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FS Dunkerque

1937 WORLD WAR 2

History of FS Dunkirk

In response to the German Navy's rearmament of the new German-class Panzerkreuzer ("pocket battleship") built between 1929 and 1936, the French government authorized the design and construction of a new "fast battleship"-class to become its own class, Two Dunkirk classes. The team would have considerable speed and firepower, but they lacked the necessary protection systems to comply with the limitations of the 1923 Washington Naval Treaty.

The design of the class was also inspired by the Royal Navy's Nelson class (which appeared in 1927), which saw fit to have the entire main gun mounted on the forecastle.

The two ships of this class, FS Dunkerque and sister ship FS Strasbourg, became the first French warships to be laid after the end of World War I (1918) and the first to be built after the Washington Naval Treaty. The ship Dunkirk, named after the famous French city, was laid on 24 December 1932 and launched on 2 October 1935.

She officially entered service on May 1, 1937.

Displacement reaches 27,000 tons under standard load and 39,000 tons under full load. The overall length is 704 feet, the beam is 102 feet, and the draft is 29 feet. The ship's shape is rather atypical, with its main guns concentrated in front of the bridge. This brings the bridge superstructure closer to the center of the ship than usual. This moved the smoke funnel further aft amidships.

The main mast is installed as part of the bridge structure and the secondary mast is installed behind the chimney. A hangar and catapult station are installed in the stern section, and up to four recoverable seaplanes can be piloted from her deck.

The combat team consists of officers and soldiers, from 1380 to 1430 people. Armor protection includes 225mm belt, 115mm main deck and 330mm main turret. The conning tower is protected by armor plates up to 270 mm thick.

Internally, propulsion is provided by 6 Indret boiler units powering 4 Parsons geared steam turbines driving 4 shafts under the stern. This propels the warship to nearly 30 knots for a range of 7,850 nautical miles with available fuel supplies.

The Dunkirk is unique in that all her primary weapons are displayed in only two forward turrets, which are quadruple-weapon positions located above the forecastle, with well-defined bow and sides arc. The guns were 330mm Modele 1931 naval guns with considerable penetration at range and were spaced far enough apart not to destroy both in a single direct hit.

Secondary armament is spread over 16 x 130mm Dual Purpose (DP) cannons, and airspace blockade is achieved through the use of 8 x 37mm automatic cannons and 32 x 13.2mm machine guns.

The construction of Dunkirk was financed by the French defense budget in early 1931 and was built in the French port city of Brest. From there she sailed for the required seat trials, which continued until 1937.

When war broke out with neighboring Germany in September 1939, Dunkirk and her sister were actively deployed in the Atlantic to protect the important French shipping convoy. In October of the same year, Dunkirk, the flagship of the "L-Force", became part of a task force that hunted down the German iron-fisted Admiral Graf Spee.

The FS Dunkerque officially served in the French fleet until the fall of France in May/June 1940. The following month, the ship was docked at Mers-el-Kebir (French Algeria, North Africa), the ship was shot at by the British, and a few days later damaged by an aerial torpedo, which paralyzed her (the total operation also resulted in 210 French sailors). ). The ship was overhauled so that it could be taken relatively safely to French waters - at which point it was transferred across the Mediterranean to the port city of Toulon in southern France.

On 27 November 1942, the FS Dunkirk was sunk by her crew to prevent her from being taken over by the Axis powers. The Italians took over the original property and robbed her of its wartime use, but after Italy surrendered in September 1943, the hull fell into German hands.

After the liberation of Toulon in 1945, the French government finally recovered the ship, but her hull was not lifted until after the war in 1955. She was immediately scrapped in 1958.