French battleship Dunkerque Dunkerque was the lead ship of the of battleship s built for the French Navy in the 1930s . The class also included " Strasbourg " . The two ships were the first capital ship s to be built by the French Navy after World War I ; the planned and es had been cancelled at the outbreak of war , and budgetary problems prevented the French from building new battleships in the decade after the war . " Dunkerque " was laid down in December 1932 , was launched October 1935 , and was completed in May 1937 . She was armed with a main battery of eight 330mm / 50 Modèle 1931 gun s arranged in two quadruple gun turret s and had a top speed of . " Dunkerque " and " Strasbourg " formed the French Navy ' s " 1ère Division de Ligne " ( 1st Division of the Line ) prior to the Second World War . The two ships searched for German commerce raiders in the early months of the war , and " Dunkerque " also participated in convoy escort duties . The ship was badly damaged during the British attack at Mers - el - Kébir after the Armistice that ended the first phase of France ' s participation in World War II , but she was refloated and partially repaired to return to Toulon for comprehensive repairs . " Dunkerque " was scuttled in November 1942 to prevent her capture by the Germans , and subsequently seized and partially scrapped by the Italians and later the Germans . Her wreck remained in Toulon until she was stricken in 1955 , and scrapped three years later . Development . The French Navy ' s design staff spent the decade following the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty attempting to produce a satisfactory design to fill 70 , 000 tons as allowed by the treaty . Initially , the French sought a reply to the Italian s of 1925 , but all proposals were rejected . A 17 , 500 - ton cruiser , which could have handled the " Trento " s , was inadequate against the old Italian battleships , however , and the 37 , 000 - ton battlecruiser concepts were prohibitively expensive and would jeopardize further naval limitation talks . These attempts were followed by an intermediate design for a 23 , 690 - ton protected cruiser in 1929 ; it was armed with guns , armoured against guns , and had a speed of . Visually , it bore a profile strikingly similar to the final " Dunkerque " . The German s became the new focus for French naval architects in 1929 . The design had to respect the 1930 London Naval Treaty , which limited the French to two 23 , 333 - ton ships until 1936 . Drawing upon previous work , the French developed a 23 , 333 - ton design armed with guns , armoured against the German cruisers ' guns , and with a speed of . As with the final " Dunkerque " , the main artillery was concentrated entirely forward . The design was rejected by the French parliament in July 1931 and sent back for revision . The final revision grew to 26 , 500 tons ; the 305 - mm guns were replaced by 330mm / 50 Modèle 1931 gun s , the armour was slightly improved , and the speed slightly decreased . Parliamentary approval was granted in early 1932 , and " Dunkerque " was ordered on 26 October . Characteristics . " Dunkerque " displaced as built and fully loaded , with an overall length of , a beam of and a maximum draft of . She was powered by four Parsons geared steam turbines and six oil - fired boilers , which developed a total of and yielded a maximum speed of . Her crew numbered between 1 , 381 and 1 , 431 officers and men . The ship carried a pair of spotter aircraft on the fantail , and the aircraft facilities consisted of a steam catapult and a crane to handle the floatplanes . The floatplanes were initially Gourdou - Leseurre GL - 832 HY , and later Loire 130 . She was armed with eight 330mm / 50 Modèle 1931 gun s arranged in two quadruple gun turret s , both of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward of the superstructure . Her secondary armament consisted of sixteen / 45 dual - purpose guns ; these were mounted in three quadruple and two twin turrets . The quadruple turrets were placed on the stern , and the twin turrets were located amidships . Close range antiaircraft defense was provided by a battery of eight guns in twin mounts and thirty - two guns in quadruple mounts . The ship ' s belt armor was thick amidships , and the main battery turrets were protected by of armor plate on the faces . The main armored deck was thick , and the conning tower had thick sides . Modifications . " Dunkerque " was modified several times throughout her relatively short career . In 1937 , a funnel cap was added and four of the 37 mm guns , which were the Modèle 1925 variant , were removed . These were replaced the following year with new Modèle 1933 guns . The 13 . 