Dunkirk-class battleships. Dunkirk-class battleships
The Washington Naval Agreement, signed in 1922, provided for a limit on the number of warships in service with the signatories - the United States, England, France, Italy and Japan. At the same time, the French fleet was incomplete, so an exception was made for it: they could build two battleships with a displacement of 35,000 tons each. However, the French were in no hurry to complete their naval forces. Their efforts were aimed at ground weapons. And only at the moment when information appeared that they were building their own “pocket” battleships (as their small dreadnoughts were jokingly called), the designers began to develop a new project.
Two battleships of the Dunkirk class (Dunkerque-Class) were laid down in the early 30s. They became the first fast battleships built after the First World War. The lead ship, in honor of which the class was named, entered service in 1937. Two years later, the second dreadnought Strasbourg was put into service.
Design and armament of Dunkirk-class battleships
The designers paid very close attention to the design of the case - its dimensions and overall design. Numerous mathematical calculations made it possible to determine the optimal shape and ratio of ship dimensions to ensure good speed. The length of the vessel was 215 m, the total displacement was in the range of 35-36 thousand tons. Dunkirk was easily recognizable at sea thanks to its high superstructure located closer to the bow.
The battleship of the described type was built to counter the German Deutschland, which was equipped with 283-mm main caliber guns. The protection of the French dreadnought was calculated based on the impact force of the German ships. The reservation system was borrowed from the Americans, the “all or nothing” principle worked. The main armor belt had a thickness of 225 mm. The turret superstructures of the main armament were sheathed with 250 mm and 330 mm plates.
The power plant was compact in size. The engine, consisting of four Parsons turbines, provided 110,960 hp. to "Dunkirk" and 112,000 hp. at Strasbourg. This provided a maximum speed of 29.5 and 30 knots, respectively. The cruising range reached 16,400 nautical miles.
Armament of Dunkirk-class battleships
- 8 guns with a caliber of 330 mm (330 mm/50 Model 1931), designed and manufactured in France specifically for Dunkirk. The artillery was placed with 4 guns on two towers located in the bow in front of the main superstructure. The choice of four-gun installations was due to saving space and weight on the ship.
- Universal auxiliary guns were also developed specifically for the described class of ships. 130 mm cannons (130 mm/45 Model 1932/1935) were placed at the stern on 3 four-gun turrets and 1 two-gun mount on each side of the side in the middle of the ship.
- Anti-aircraft artillery was represented by 37-mm equipment (37mm/50 Model 1925/1933) in the amount of 10 units and 8 modules of coaxial 13.5-mm machine guns (13.2mm Hotchkiss M1929).
- Aviation weapons were represented by 3 Loir-130 seaplanes and 1 catapult.
Service
At the beginning of World War II, both Dunkirk-class dreadnoughts took an active part in the search for “pocket battleships” in Germany. However, the unexpected surrender of France forced them to stop hostilities. It was planned that the French ships would remain under their flags and would not participate in the battles. England was not confident in these agreements, so in 1940 it attacked the French, based at the African base of Mers el-Kebir. As a result of the attack, the Dunkirk received multiple injuries and ran aground. After some time, it was towed to the port and repairs began. In 1942, to avoid capture by the German Navy, both battleships were blown up by crew members.
"Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg" are remembered not only for the fact that they became the first French capital ships built after the First World War. They are rightfully considered the first-born of a new generation of combat ships - a generation of high-speed battleships that became a symbol of sea power in the 30s and 40s. Thus, in the history of military shipbuilding they can claim the same place of honor as the English Dreadnought, built after the Russian-Japanese War. After all, it was the laying of the Dunkirk that stimulated a new round of the naval arms race, of course, not as large-scale as before the First World War, but which gave rise to the emergence of super-battleships of hitherto unimaginable size and power: ships of the Bismarck, Litgorio, Iowa, and Yamato", "Richelieu" and others.
Sections of this page:
Career of Dunkirk and Strasbourg
Service in peacetime
Dunkirk officially entered the French fleet on May 1, 1937, and at the end of the month Vice Admiral Devin raised his flag on her. On May 17, the ship left Brest for Spithead to participate in the naval parade on the occasion of the coronation of the English King George VI. After returning to Brest, the newest battleship made a voyage to the West Indies and Dakar in 1938, and then became part of the Atlantic Fleet. On September 1, she became the flagship of Vice Admiral Gensoul, with whose name his first baptism of fire would be associated.
