the No . 1 turret , one new - built 380 mm gun and three guns , constructed before 1940 , intended for " Jean Bart " , which had been seized by the Germans during the war , two having been installed in shore batteries , in Norway and in Normandy , the third used for trials at the Krupp proving ground in Meppen , Germany . The 152 mm guns of the axial turret were replaced by Canadian - built ones . After having fired her last 380 mm rounds , during trials after refit , in 1952 , the " Richelieu " was assigned as gunnery training ship in Toulon , wearing the ensign of the " Group of School of the Mediterranean " Flag Officer . In 1954 , the British - built fire control radar for the 380 mm battery , was replaced , for training purpose , by a French - built DBRC 10A radar , yet installed on " Jean Bart " from 1951 . In October 1955 , " Jean Bart " replaced " Richelieu " as flagship of the South Group of Schools . On 30 January 1956 , for the only time in her career , " Richelieu " maneuvered with " Jean Bart " for a few hours . Soon after , she was based in Brest . 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 .