Bretagne - class battleship The " Bretagne " - class battleships were the first " super - dreadnoughts " built for the French Navy during the First World War . The class comprised three vessels : " Bretagne " , the lead ship , " Provence " , and " Lorraine " . They were an improvement of the previous , and mounted ten guns instead of twelve guns as on the " Courbet " s . A fourth was ordered by the Greek Navy , though work was suspended due to the outbreak of the war . The three completed ships were named after French provinces . The three ships saw limited service during World War I , and were primarily occupied with containing the Austro - Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea . After the war , they conducted training cruises in the Mediterranean and participated in non - intervention patrols off Spain during the Spanish Civil War . After the outbreak of World War II , the ships were tasked with convoy duties and anti - commerce raider patrols until the fall of France in June 1940 . " Bretagne " and " Provence " were sunk by the British Royal Navy during the Attack on Mers - el - Kébir the following month ; " Provence " was later raised and towed to Toulon , where she was again scuttled in November 1942 . " Lorraine " was disarmed by the British in Alexandria and recommissioned in 1942 to serve with the Free French Naval Forces . She provided gunfire support during Operation Dragoon , the invasion of southern France , and shelled German fortresses in northern France . She survived as a gunnery training ship and a floating barracks until the early 1950s , before being broken up for scrap in 1954 . " Bretagne " and " Provence " were scrapped in 1952 and 1949 , respectively . Design . By 1910 , France had yet to lay down a single dreadnought battleship ; Britain had by then completed ten dreadnoughts and five battlecruiser s , with eight and three more of the two types , respectively , under construction . Germany had built eight dreadnoughts and one battlecruiser and the United States had six built and four more building . Late that year , the French Navy laid down the first of the four ships . To remedy the inferiority of the French fleet , the government passed the " Statut Naval " on 30 March 1912 , authorizing a force of twenty - eight battleships , to be in service by 1920 . The first three ships were to be laid down in 1912 . The " Bretagne " class were replacements for the battleships " Carnot " , " Charles Martel " and " Liberté " . They were developed from the " Courbet " class , and were built with the same hulls . The primary reason for the decision to use the same hull design as the " Courbet " class was limitations of French shipyards . The " Courbet " - class ships were the largest possible ships that could fit in existing dockyards and refitting basins . The " Conseil Superieur de la Marine " ( " CSM " ) , the French naval high command , ordered the construction department to prepare designs for a ship armed with twelve guns in six twin gun turret s . The additional weight of the 340 mm turrets compared to the of the " Courbet " - class ships imposed insurmountable problems for the designers . To incorporate six turrets with the same arrangement of the earlier vessels , with four on the centerline in superfiring pairs and two wing turrets amidships would have required an additional displacement as well as a significant increase in the length of the hull . After several other proposals , the " CSM " chose a design with five twin turrets , all mounted on the centerline . This would achieve the same broadside of ten guns , despite the reduction in the number of guns . The width of the armored belt was reduced by to compensate for the increased weight of the main battery . " Provence " was the first ship of the class to be laid down , which she was on 21 May 1912 at the " Arsenal de Lorient " . " Bretagne " was laid down at the " Arsenal de Brest " shipyard in Brest on 22 July 1912 . " Lorraine " followed at the " Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire " shipyard in St . Nazaire almost six months later on 7 November 1912 . Due to the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914 , French industrial capacity was redirected to the army and work slowed on the ships . The Greek Navy ordered a battleship to be named " Vasilefs Konstantinos " to the same design from AC de St Nazaire Penhoet . Work began in June 1914 but ceased on the outbreak of war in August and never resumed . The contract dispute was settled in 1925 . General characteristics . The ships were long at the waterline and long overall . They had a beam of and a draft of between and . At the designed load , the ships displaced , and at full combat load , this increased to . The crew included 34 officers , 139 petty officer s , and 1 , 020 enlisted men , for a total crew of 1 , 193 . The vessels carried a number of smaller boats , including two steamboats , three patrol boats , one long boat , three dinghies , two dinghies , two whaleboats , and two lifeboat s . The ships ' propulsion systems consisted of four Parsons steam turbines . " Bretagne " was equipped with twenty - four Niclausse