On April 14, "Dunkirk" left Brest at the head of a special detachment of cruisers and destroyers to cover the training cruiser "Jeanne d'Arc" returning from the West Indies. In connection with the Czechoslovak issue, the international situation became extremely complicated, and German battleships ("pocket battleships" ) were just off the coast of Spain.
In May 1939, the ship was in Brest and took part in the reception of the English Home Fleet, and at the end of the month took part in joint maneuvers with it as part of the French Atlantic Fleet, returning to Brest in June. The following month, Vice Admiral Gensoul transferred his flag to the Strasbourg, which had served in pre-war service with the Dunkirk. In August, the ships were put on alert.
The first ten months of the war
With the outbreak of war, the French Atlantic Fleet was reorganized into several search groups. "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg", together with the aircraft carrier "Béarn", three light cruisers and 8 of the newest destroyers, formed the 1st squadron or Raider Force, "based on Brest. This formation under the command of Vice-Admiral Marcel Gensoul was created exclusively to intercept German "pocket battleships", since at least two of them were known to be at sea. In addition, this group could be used to escort the most important Atlantic convoys between Uxan Island and the Azores and Cape Verde Islands and m. Palm (Gulf of Guinea) The British Admiralty was very interested in the active operations of the new French ships, since it itself did not have high-speed battleships for operations against German raiders - “pocket battleships” and battle cruisers “Scharnhorst” and “Gneisenau”.
On September 2, the Raider Force left Brest to cover the passage to Casablanca of the minelayer cruiser "Pluto", which was supposed to set up a defensive barrier off the Moroccan coast (died on September 13 from the explosion of its own mine, repeating the fate of the Russian "Yenisei" near Port Arthur), and the passage of the cruiser "Jeanne d'Arc" to Martinique. On September 6, it returned to Brest to participate in the search for the France liner. During this operation, Dunkirk suffered its first losses - one of its seaplanes was killed and another was damaged.
On September 30, a message arrived that the English ship Clement had been sunk by the “pocket battleship” Admiral Graf Spee, which, according to intelligence data, was located somewhere in the South Atlantic. The British and French Admiralties decided to organize a search group (the British called such detachments “killer groups”) based in Dakar. On October 7, Strasbourg and two divisions of destroyers left Brest and, outside the port, linked up with the English aircraft carrier Hermes and the three French destroyers accompanying it. Three days later, the search group, now called Force X, was reinforced by the French heavy cruisers Algerie and Dupleix with two destroyers transferred from the Mediterranean squadron. Vice Admiral Duplat took command of the formation, choosing Algeri as his flagship. On October 16, the group intercepted and sank the German merchant ship Halle with artillery fire (according to German data, the crew sank it themselves), then returned to Dakar and went out on patrol again on the 23rd. Already on the 25th, Force X captured the German ship Santa Fe and returned to Dakar to refuel the destroyers. The search for the Admiral Spee continued at the end of October and throughout November, but was unsuccessful. At the end of the month, Strasbourg returned to Brest, where she underwent ongoing repairs at the shipyard in December. In the same December, the Admiral Spee was intercepted by an English cruiser group at the mouth of the La Plata River, damaged in battle, driven into the neutral harbor of Montevideo, where, without hope of a breakthrough, it was blown up by the crew.
"Admiral Graf Spee", the object of a long hunt by "Strasbourg", became the last German 'pocket battleship' built and the first to die in the Second World War.
Meanwhile, "Dunkirk" led another search. group, went to sea on October 22 to cover convoy KJ3 from Kingston (Jamaica), since reconnaissance reported that it could be intercepted by another pickpocket, the Deutschland. The group guarded the convoy until it reached a safe area, after which it returned to Brest.
The activity of French ships in the first months of the war was highly praised by the allies and on November 8, Churchill said in the House of Commons: “I want to draw your attention to the remarkable contribution to the common cause of the French fleet, which in many recent generations has never been as powerful and effective as it is now.” ". And later he wrote in his memoirs that French assistance at sea at the beginning of the war exceeded all expectations.
