French cruiser Montcalm Montcalm was a French , named in honour of Louis - Joseph de Montcalm . During World War II , she served with both Vichy France and the Allies . Pre - war . After commissioning and trials , " Montcalm " was assigned to the 4th Cruiser Division at Brest . Pre - war activities included being stationed in Saigon ( now Ho Chi Minh City ) , French Indochina for two months from January 1938 . Once back in France and part of the French Atlantic Fleet , her peacetime routine included a review for King George VI at Calais in July 1938 and she represented France at the New York World ' s Fair , in 1939 . World War II . At the start of the war , now assigned to the 2nd Squadron of the " Force de Raid " , she performed Atlantic patrols and convoy escort duties and swept for the German battleships and after they had sunk the British Armed Merchant Cruiser . In early September , 1939 , there was a major French fleet deployment to Casablanca to forestall an enemy naval attack , which was soon abandoned . After a major refit in April 1940 , " Montcalm " served as flagship of the French Scandinavian Force supporting the Franco - British defence of Norway ( replacing the damaged ) and the evacuation of troops from Namsos , Norway , with , at the end of April 1940 . Recalled to the " Force de Raid " in May , " Montcalm " was then moved to Algiers in North Africa where she stayed , performing at least one convoy escort , until the Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers - el - Kebir , when she was ordered to Toulon . On 9 September 1940 , she left Toulon with her sisterships and , and passed Gibraltar without being challenged ( for which the local British commander , Admiral Sir Dudley North , was relieved of his command ) . The flotilla refuelled at Casablanca and continued to Dakar , arriving on 14 September . The three cruisers left Dakar on 18 September , intending to go south to Libreville , but they were intercepted by British forces , including . " Montcalm " and " George Leygues " outran the British ships and returned to Dakar , where they helped to defend the port against the unsuccessful British and Free French attack ( Operation Menace ) on the 23 to 25 September 1940 . " Gloire " , slowed by mechanical troubles and unable to escape , was ordered back to Casablanca . Apart from a deployment in April 1941 to recapture a French steamer , " Fort de France " , the next two years were relatively uneventful until the Allied landings in North Africa ( Operation Torch ) and the German occupation of Vichy France , when she joined the Allies , as did other French warships . " Montcalm " was refitted at Philadelphia , from February until August 1943 , the engines were overhauled , aircraft installations removed and the French light anti - aircraft weapons were replaced and augmented . " Montcalm " ' s next duty was anti - blockade - runner patrols , based from Dakar . She was allocated to the Western Task Force and supported Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944 and southern France in August . Her war ended with coastal bombardments along the Riviera coastline until March 1945 . Post - war . She had a refit at Chantiers de la Seyne from May to the end of January 1946 . She made a tour of Indo - China in 1955 . " Montcalm " was decommissioned and placed in reserve , in Tunisia , on 1 May 1957 . She was subsequently towed to Toulon in 1959 to serve as an accommodation hulk for the submarine school . Finally condemned on 31 December 1969 , she was renamed " Q457 " and passed to the dockyard for disposal as scrap .