French battleship Dunkerque

*Dunkerque*
History
Dunkerque
France
Name:	Dunkerque
Namesake:	City of Dunkirk
Laid down:	24 December 1932
Launched:	2 October 1935
Commissioned:	1 May 1937
Fate:	Scuttled 27 November 1942, ultimately scrapped in 1958
General characteristics
Class and type:	Dunkerque class battleship
Displacement:	Standard: 26,500 long tons (26,900 t) Full load: 35,500 t (34,900 long tons; 39,100 short tons)
Length:	214.5 m (704 ft)
Beam:	31.08 m (102.0 ft)
Draft:	8.7 m (29 ft)
Propulsion:	6 boilers 4 Parsons geared turbines 107,500 shp (designed) 135,585 shp (max)
Speed:	29.5 knots (54.6 km/h; 33.9 mph) (designed) 31.06 knots (max)
Range:	7,850 nmi (14,540 km; 9,030 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) 2,450 nm at 28.5 knots
Crew:	1381–1,431
Armament:	8 × 330mm/50 Modèle 1931 guns 16 × 130 mm (5.1 in) /45 DP guns 8 × 37 mm (1.5 in) anti-aircraft guns 32 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft guns
Armor:	Belt armor: 225 mm (8.9 in) Main deck: 115 mm (4.5 in) Gun turrets: 330 mm (13 in) Conning tower: 270 mm (11 in)
Aircraft carried:	2 floatplanes

Dunkerque was the lead ship of the Dunkerque class of battleships built for the French Navy in the 1930s. The class also included Strasbourg. The two ships were the first capital ships to be built by the French Navy after World War I; the planned Normandie and Lyon classes 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 guns arranged in two quadruple gun turrets and had a top speed of 29.5 knots (54.6 km/h; 33.9 mph).

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.

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