On November 25, "Dunkirk" with the light cruisers "Georges-Leigues" and "Montcalm" and 8 destroyers left Brest for a rendezvous with the English formation consisting of the battle cruiser "Hood" and 4 destroyers in order to jointly hunt for the "Deutschland", which reportedly moved into the North Sea. In fact, this Anglo-French formation pursued a more tempting goal - the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The Germans, who went to sea to distract the Allied forces from the South Atlantic, where the ring around the Admiral Spee was tightening, sank the auxiliary English cruiser Rawalpindi on November 23, but it managed to broadcast a radiogram. At 16:00 on the 25th, the English and French ships joined forces at Cape Land's End. The operation took place in very bad weather conditions and, as a result of a heavy storm, a leak opened in the forward compartments of the Dunkirk. Due to storm damage to the hull, difficulties arose with anchors and at times the speed had to be reduced to 10 knots. After an unsuccessful four-day search, the allied force was recalled to receive fuel in Belfast. But on November 30, a message arrived that German ships had been discovered north of the 65th parallel, and the formation had to urgently put to sea. It could have turned out to be an interesting battle between pairs of battlecruisers, a kind of revenge for the prelude to the Battle of Jutlad. "Hood" was certainly stronger than any "German", but "Dunkirk", against which "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" were created, would have had a hard time. Rapid-firing German 283-mm guns could, by hitting the mostly unarmored hull and superstructure of a French ship, literally stuffed with vital equipment, quickly deprive it of its combat effectiveness. True, in favor of the Allies, it was that the lower-sided German ships suffered much more severely from stormy weather: water flooded the bow towers of the main battery and their cellars, the bow cockpits were flooded through the cracks between the deformed plating sheets, large masses of water even fell on the bridges - and bow superstructure platforms. In addition, Nelson and Rodney rushed to the aid of the allies to the best of their ability. However, the Germans, using their last strength to strain their mechanisms, managed to slip between Bergen and the Shetland Islands and, with difficulty rowing against the icy waves at 12 knots, reached Wilhelmshaven on November 27. The search had to be stopped and Dunkirk returned to Brest on December 2.
Soon, London requested Dunkirk's participation in another important operation - escorting a convoy of seven passenger liners with Canadian troops for the British Expeditionary Force in Europe along the Halifax-London route.
They decided to use the transition to Canada for another important task - transporting gold to the USA to pay for military equipment. "Dunkirk" delivered 100 tons to Halifax, "Béarn", which went directly to the States for aircraft - 250 tons, later the liner Pasteur transported another 400 tons. On December 22, "Dunkirk" together with the light cruiser "Gloire" and the English battleship "Nelson" "left Halifax, covering the convoy, and after the end of the operation returned to Brest.
In the first months of 1940, both new French battleships were based in Brest, but soon, due to the threat of war with Italy, the Admiralty decided to transfer them to the Mediterranean base of Mers el-Kebir (Algeria). But no activity was observed off the African coast and Gensoul’s squadron was returned to Brest to participate in proposed operations off the coast of Norway. With the German invasion of this country, operations were canceled.
"Scharnhorst" and "Gneeenau" (1939, 32000 tons, 31 knots, 9 283/54.5.12 150/55.14 105/65 zen., 2x3 TA, side armor 45-350, main gun turrets 180 -360, barbettes 350-200 mm) were created in response to Dunkirk and Strasbourg and were dangerous opponents for them.