2 mm guns were also rearranged slightly , with the two mounts that were located abreast of the second main battery turret moved further aft . A new rangefinder was installed in 1940 on the fore tower . Service history . " Dunkerque " was laid down in the Brest Navy Yard , on 24 December 1932 , in the graving dock number 4 . The hull was completed except for the forward - most section , since the dock was only long . She was launched on 2 October 1935 and towed to graving dock number 8 , where the bow was fitted . Sea trials were carried out , starting on 18 April 1936 , before the superstructure was complete . The trials lasted until late - April 1937 . " Dunkerque " represented France at the British Naval Review in May 1937 , marking the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth . Later that month on May 27 , she took part in another review off Île de Sein , where the French Mediterranean and Atlantic squadrons were assembled following combined exercises ; " Dunkerque " hosted the Navy Minister and the new Chief of Staff of the French Navy , Vice Admiral François Darlan . On 20 January 1938 , " Dunkerque " departed for a tour of French colonial possessions in the Atlantic ; ports of call included Fort - de - France in the Antilles and Dakar , Senegal . She returned to France on 6 March , where she was placed on active duty on 1 September . She joined the Atlantic Squadron and became the flagship of ( Squadron Vice Admiral ) Marcel - Bruno Gensoul . The ship then went into drydock for drydock in Brest for periodic maintenance on 29 November ; repairs lasted until 27 February 1939 . After emerging from drydock , " Dunkerque " was assigned to the " Force de Raid " , a fast task force created in response to the Sudetenland Crisis with Germany . " Strasbourg " joined the " Force de Raid " in March ; the two " Dunkerque " - class battleships formed the " 1ère Division de Ligne " ( 1st Division of the Line ) . The ships received division stripes on their funnels , one for " Dunkerque " as division leader , and two for " Strasbourg " . By that time , the " Force de Raid " consisted of the two " Dunkerque " s , three light cruiser s , and eight large destroyer s . The squadron was based in Brest . The German " Deutschland " - class cruisers were operating off Spain at the time tensions began to rise over the Sudetenland Crisis in early 1938 , so the " Force de Raid " was sent out to cover the return of the cruiser " Jeanne d ' Arc " on 14 – 16 April . The Sudetenland Crisis ultimately was resolved in the Munich Agreement in September 1938 and led to a temporary slackening of tensions in Europe . The " 1ère Division de Ligne " made an official visit on 3 – 4 May 1939 to Lisbon , Portugal , commemorating the discovery of Brazil by Alvares Cabral . On 23 May , the two battleships and other ships of the " Force de Raid " visited Britain , including stops in Liverpool , Oban , Staffa , Loch Ewe , Scapa Flow , and Rosyth . They returned to Brest on 21 June . On 2 September 1939 , the day after Germany invaded Poland , the " Force de Raid " sortied from Brest , since the " Deutschland " - class cruisers were reported to be operating in the Atlantic . After four days at sea , the squadron returned to Brest . In October , " Dunkerque " was assigned to Force L , along with " Béarn " and three cruisers ; the squadron was based in Brest . The ships were tasked with hunting down the cruiser " Admiral Graf Spee " . On 25 November , Vice Admiral Gensoul ordered " Dunkerque " , the French 4th Cruiser Division , and the British battlecruiser to intercept the German battleship " Scharnhost " and " Gneisenau " , which had sunk the Armed Merchant Cruiser , north of the Faroe Islands on 23 November . While the German battleships attempted to break into the Atlantic , " Dunkerque " suffered bow damages in a huge North Atlantic tempest and had to be docked for repairs on 3 December . On 11 December , " Dunkerque " and the cruiser " Gloire " carried a shipment of part of the Banque de France ' s gold reserve to Canada . The ships arrived on 17 December and covered a troop convoy on the return voyage . After returning to Brest on 4 January 1940 , " Dunkerque " underwent another period of maintenance , which lasted until 6 February . The ship then conducted sea trials and training maneuvers through March . Faced with increasingly hostile posturing by Italy during the spring of 1940 , the " Force de Raid " was dispatched , on 2 April to the Mediterranean . The squadron was quickly ordered to return to Brest several days later , in response to the German landings in Norway on 9 April . The " Force de Raid " was transferred subsequently to Mers - el Kebir on 24 April , arriving on 27 April . Reports of Axis vessels in the area on 9 – 10 May prompted " Dunkerque " and " Strasbourg " to sortie . " Dunkerque " remained in the Mediterranean when the Italians declared war on France and Britain on 10 June . Two days later , " Dunkerque " and " Strasbourg " sortied to intercept reported German and Italian ships that were incorrectly reported to be in the area . On 22 June , however , France surrendered to Germany following the Battle of France ; during the truce negotiations , the French Navy proposed demilitarizing " Dunkerque " and several other warships in Toulon . Mers - el - Kébir . The only test in battle for " Dunkerque " came in the attack on Mers - el - Kébir on 3 July . The British Force H , commanded by Admiral Somerville and centered on HMS " Hood " and the battleships , and , arrived off Mers - el - Kébir to coerce the French battleship squadron to join the British cause or scuttle their ships . The French Navy refused , as complying with the demand would have violated the Armistice signed with Germany . To ensure the ships would not fall into Axis hands , the British warships opened fire . " Dunkerque " was tied alongside the mole with her stern facing the sea , so she could not return fire . " Dunkerque " s crew loosed the chains and started to get the ship underway just as the British opened fire ; the ship was engaged by HMS " Hood " . She was hit by four 15 inch ( 381 mm ) shells in quick succession . The first was deflected on the upper 330 mm turret roof , though it killed all the men in the right half turret ; the left half remained operational . The second shell damaged the aircraft installations , the last two passed through the 225 mm armored belt , which had not been designed to resist 15 - inch shells . The third shell penetrated the handling room of the starboard twin 130 mm turret and penetrated to the forward turbine room , putting it out of action . The fourth shell holed the belt and reached the central boiler room ( BR 2 ) , causing severe damage . The damage forced the crew to beach the ship on the other side of Mers - el - Kébir roadstead . Part of the crew were then sent ashore . The British fire ceased after less than twenty minutes , which limited the damage inflicted . Admiral Esteva , " Admiral Sud " ( C . in C . French Navy in North Africa , at Bizerta ) , reported to the French Admiralty that the ship had suffered " moderate " damage , and boasted , in a communiqué to the Algerian press , that " Dunkerque " would soon be able to return to Toulon on her own steam . After learning of the status of " Dunkerque " , the British Admiralty ordered Somerville to return to Mers - el - Kébir and to put " Dunkerque " permanently out of action . Since " Dunkerque " was beached just in front of a village , Admiral Sommerville , preferred to attack with torpedo bombers to avoid causing serious collateral damages to civilians . The second attack took place on July 6 . One of the torpedoes hit the small patrol ship " Terre - Neuve " , which carried a load of depth charges , and was moored alongside " Dunkerque " . The explosion of fourteen depth charges , equivalent of 1 , 400 kg of TNT , ripped an enormous hole in the battleship ' s hull and killed a further 40 seamen . " Dunkerque " sank in shallow water . Another torpedo struck the ship and tore a hole in two compartments . The ship probably escaped a total loss by flooding the 330 mm gun magazines which had been ordered as soon as the torpedo - bombers appeared . The total number killed on " Dunkerque " during the two attacks of July 3 and July 6 reached 210 . Temporary repairs began immediately , but due to the limited drydock space in the port , repairs to the hull were not effected until 11 September . " Dunkerque " was refloated on 27 September and her propulsion system was returned to operational status . A major fire broke out on 5 December , however , which slowed down the repair effort . Repair work lasted for the entirety of 1941 , and on 25 January 1942 another fire broke out . The temporary repairs were completed by 19 February , which permitted the ship to depart Mers - el - Kébir , under heavy escort , bound for Toulon . She arrived the following day , and entered the large Vauban drydock for comprehensive repairs . Scuttling at Toulon . Repair work proceeded slowly , owing to a shortage of material and labor . After the Wehrmacht occupied the Zone libre in retaliation for the successful Allied landings in North Africa , the Germans attempted to seize the French warships remaining under Vichy control on 27 November . To prevent them from seizing the ships , their crews scuttled the fleet in Toulon , including " Dunkerque " , which still lay incomplete in the Vauban drydock . Demolition charges were placed on the ship and she was set on fire . Her commanding officer , " Capitaine de vaisseau " ( Captain ) Amiel , initially refused to sink his ship without written orders , but was finally convinced to do so by the Commanding Officer of the nearby light cruiser " La Galissonnière " . The Italians took control of the wreck , but they found her a total loss , and so began to dismantle " Dunkerque " . As part of this process , the ship was deliberately damaged to prevent the French from being able to repair her if she was recaptured ; the Italians cut down the main battery guns to render them unusable . The partially scrapped hulk was in turn seized by the Germans when Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943 . In 1944 , the Germans removed the ship ' s bow to float her out of the drydock to free up the dock and continue the scrapping process . While in Axis possession , she was bombed several times by Allied aircraft . The hulk was condemned on 15 September 1955 and renamed " Q56 " . Her remains , which amounted to not more than , were sold for final demolition on 30 September 1958 for 226 , 117 , 000 francs . Footnotes . Notes Citations