USN

French Navy Battleships

British (RN)
Japanese (IJN)
German (HSF & KM)
Russian & Soviet
French
Italian

Class Name Keel Laid Launched First
Commissioned
Builder Last De-
commissioned
Fate
Pre-Dreadnoughts
JauréguiberryJauréguiberry8 Apr 189127 Oct 1893La SeyneStricken 1920, used as an accomodations hulk until 1932. Scrapped 1934.
Charles MartelCharles Martel1893Scrapped c. 1922
MassénaMassénaSep 1892Jul 1895LoireScuttled as a breakwater, 1916
BouvetBouvet16 Jan 189327 Apr 18961898LorientWar loss: Sunk by Turkish shore batteries 18 Mar 1915.
CharlemagneCharlemagne14 Jul 189417 Oct 18951899Brest
St. LouisMar 1895Sep 18961900Lorient
GaulouisJan 1896Oct 18961899BrestWar loss: Sunk in the Aegean by U-47 27 Dec 1916.
IénaIéna15 Jan 18981 Sep 18981903BrestExploded 12 Mar 1907.
Henri IVHenri IV15 Jul 189723 Aug 1899CherbourgScrapped c. 1921
SuffrenSuffren5 Jan 189925 Jul 18991903BrestWar loss: Damaged by Turkish shore batteries 18 Mar 1915. Torpedoed and sunk off Lisbon by U-52 26 Nov 1916.
RepubliqueRepubliqueDec 19014 Sep 1902Dec 1906BrestScrapped c. 1921
PatrieDec 1903La SeyneScrapped c. 1921
LibertéLiberté1 May 190330 Apr 19041908BrestExploded and sank 25 Sep 1911
JusticeLa SeyneScrapped c. 1922
DemocratieBrestScrapped c. 1922
VeriteBordeauxScrapped c. 1922
DantonDanton10 Jan 19084 Jul 19091 Jun 1909BrestWar Loss: Sunk by U-64 off Sardinia 19 Mar 1917 .
Condorcet23 Aug 190720 Apr 190925 Jul 1911LoireSunk at Toloun, 1944, Scrapped 1959
Diderot20 Oct 190719 Apr 19091 Aug 1911Loire1936Scrapped 1937
Voltaire20 Jul 190716 Jan 19091 Aug 1911La Seyne1935Scrapped 1939
Mirabeau4 May 190828 Oct 19091 Aug 1911LorientRan aground 13 Feb 1919, salvaged Apr 1919, disarmed at Toloun, scrapped 1928.
VergniaudNov 190712 Apr 191022 Sep 1911Bordeaux21 May 1921Scrapped 1929
Dreadnoughts
CourbetCourbet1 Sep 191023 Sep 191119 Nov 1913BrestScuttled as part of the "Mulberry" breakwater, 10 Jun 1944.
Jean Bart (Later renamed Ocean)15 Nov 191022 Sep 191115 June 1913Lorient Scuttled at Toloun, 27 Nov 1942. Scrapped 1945-46
France30 Nov 19117 Nov 1912Aug 1914Loire Ran aground in a storm 26 Aug 1922, Scrapped
Paris10 Nov 191128 Sep 19121 Aug 1914La Seyne 14 Feb 1947Scrapped 1956
ProvenceProvence1 May 191220 Apr 1913Jun 1915Brest Scuttled at Toloun, 27 Nov 1942. Raised 1944, scrapped 1949
Bretagne1 July 191221 Apr 1913Sep 1915La Seyne Sunk at Mers el Kebir 3 July 1940, wreck scrapped 1952
Lorraine1 Aug 191230 Sep 1913Jul 1916LoireScrapped 1954
Normandie Normandie18 Apr 191319 Oct 1914-Loire -Scrapped incomplete 1924-25
Languedoc18 Apr 19131 May 1915-Bordeaux -Scrapped incomplete 1929
Flandre1 Oct 191320 Oct 1914-Brest -Scrapped incomplete 1924
Gascogne1 Oct 191320 Sep 1914-Lorient -Scrapped incomplete 1923-24
Bearn10 Jan 1914Apr 19201 Sep 1926La Seyne Completed as carrier 1923-26. Scrapped 1967
Lyon Lyon---Loire -Cancelled
Lille---La Seyne -
Dusquesne---Brest -
Tourville---Lorient -
RichelieuRichelieu22 Oct 193517 Jan 193915 Jun 1940Brest 1956Scrapped 1968
Jean Bart12 Dec 19366 Mar 19401 May 1955Loire & Penhoët1961Scrapped 1969
Clemenceau17 Jan 1939sometime before March 1941-Brest Sunk by allied bombers, 27 Aug 1944. Scrapped 1951
Gascogne- --Loire -Cancelled 1940
AlsaceAlsace---- -Cancelled
Normandie---- -
Flandre---- -
Bourgogne---- -
Battlecruisers
1913 Battlecruiser----Cancelled
DunkerqueDunkerque24 Dec 19322 Oct 19351 May 1937Brest Scuttled 27 Nov 1942, Wreck scrapped 1958
Strasbourg25 Nov 193412 Dec 1936Dec 1938Loire & PenhoëtScuttled 27 Nov 1942, refloated 17 Jul 1943, sunk by US bombers, 18 Aug 1944. Refloated 1946. Scrapped 1955

Key to builders:
LoireAteliers & Chantiers de la Loire, St. Nazaire
PenhoëtChantiers & Ateliers de St. Nazaire
BrestArsenal de Brest
La SeyneForges & Chantiers de la Mediterranne, La Seyne
LorientArsenal de Lorient
BordeauxForges & Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux
Note: Loire and Penhoët merged in 1955.



French Navy Battleship Chronology

12 Mar 1907 Iéna explodes in drydock.

25 Sep 1911 Liberté explodes and sinks.

August 1914-11 November 1918: World War I. Victory for France

The French Navy largely operates in the Mediterranean. Battleship construction (Normandie class, Lyon class, and the 1913 battlecruiser project) was quickly abandoned in favor of Army projects.

13 Feb 1919 Mirabeau runs aground off Crimea.

April 1919 Mirabeau refloated.

Washington Treaty

While the Japanese may have complained the loudest about the battleship "ratio" (for every 5 RN and 5 USN battleships, the IJN got 3) in the Treaty, France may have had more to complain about. Their "ratio" was 1.75!

26 Aug 1922 France runs aground in a storm.

1930: France renounces the Washington Treaty, and begins work on Dunkerque class.

1 September 1939-2 Sep 1945: World War II. Total defeat, then victory for France.

15 Sep 1945: Richelieu, operating with HMS Nelson, strikes a mine in the Straits of Malacca. Wine tank damaged.

2 September 1945-1946: Indochina. Short-lived victory for France.

4 Dec 1948: Jean Bart runs preliminary sea trials.

16 Jan 1949: Jean Bart runs acceptance trials.

April 1950: Jean Bart finally commissioned, without some of her AA battery.

24 Oct 1956: Jean Bart sails for Algiers, to take part in Suez operations.













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