In accordance with the Allied plan of action in the Mediterranean, the French fleet was entrusted with control of its western part, while the British retained control of the eastern part. But due to the active actions of the British fleet near Norway, France had to temporarily be given responsibility for the entire Mediterranean Sea. On April 27, Dunkirk and Strasbourg, accompanied by light forces, again arrived in Mers-el-Kebir. With their appearance, the 2nd squadron of three Provence-class battleships, as well as several heavy cruisers and destroyers under the overall command of Vice Admiral Rene Godefroy, moved to Alexandria (Egypt) to reinforce the English squadron of Admiral Cunningham, which was based on two obsolete battleships. Three weeks later, when Cunningham received reinforcements from England, Provence and Brittany returned to Mers-el-Kebir, and Lorraine remained with the British at the head of French Force X. The final disposition before the start of the war in the Mediterranean was as follows: in Toulon - the 3rd squadron of 4 heavy cruisers and 12 destroyers; in Mers-el-Kebir and Algiers - Admiral Gensoul's fast battleships Dunkirk and Strasbourg, two old battleships of Rear Admiral Jacques Boxen, two divisions of cruisers and many destroyers; in Bizerte there are 6 submarine divisions; in Malta - British submarines; in Alexandria - Cunningham's squadron and the French Force "X" subordinate to him. Communication with the British was carried out through Admiral Esteve (Admiral of the South) with headquarters in Bizerte. Meanwhile, the Wehrmacht, whose tank columns had broken through the front on the Somme, was finishing off individual pockets of resistance by French troops.
On June 10, Italy declared war on France, which lasted only 15 days until the victory of the German army and the conclusion of an armistice. The Italian fleet had in service only two high-speed battleships of the Giulio Cesare type (former World War I dreadnoughts, modernized in response to the construction of Dunkirk), two were completing modernization, and two of the newest types were hastily equipped for combat operations. But there was a hypothetical danger of large German ships breaking through the Strait of Gibraltar to connect with the Italians. The Germans did not at all intend to drive their most valuable units into the bag of the Mediterranean Sea to certain death; they themselves needed them for operations in the North Atlantic. But fear has big eyes, especially since the shameful raid on the Mediterranean Sea by the German Goeben and Breslau at the beginning of the First World War was fresh in memory for the English and French fleets. Two German supply ships discovered by British aerial reconnaissance between the Faroe Islands and Iceland were identified as the Scharnhorsg and the Gneisenau, which were allegedly making a breakthrough through Gibraltar. Gensoul's squadron, led by the Dunkirk and Strasbourg, urgently reached the interception, but returned with nothing.
On June 23, near Minorca, four divisions of Italian cruisers under the command of Admiral Sansonetti attempted to intercept several French cruisers covering the convoy between Oran and Marseille. The Dunkirk and Strasbourg came to the aid of the latter from Mers-el-Kebir, and a division of cruisers came from Algeria. Under pressure from superior forces, the Italians, not accustomed to taking risks in such cases, began to retreat to their bases. It turned out to be impossible to reduce the distance and the chase had to be stopped. "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg" returned to Mers-el-Kebir, where they were caught by the armistice with Germany and Italy that came into force at 3 a.m. on June 25.
Back at 12:45 on June 24, the commander-in-chief of the French fleet, Admiral Darlan, sent a telegram to all naval bases with his vision of the terms of the truce:
1. Demobilized ships must remain French, under the French flag, with French crews and based at French bases in the metropolis and in the colonies.
2. Special secret sabotage measures should be taken to prevent the ships from being captured by force by any enemy or foreign state.
3. If, under the terms of the truce, the above is not accepted, all ships, without further orders, must leave for the United States or be sunk if there is no way to prevent their capture by the enemy. In any case, they should not fall intact into the hands of the enemy.
4. Ships thus interned shall not take part in operations against Germany or Italy without orders from the Commander-in-Chief.
A few hours later, the ships began to disarm in the bases, lowering national flags and jacks to half. All radio stations of the fleet stopped working at the request of the Germans, but soon they were allowed to transmit the results of the negotiations. I think it will be interesting for readers to know under what conditions the existence of the French fleet was allowed under the terms of the armistice with Germany. This issue was given two articles in the text of the armistice agreement:
Article 8. The French navy, with the exception of ships necessary for the French government to protect French interests in the colonies, must assemble in ports for recounting and disarmament under German or Italian control. The choice of these ports is determined by the registration of ships in peacetime. The German Government solemnly announces to the French Government that it does not intend to use the French fleet in ports under German control for its purposes in the war, with the exception of such combat units as will be necessary for coastal patrols and minesweeping. Moreover, it solemnly and sincerely declares that it does not intend to make any demands on the French navy during the conclusion of peace. With the exception of that part of the French fleet which will be designated to represent French interests in the colonies, all ships outside French territorial waters are to be recalled to France. Article 9. The French High Command shall provide the German High Command with detailed information about all minefields supplied by France, as well as about all harbours, coastal batteries and coastal defenses. Minefield sweeping must be carried out by French forces on the scale specified by the German High Command.