boiler s ; " Lorraine " had the same number of Belleville boilers . " Provence " was equipped with eighteen " Guyot du Temple " boilers . All three ships were coal - fired . The turbines each drove a single screw and were rated at a total of . This provided a top speed of . The four ships could carry of coal , though additional spaces could be used for coal storage , for up to . At maximum speed , the ships could steam for ; at , the range increased significantly to A further reduction in speed to correspondingly increased the range to . The ships were modified several times in the interwar period . In 1919 , " Bretagne " was equipped with a heavy tripod mast ; " Provence " and " Lorraine " were given tripod masts in the early 1920s . Four of " Bretagne " s boilers were converted to oil - firing in 1924 , and half of " Provence " s boilers in the rear boiler room were similarly converted in 1927 . " Bretagne " subsequently had six new oil - fired boilers to replace the rest of the old coal - fired boilers , and her direct drive turbines were replaced with Parsons geared turbines . " Provence " was similarly modified in 1931 – 1934 . " Lorraine " s propulsion system was improved in a similar pattern . In 1935 , her center main battery turret was replaced with an aircraft catapult and a hangar for three aircraft . These were initially Gourdou - Leseurre GL - 819 and Potez 452 seaplane s , though they were replaced with the Loire 130 flying boat . In March – May 1944 , the aircraft installation was removed . Armament . The ship ' s primary battery consisted of ten 340mm / 45 Modèle 1912 gun s in five twin gun turret s . The turrets were mounted all on the centerline , with two in a superfiring pair forward of the conning tower , one amidships between the two funnels , and two superfiring aft of the rear superstructure . These guns had a maximum elevation of 12 degrees , with a range of ; this was a result of the " CSM " s belief that the decisive battle range would only be and that fleets would not engage at ranges longer than . " Lorraine " was modified in 1917 to increase the elevation of the guns to 18 degrees , which correspondingly increased the range to . " Bretagne " and " Provence " were similarly modified after the end of the war in 1919 . Each gun was supplied with 100 rounds of ammunition , stored in shell rooms located beneath the propellant magazines . The guns were controlled centrally by Barr & Stroud rangefinder s ; each turret was also equipped with a independent rangefinder , which were located on top of the turret roofs in an armored hood . Twenty - two Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1910 guns were mounted in casemate s along the length of the ship ' s hull . They were expected to be used offensively to attack the upper works of enemy battleships , as well as to defend against torpedo boat attacks . The secondary battery fire control consisted of two central directors four rangefinders , which were located abreast of the superfiring turrets , fore and aft . The ships carried seven 47 mm M1885 Hotchkiss quick - firing guns . Two were placed on the conning tower and one was placed on each main battery turret . During World War I , a pair of guns were added . The ships ' armament were rounded out by four torpedo tube s . The tubes were submerged in the ships ' hulls . In the interwar period , all three ships had their armament rearranged . In 1919 – 1920 , " Bretagne " had the four forwardmost of her 138 mm guns removed , along with the 75 mm and two of the 47 mm guns . In their place , four 75 mm M1897 guns were installed on the forward superstructure . Twenty - four Hotchkiss machine guns were installed on the forecastle deck in 1927 . The four rearmost 138 mm guns were removed during this refit , along with the 75 mm guns , which were replaced with eight 75 mm M1922 anti - aircraft guns . Sixteen 13 . 2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun s , in quadruple mounts , were also added . " Provence " had her four forward 138 mm guns removed in 1919 , and was equipped similarly to " Bretagne " . In 1931 – 1934 , she received the same eight 75 mm guns as " Bretagne " did , and in 1940 , three quadruple mounts of 13 . 2 mm guns were fitted . " Lorraine " followed a similar pattern , though in 1935 , her center main battery turret was removed ; an aircraft catapult was fitted in its place . At this time , four Model M1930 guns were added , along with two of the 13 . 2 mm quadruple mounts . In 1940 , the 100 mm guns were removed to arm the new battleship " Richelieu " , and eight 75 mm M1922 guns replaced them . In March – May 1944 , fourteen and twenty - five guns in single mounts were added , and the quadruple 13 . 