Propulson-wide they had four propellers and parsons turbines fed by four supercharged oile-fired indret boilers for a total output of 110,000 hp and 33 knots. Strasbourg managed to escape along with six destroyers and made it to Toulon, dodging fire, mines, and air attacks. The long-form official designation is Force maritime de l'aéronautique navale. The ship had been fully re-armed two years earlier in NY. For its own sake, in 1929, France launched the famous “Surcouf”, a submersible cruiser influenced by German and British submarine cruisers and projects of 1918. The Desaix were larger and heavier (3,000 tons standard, 3,900 to 4,100 fully loaded, 139 m long overall by 13 m). With 202 meters in lenght overall, 20 m wide, an armor increased to more than 210 mm in some areas, and a fully loaded tonnage estimated to around 16,000 tons, these cruisers were tailored to effectively replicate to the German heavy cruisers of the Blücher class (1937) and their successors. This class was to be followed by the Gascoigne. This Desaix class was approved in May 1938 and included Desaix, Hoche, Kleber and Marceau, followed by another serie of six ships, the Bayard class, approved in April 1940. Their parsons turbines were coupled with 6 Indret supercharged oil-fired boilers to give them 130,000 hp for a top speed of 34 knots. She was slow, especially given the standards of the thirties, at least ten knot slower than the slowest French cruiser. Like Great Britain and Germany, the French Navy evaluated in a positive way the concept of submarine cruiser as a raiding asset against commerce. But it was not until 1927, after the reconversion and the completion of the Béarn, that the French navy acquired its first aircraft carrier. The light cruisers started with the school ship Jeanne d’Arc, third of the name, launched in 1930, and Pluto, a minesweeper launched in 1929, rebuilt, and renamed La Tour d’Auvergne little before the war. These ships completed the Dunkerque class. Src ONI203 booklet (Division of Naval Inteligence, US Navy Dept.) The Jean Bart, 77% completed, escaped to the Mediterranean thanks to a true feat of seamanship. To protect the interest of Great Britain, the Royal Navy had neverthless a handful of bases: Gibraltar, closing the Mediterranean westwards, and Alexandria Eastwards, gate-guarding the vital Suez Canal. It seemed the naval command settled on the nine 380 mm design in three triple turrets, a rather standard configuration at that time. Their modernization was more extensive and intervened in 1921, then in 1932-35. New constructions focused on colonial sloops of the Bougainville class (8, 1931-34-39), reduced copies of destroyers to show the flag on the four corners of the empire, two of which were never completed. Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order (1-to-Z). Military Aircraft. The first were those of the Primauguet class. However, this limit paradoxically led to two consequences: The French navy was able to not disperse itself, concentrating on the most important ships and building a coherent and innovative navy, of far better shape than in 1914. Their square stern, concentrated armour, triple turrets, and large aircraft facilities were noted. Neither the Japanese and Italians adopted it, and the US Navy only experimented it in 1941. By the way, both Italy and France developed locally a tradition of “tin clad cruisers”, lightly built, but very fast. Shortly after Mers-el-Kebir the French Air Force in Africa launched half-hearted bombing raids on Gibraltar in retaliation. Both inaugurated the twin quad-turrets configuration at the front, but their armour scheme was still relatively light and akin battle-cruisers (They replied to the Deutschland pocket battleships, and were answered by the two German Scharnhorst, also trading protection for speed). 8 SC “Eagle” class were light US-built wooden construction units (Elco, 1918), adding to 4 of French construction of the same period, same model, deployed in Indochina. Scuttlings occured, to avoid capture: The Beautemps Beauprés (Brest), CH9, submarines Narval, Morse, Doris, Pasteur, Poncelet, Achille, Ajax, Perseus, Agosta, Sfax, Ouessant (Five by scuttling, the other lost in operations). The following has been compiled from researches carried out and published by William Reece, Dana Bell, John Snyder et al. From 2,700 men in November 1940 to more than 5,000 in August 1943, the Free French Naval Forces used a number of valuable units (see below) as well as British and American light units, not to mention technical refit in US arsenals. Approved in 1937, the new class (later named De Grasse, Chateaurenault and guichen), was ordered in 1938 and construction of the lead ship started at Arsenal de Lorient in November 1938. (cc). In fact, the Richelieu had been launched in January 1939, and was almost operational in July 1940. https://www.ffaa.net/ https://www.batailles-1939-1940.historyboard.net https://www.meretmarine.com/fr/content/histoire-la-flotte-francaise-en-1939 www.flottille9f.net French warships colorized photo 3dhistory.de French BB blueprints More: //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Scuttling_of_the_French_fleet_in_Toulon, Argentinian Navy Brazilian Navy Armada de Chile Chinese Navy Danish Navy Finnish Navy French Navy Hellenic Navy Royal Indian navy Italian Navy Imperial Japanese Navy German Navy Polish Navy Romanian Navy Sovietskaya Flota Spanish Armada Swedish Navy Dutch Navy Royal Canadian Navy Royal Navy RNZN Sjøforsvaret Thai Navy Turkish Navy US Navy Royal Yugoslav Navy Minor Navies. The uncomfortable position of France would continue thereafter, aggravated by the congenital suspicion of President Roosevelt against De Gaulle, and the difficult, intransigent personality of the latter. Almost light destroyers in tonnage (1010 tons standard, 1337 tons fully loaded), they were approved in 1938, their keels laid down at the Loire and Brittany yards in 1940, but they were never completed. This list may not reflect recent changes (). But lacking in AA artillery, radars, ASW capabilities or effective air support, there was room for improvement. The Royal Navy was deprived of any support in the Mediterranean, having to face the might of the Italian Navy, the Luftwaffe and even a fiercely neutral, later hostile French navy. The first years were spent in the Mediterranean, with clear skies ideal for onboard aviation, and she was based in North Africa. This does however prevented Germany to also built her ships to match the French Navy. Designed displacement was more than 14,000 tons, with a main artillery of nine 8-in or 203 mm guns (in three triple turrets, a configuration then in favous in many navies). A-5 Vigilante (was A3J, retired 1979) 5. There are two what-if French Navy scenarios to consider. German photo, Bundesarchiv. In addition to their main artillery, they were fitted with eight twin 100 mm turrets and eight twin 37 mm also in turrets, of a new model that was adopted by post war French escorts and destroyers. The first was begun in 1938, but was neither launched nor completed. Saved by Lance Tilbert. In 1918, the French Navy emerged in a sorry state. The battleship program really was started like other nations at the expiration of the Washington treaty ban and soon several classes of battleships were planned, of which only the first class, Richelieu, barly made it in operational stage. A-4 Skyhawk AVIATION / AEROSPACE. She was a “seaplane carrier”, quite capable of operating torpedo bombers and reconnaissance seaplanes for the fleet, including the fast Laté 298 torpedo floatplane. Attempts had been made with the old Foudre during the great war, as well as the Bapaume (a Frigate). 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