On June 24, a truce agreement with Italy was signed in Rome. Article 12 was devoted to fleet issues, which was identical to Article 8 of the German-French agreement. At the end of the month, the Dunkirk and Strasbourg with 6 destroyers stationed in Mers-el-Kebir were joined by the Provence, Brittany, four destroyers and the seaplane Commandant Test. The ships began demobilizing their crews and preparing for disarmament in accordance with the terms of the truce.
Drama in Mers el-Kebir
After France dropped out of the fight, the English fleet was able to cope with the combined naval forces of Germany and Italy. But the British, not without reason, feared that modern and powerful French ships could fall into enemy hands and be used against them. After all, Apart from the neutralized Force "X" in Alexandria and several cruisers, destroyers, the aircraft carrier "Béarn" and small ships scattered around the world, only two very old battleships "Paris" and "Courbet", 2 super-destroyers found refuge in English ports (leader), 8 destroyers, 7 submarines and other little things - in total no more than a tenth of the French fleet, judging by their displacement, and a complete insignificance, judging by their real strength. On June 17, the Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, Admiral Dudley Pound, reported to Prime Minister W. Churchill that in Gibraltar, under the command of Vice Admiral James Sommerville, Force "N" (H) was being concentrated, led by "Hood" and the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", which was supposed to monitor the movements of the French fleet.
When the truce became a fait accompli, Sommerville received orders to neutralize the French ships that represented the greatest potential threat, located in the ports of North Africa. Since it was not possible to do this through any diplomatic negotiations, the British, not accustomed to being shy in the choice of means, had no choice but to use rude force. But the French ships were quite powerful, stood in their own bases and under the protection of coastal batteries. Such an operation required an overwhelming superiority in forces in order to persuade the French to comply with the demands of the English government or, in case of refusal, to destroy. Sommerville's formation looked impressive: linear the cruiser Hood, the battleships Resolution and Valient (8,381 mm guns on each of the three), the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, the light cruisers Arethusa and Enterprise and 11 destroyers. – in Mers-el-Kebir, chosen as the main target of the attack, there were “Dunkirk”, “Strasbourg”, “Provence”, “Brittany”, the leaders of “Volta”, “Mogador”, “Tiger”, “Linke”, “Kersaint” " and "Terrible", seaplane carrier "Commandant Test". Nearby, at Oran (just a few miles to the east), there was a collection of destroyers, patrol ships, minesweepers and unfinished ships transferred from Toulon, and in Algiers, eight 7,800-ton cruisers. Since the large French ships in Mers-el-Kebir were moored to the pier with their stern towards the sea and their bows towards the shore, Sommerville decided to use the surprise factor. In general, the British were counting on a repeat of Abukir.
Battlecruiser "Hood" (1920, 36300 tons, 31 knots, 8 381/42, 6 140/50, 14 102 mm zen., side armor 127-305, turrets 381-178, barbettes 305-152 mm ), the flagship of Compound "H" at Mers-el-Kebir, and previously a partner of "Dunkirk" in the search group.
Formation "H" approached Mers el-Kebir on the morning of July 3, 1940. At exactly 7 o'clock GMT, the lone destroyer Foxhound entered the harbor with Captain Holland on board, who informed the French flagship on Dunkirk that he had an important message for him. Holland had previously been a naval attaché in Paris; many French officers knew him intimately, and in other circumstances Admiral Gensoul would have received him cordially. Imagine the surprise of the French admiral when he learned that the “report” * was nothing more than an ultimatum. And observers have already reported the appearance on the horizon of silhouettes of British battleships, cruisers and destroyers. This was a calculated move by Sommerville, reinforcing his envoy with a show of force. It was necessary to immediately show the French that they were not being trifled with. Otherwise, they could have prepared for battle and then the situation would have changed radically. But this allowed Gensoul to play off his offended dignity. He refused to talk to Holland, sending his flag officer, Lieutenant Bernard Dufay, to negotiate. Dufay was a close friend of Holland and spoke excellent English. Thanks to this, the negotiations were not interrupted before they began.