2 mm guns were removed . Fire control . The " Bretagne " s were provided with Barr and Stroud rangefinder s . Each turret had rangefinder under an armoured hood at the rear of the turret . Between the wars , fire - control directors were added for the main , secondary and anti - aircraft armament . The rangefinder on the forward superfiring turret was replaced by a instrument . Armor . The ships ' main armored belt was thick amidships and reduced to on either end of the ship . Above the belt , the secondary battery casemates were armored with thick steel plate . Horizontal protection consisted of three armored decks ; the main deck was thick . The upper and lower decks were both 40 mm thick . Sloped armor thick connected the main deck to the armored belt . Each of the main battery barbette s that housed the lower turret assemblies were armored with thick steel . The forward - most and rear - most turrets had thick sides . The superfiring turrets were less well protected , with 270 mm thick sides . The amidships turret was the most heavily armored , with thick sides . The conning tower was protected with thick armor plating . The total weight of armor was . Service history . All three ships of the class entered service with the French Navy in 1916 . " Bretagne " and " Lorraine " were assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Battle Squadron , while " Provence " served as the fleet flagship for the entirety of the First World War . They were deployed to guard the southern end of the Adriatic Sea , based in Argostoli and Corfu , to block a possible sortie by the Austro - Hungarian fleet . The three ships largely remained in port , though " Provence " was repeatedly used to intimidate the government of Greece , which favored Germany during the war . In January 1919 , after the end of the war , " Lorraine " was sent to Cattaro to guard the Austro - Hungarian fleet . She joined her sisters in Toulon in June 1919 ; later that year the ships formed the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet until 1921 . Financial problems forced the French Navy to reduce its battleship force to four active vessels . " Lorraine " and " Provence " were reduced to reserve status in 1922 , and the latter went into drydock for a major overhaul . " Lorraine " returned to service with the Mediterranean Squadron in 1923 . " Bretagne " remained in service and conducted training cruises in the Mediterranean and along the coast of North Africa during the 1920s and 1930s . In 1934 , " Bretagne " and " Provence " were assigned to the 2nd Squadron , based on France ' s Atlantic coast . In 1936 , they joined the non - intervention patrols off Spain during the Spanish Civil War . At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 , " Bretagne " and " Provence " were based in Toulon with the 2nd Squadron , while " Lorraine " was assigned to the Atlantic Squadron . After undergoing a refit in the early months of the war , " Provence " conducted anti - raider patrols with Force Y , based in Casablanca . " Bretagne " was also overhauled early in the war ; in March 1940 she escorted a convoy to Halifax and returned with another convoy loaded with aircraft for the French Air Force . She was then ordered to join " Lorraine " in Force X , to be based in Alexandria to operate in concert with the British Mediterranean Fleet . Two weeks later , " Bretagne " was instead ordered to steam at high speed to Bizerte , to join the Force de Raid with " Provence " . The ships put in at Mers - el - Kébir and remained there until after the fall of France in June 1940 . To prevent the ships of the French Navy from falling into the hands of the occupying Germans , British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the neutralization of all French warships . Force H was to deliver an ultimatum to the ships based at Mers - el - Kébir ; on 3 July , the British squadron arrived outside the harbor and demanded that the ships sail with them to Britain or they would be sunk . The British and French negotiated for several hours , and culminated in the British opening fire on the French fleet . In the span of ten minutes , " Bretagne " was sunk and " Provence " was badly damaged . " Bretagne " was hit by at least four shells from , and and exploded , killing the vast majority of her crew . " Provence " was set on fire and sank to the bottom of the harbor , though she was subsequently raised and transferred to Toulon , where she was later scuttled in 1942 to prevent her from being seized by the Germans . They nevertheless salvaged the ship starting in July 1943 . Two of her main guns were emplaced as coastal batteries outside Toulon . " Lorraine " was disarmed in Alexandria until December 1942 , when she joined the Free French Naval Forces . She served as a training ship for much of 1943 until a major refit at the end of the year to prepare her to participate in Operation Dragoon , the invasion of southern France . She provided gunfire support during the landings before steaming to Britain for a minor refit . She remained in Britain until March 1945 , when she bombarded German - held fortresses in northern France . After the end of the war , " Lorraine " served as a gunnery training ship in Toulon . She was then used as a barracks ship until February 1953 , when she was stricken from the naval register and sold for scrapping at the end of the year . She was broken up for scrap outside Toulon the following year . " Bretagne " remained at the bottom of Mers - el - Kébir until she was raised for scrapping in 1952 and broken up . " Provence " was raised in April 1949 and scrapped .