Force de Raid

The Force de Raid (Raiding Force) was a French naval squadron formed at Brest during naval mobilization for World War II. The squadron commanded by Vice Amiral Marcel Gensoul consisted of the most modern French capital ships Dunkerque and Strasbourg, screened by the three newest French cruisers, the eight largest and most modern contre-torpilleurs, and the only French aircraft carrier. The Force effectively ceased to exist as a separate unit after the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir.

Battleships had been internationally perceived as the strategic arms race focus since the Washington Naval Conference of 1921. Countries unable to match the numbers of battleships maintained by the United States and the United Kingdom had built faster battleships so they might have the option of evading stronger fleets. Italy modernized Conte di Cavour and Giulio Cesare in 1937 with new engines increasing their speed to 28 knots. Germany completed the 31-knot battleships Gneisenau in 1938 and Scharnhorst in January 1939. For the first ten months of World War II, the Dunkerque-class battleships of Force de Raid were the only modern Allied battleships available to counter the Scharnhorst-class battleships. The old Royal Navy battle cruisers HMS Repulse, Renown, and Hood had similar speed, but their horizontal deck armor offered inadequate protection against aerial bombs and the plunging trajectory of long-range gunfire.

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