In Sommerville's ultimatum, written on behalf of "His Majesty's Government", after reminders of joint military service, the perfidy of the Germans and the previous agreement of June 18 between the governments of Britain and France that, before capitulation on land, the French fleet would join the British or be sunk, the French the commander of the naval forces in Mers el-Kebir and Oran was offered a choice of four options:
1) go to sea and join the British fleet to continue the fight until victory over Germany and Italy;
2) go to sea with reduced crews to sail to the British ports, after which the French sailors will be immediately repatriated, and the ships will be retained for France until the end of the war (full monetary compensation was offered for losses and damage);
3) in case of unwillingness to allow the possibility of using French ships against the Germans and Italians at all, so as not to violate the truce with them, go under English escort with reduced crews to French ports in the West Indies (for example, to Martinique) or to US ports where the ships will be disarmed and retained until the end of the war, and the crews repatriated;
4) in case of refusal of the first three options - sink the ships within 6 hours.
The ultimatum ended with a phrase that is worth quoting in full: “If you refuse the above, I have an order from His Majesty’s government to use all necessary forces to prevent your ships from falling into the hands of the Germans or Italians.” This, simply put, meant that the former allies would open fire to kill.
Admiral Sommerville's ships: top - "Resolution" (1916, modernized in 1930-1. 29150 tons, 22 knots, 8 381/42, 12 152/45, 8 102 mm zen, side armor 102-300 , 279-330 towers, 178-254 barbettes), below – “Valient” (1916, modern, in 1937-9, 29150 tons, 24 knots, 8 381/42, 20 114 mm univ., armor similar).
Zhensul rejected the first two options immediately; they directly violated the terms of the truce with the Germans. The third was also almost not considered, especially under the impression of the German ultimatum received that same morning: “Either the return of all ships from England or a complete revision of the terms of the truce.” At 9 o’clock Dufay conveyed to Holland the answer of his admiral, in which he stated that, since he has no right to surrender his ships without an order from the French Admiralty, and he can scuttle them according to the still valid order of Admiral Darlan only in case of danger of capture by the Germans or Italians, all that remains is to fight: the French will respond to force with force. Mobilization activities on the ships were stopped and preparations began to go to sea.It also included preparations for battle if necessary.
In 1050, Foxhound raised a signal that if the terms of the ultimatum were not accepted, Admiral Sommerville would not allow the French ships to leave the harbor. And to confirm this, the English seaplanes in b2 30 dropped several magnetic mines on the main fairway. Naturally, this made negotiations even more difficult.
The ultimatum expired at 14:00. At 13 10 a new signal was raised on the Foxhound: “If you accept the proposals, raise a square flag on the mainmast; otherwise I will open fire at 11-00.” All hopes for a peaceful outcome were dashed. The complexity of the position of the French commander also lay in the fact that on that day the French Admiralty was moving from Bordeaux to Vichy and there was no direct connection with Admiral Darlan. Admiral Gensoul tried to prolong the negotiations, raising a signal in response that he was awaiting a decision from his government, and a quarter of an hour later - a new signal that he was ready to receive Sommerville’s representative for an honest conversation. At 15 o'clock Captain Holland boarded the Dunkirk to negotiate with Admiral Gensoul and his staff. The most the French agreed to during a tense conversation was to reduce the crews, but refused to remove the ships from the base. As time passed, Sommerville's concern that the French would prepare for battle grew. At 16 15 , when Holland and Gensoul were still trying to maintain friendly relations, a dispatch came from the English commander, stopping all discussions: “If none of the proposals are accepted by 17 30 B.S.T (British Summer Time, i.e. British summer time) - I repeat, by 17 30 - I will be forced to sink your ships!" At 16 35 Holland left Dunkirk. The stage was set for the first clash between the French and English since 1815, when the guns fell silent at Waterloo.
