French battleship Jean Bart (1940)

Jean Bart

Jean Bart in the harbor of Casablanca, photographed by a plane from USS Ranger. Turret number two was not yet operational.
History
France
Name:	Jean Bart
Namesake:	Jean Bart
Laid down:	December 1936
Launched:	6 March 1940
Completed:	1952
Commissioned:	16 January 1949
Decommissioned:	1961
Reclassified:	1961 Gunnery School Tender
Struck:	1969
Fate:	Scrapped 24 June 1970
General characteristics
Class and type:	Richelieu-class battleship
Displacement:	35,000 tons standard as designed 48,950 t at full load, in 1949
Length:	248 m
Beam:	35 m
Draught:	9.60 m
Propulsion:	four Parsons geared turbines, six «Sural» boilers 150,000 hp (112 MW)
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h)
Range:	7671 nautical miles (14,207 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h); 3181 nautical miles (5,891 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h)
Complement:	911 men in 1950 (incomplete) 1,280 men during the Suez affair
Armament:	8 × 380 mm (15 in)/45 Modèle 1935 guns in quadruple mountings at bow 9 × 152 mm (6.0 in)/55 Modèle 1930 guns in dual-purpose triple mountings Modèle 1936 at the aft till 1952–53 8 × 40 mm (1.6 in)/60 Bofors anti-aircraft guns in quadruple mountings 20 × 20 mm (0.79 in)/70 Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns in single mountings from 1953–54 24 × 100 mm (3.9 in)/55 Modèle 1945 anti-aircraft guns in 12 twin mountings CAD Model 1945 28 × 57 mm (2.2 in)/60 Modèle 1951 anti-aircraft guns in 14 twin mountings ACAD Model 1948
Armour:	Belt: 330 mm (13 in) Upper armoured deck: 150–170 mm (5.9–6.7 in) Lower armoured deck: 40 mm (1.6 in) with 50 mm (2.0 in) slopes Main turrets: 140–430 mm (5.5–16.9 in) Secondary turrets: 70–115 mm (2.8–4.5 in) Barbettes: 405 mm (15.9 in) Conning tower: 340 mm (13 in)

Jean Bart was a French battleship of World War II, named for the 17th-century seaman, privateer, and corsair Jean Bart. She was the second Richelieu-class battleship. Derived from the Dunkerque class, Jean Bart (and her sister ship Richelieu) were designed to fight the new battleships of the Italian Navy. Their speed, shielding, armament, and overall technology were state of the art, but they had a rather unusual main battery armament arrangement, with two 4-gun turrets forward and none aft.

Jean Bart was incomplete when France surrendered to Germany in June 1940. She sailed from Saint-Nazaire to Casablanca just before the Armistice. She was sunk in harbour in 1942. After the war she was re-floated, completed with an updated anti-aircraft battery, and entered service in 1955. She had a very short career: Jean Bart was put into reserve in 1957, decommissioned in 1961, and scrapped in 1969.

The Richelieu class was designed in response to the Italian Littorio-class battleships laid down in 1934, with Richelieu being laid down in 1935. When Germany laid down the two Bismarck-class battleships in November 1935 and June 1936, France ordered the second Richelieu, Jean Bart.

Jean Bart was intended to be the exact sister ship of Richelieu, with the same 35,000-long-ton (35,562 t) tons standard displacement, same hull dimensions (length : 247.85 m (813 ft), beam : 33.00 m (108 ft), draught : 9.22 m (30.2 ft)), same armament, protection, and propulsion.

Her general layout, with two four-gun turrets forward, originated with the Dunkerque battleship class. The quadruple turret had first been proposed for France's last pre-World War I battleship projects, the Normandie, and Lyon-class battleships. The quad turret was also featured on nearly all the French battleship projects in the 1920s,. The "all forward" main battery arrangement was influenced by pre-1921 British battlecruiser projects and the Nelson-class battleships.