French cruiser Algérie

*Algérie*
Class overview
Algérie
Operators:	French Navy
Preceded by:	Suffren class
Succeeded by:	Saint-Louis class (planned)
Built:	1931-1934
In commission:	1934-1942
Completed:	1
Lost:	1
History
France
Name:	Algérie
Namesake:	French Algeria
Builder:	Brest Dock Yard
Laid down:	19 March 1931
Launched:	21 May 1932
Commissioned:	15 September 1934
Fate:	Scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942. Scrapped 1949.
General characteristics
Type:	Cruiser
Displacement:	10,000 tons (standard) 13,641 tons (full load)
Length:	186.2 m (611 ft)
Beam:	20 m (66 ft)
Draught:	6.15 m (20.2 ft)
Propulsion:	4-shaft Rateau-Bretagne SR geared turbines 6 Indret boilers, 84,000 shp (63,000 kW)
Speed:	31 knots (57 km/h)
Range:	8,700 nautical miles (16,110 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:	748
Armament:	8 203mm/55 Modèle 1931 guns (4 × 2) 12 100 mm/45 guns (6 × 2) 8 37 mm AA guns (4 × 2) (from 1941: 16 37 mm) 16 13.2 mm AA (4 × 4) (from 1941: 36 13.2 mm) 6 550 mm torpedo tubes (2 × 3)
Armour:	main belt 120 mm (4.7 in) transverse bulkheads: 70 mm (2.8 in) longitudinal bulkheads: 40 mm (1.6 in) main deck: 80 mm (3in-1in) turrets: 95 mm (3.7 in) (faces), 70 mm (2.8 in) (sides and roofs) control tower: 70 to 95 mm (2.8 to 3.7 in) torpedo bulkhead
Aircraft carried:	3-Loire-Nieuport 130 seaplanes, 1 catapult (removed 1941)

Algérie was a French heavy cruiser that served during the early years of World War II. She was built in response to the Italian Zara-class cruisers incorporating better armour than previous French cruisers. One of the last of the so-called "Treaty Cruisers," she was considered one of the best designs commissioned by any of the naval powers. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Algérie was a well-armored ship.

Algérie started World War II as flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron which also included the cruisers Dupleix, Foch, Duquesne, Tourville, Colbert and destroyers from the 5th, 7th and 9th contre-torpilleur divisions. Algérie, Dupleix, the battleship Strasbourg and the British aircraft carrier Hermes were based in Dakar in French West Africa, while searching for the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee.

In March 1940, after refitting at Toulon, she accompanied the battleship Bretagne to Canada, with 3,000 cases of French gold. In April, Algérie returned to the Mediterranean and when Italy declared war on France, she helped shell Genoa in June. Her last mission before the French surrender was as a convoy escort.

After the French defeat in 1940, Algérie remained with the Vichy fleet based at Toulon. Her only mission for the Vichy navy was to escort the battleship Provence back to Toulon, as the battleship had been summarily repaired after the damages received during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir in 1940. In 1941, her secondary and anti-aircraft weaponry was strengthened and in 1942, she was fitted with the early French-built radar.

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Wikipedia