The hours that had passed since the appearance of the English destroyer in the harbor of Mers el-Kebir were not in vain for the French. All ships were separated, pairs, and crews dispersed to their combat posts. The coastal batteries, which had begun to be disarmed, were now ready to open fire. 42 fighters stood at the airfields, warming up their engines for takeoff. All the ships in Oran were ready to go to sea, and 4 submarines were just waiting for the order to form a barrier between capes Aiguil and Falcon. The minesweepers were already trawling the channel from English mines. An alert was declared to all French forces in the Mediterranean Sea, 3rd a squadron in Toulon of four heavy cruisers and 12 destroyers and six cruisers in Algiers were ordered to go to sea ready for battle and hasten to join Admiral Gensoul, which he had to warn the British about.
And Sommerville was already on a combat course. His squadron in the wake formation was located 14,000 m north-northwest from Mers el-Kebir, course - 70, speed - 20 knots. At 16 56 (at 17 54 British time) the first salvo was fired. Fifteen-inch shells from the Resolution fell close to miss into the pier behind which the French ships stood, covering them with a hail of stones and fragments. A minute and a half later, Provence was the first to respond, firing 340 mm shells directly between the masts of the Dunkirk standing to its right. Admiral Zhensul had no intention of fighting at anchor, it was just that the cramped harbor did not allow all the ships to start moving at the same time (that’s what the British were counting on!). The battleships were ordered to form a column in the following order: Strasbourg, Dunkirk, Provence, Brittany. The superdestroyers were to go to sea independently - according to their ability. "Strasbourg", whose stern mooring lines and anchor chain were released even before the first salvo hit the pier, began moving immediately. And as soon as he left the parking lot, a shell hit the pier, fragments of which broke the halyards and signal yard on the ship and pierced the pipe. At 17 10 (18-10) Captain 1st Rank Louis Collinet brought his battleship to the main fairway and headed out to sea at a 15-knot speed. All 6 destroyers rushed after him.
When a volley of 381-mm shells hit the pier, the Dunkirk's mooring lines were released and the stern chain was poisoned. The tugboat, which was helping to lift the anchor, was forced to cut off the mooring lines when the second salvo hit the pier. The Dunkirk commander ordered the tanks with aviation gasoline to be immediately emptied and at 17:00 (18:00) he gave the order to open fire with the main caliber. Soon the 130-mm guns came into action. Since the Dunkirk was the ship closest to the British, the Hood, a former partner in the hunt for German raiders, concentrated its fire on it. At that moment, when the French ship began to move away from its anchorage, the first shell from the Hood hit it in the stern and, passing through the hangar and non-commissioned officer's cabins, exited through the side plating 2.5 meters below the waterline. This shell did not explode because the thin plates it pierced were not sufficient to arm the fuse. However, in his movement through the Dunkirk, he interrupted part of the electrical wiring on the port side, disabled the motors of the crane for lifting seaplanes and caused the flooding of the fuel tank. left side. The return fire was quick and accurate, although determining the distance was made difficult by the terrain and the location of Fort Santon between the Dunkirk and the British.
At about the same time, "Brittany" received a hit, and at 17 0 3 (18 03) A 381-mm shell hit the Provence, which was waiting for the Dunkirk to enter the fairway in order to follow it. A fire started in the stern of the Provence and a large leak opened. We had to push the ship to the shore with its nose at a depth of 9 meters. K 17 07 (18 07 ) the fire engulfed the Brittany from stem to stern, and two minutes later the old battleship began to capsize and suddenly exploded, taking with it the lives of 977 crew members. They began to rescue the rest from the seaplane Commandant Test, which miraculously avoided being hit during the entire battle.
The Dunkirk, entering the fairway at a 12-knot speed, was hit by a salvo of three 381-mm shells. The first hit the roof of the main battery turret No. 2 above the port of the right outer gun, severely denting the armor. Most of the shell ricocheted and fell to the ground about 2,000 meters from the ship. A piece of armor or part of a projectile hit the charging tray inside the right “half-tower”, igniting the first two quarters of the unloaded powder cartridges. All the servants of the “half-tower” died in smoke and flame, but the left “half-tower” continued to operate - the armored partition isolated the damage.
The second shell hit next to the 2-gun 130-mm turret on the starboard side, closer to the center of the ship from the edge of the 225-mm belt and pierced the 115-mm armored deck. The shell seriously damaged the turret's reloading compartment, blocking the supply of ammunition. Continuing its movement towards the center of the ship, it broke through two anti-fragmentation bulkheads and exploded in the air conditioning and fan compartment. The compartment was completely destroyed, all its personnel were killed or seriously wounded. Meanwhile, in the starboard reloading compartment, several charging cartridges caught fire and several 130-mm shells loaded into the elevator exploded.
And here all the servants were killed. An explosion also occurred near the air duct to the forward engine room. Hot gases, flames and thick clouds of yellow smoke penetrated through the armored grille in the lower armored deck into the compartment, where 20 people died and only ten managed to escape, and all the mechanisms failed. This hit turned out to be very serious, as it led to a disruption in the power supply, which caused the fire control system to fail. The intact bow turret had to continue firing under local control.
The third shell fell into the water next to the starboard side, a little further aft of the second, dived under the 225-mm belt and pierced all the structures between the skin and the anti-tank missile, upon impact with which it exploded.
Its trajectory in the body passed in the area of KO No. 2 and MO No. 1 (external shafts).
The explosion destroyed the lower armored deck along the entire length of these compartments, the armored slope above the fuel tank, anti-tank missiles and the starboard tunnel for cables and pipelines. The shell fragments caused a fire in the right boiler of KO No. 2, damaged several valves on the pipelines and broke the main steam line between the boiler and the turbine unit. The superheated steam that escaped with a temperature of up to 350 degrees caused fatal burns to the CO personnel who were standing in open places.
On the Dunkirk, after these hits, only KO No. 3 and MO No. 2 continued to operate, serving the internal shafts, which gave a speed of no more than 20 knots. Damage to the starboard cables caused a brief interruption in power supply to the stern until the port power supply was turned on. I had to switch to manual steering. With the failure of one of the main substations, the bow emergency diesel generators were turned on. The emergency lights came on, and Tower No. 1 continued to fire fairly frequently at the Hood.
In total, until the ceasefire order was received at 17 10 (1810 ) "Dunkirk" fired 40 330-mm shells at the English flagship, the salvoes of which were very dense. By this point, after 13 minutes of shooting almost motionless ships in the harbor, the situation no longer looked unpunished for the British. "Dunkirk" and coastal batteries fired intensely, which became more and more accurate, "Strasbourg" with the destroyers almost went to sea. The only thing missing was the Mogador, which, when leaving the harbor, slowed down to let the tug through, and a second later received a 381-mm shell in the stern. The explosion detonated 16 depth charges and the stern of the destroyer was torn off almost along the bulkhead of the stern ship. But he was able to touch his nose to the shore at a depth of approximately. 6.5 meters and, with the help of small ships arriving from Oran, began to extinguish the fire.
The British, satisfied with the sinking of one and damage to three ships, turned to the west and set up a smoke screen. "Strasbourg" with five destroyers went for a breakthrough. "Linke" and "Tiger" attacked the submarine "Proteus" with depth charges, preventing it from launching an attack on the battleship. The Strasbourg itself opened heavy fire on the English destroyer Wrestler, which was guarding the exit from the harbor, forcing it to quickly retreat under the cover of a smoke screen. The French ships began to develop full speed. At Cape Canastel they were joined by six more destroyers from Oran. To the northwest, within firing range, the English aircraft carrier Ark Royal was visible, practically defenseless against 330 mm and 130 mm shells. But the battle did not happen. But six Swordfish with 124 kg bombs lifted from the deck of the Ark Royal, accompanied by two Skues at 17 45 (1845 ) attacked ‘Strasbourg.’ But they did not achieve any hits, and with dense and accurate anti-aircraft fire, one “Ske” was shot down, and two “swarfish” were so damaged that on the way back they fell into the sea.
Admiral Sommerville decided to give chase on the flagship Hood, the only one who could catch up with the French ship. But by 19 (20) o'clock the distance between the Hood and Strasbourg was 44,000 m and did not intend to decrease. In an attempt to reduce the speed of the French ship, Sommerville ordered the Ark Royal to attack the retreating enemy with torpedo bombers. After 40-50 minutes, the Swordfish carried out two attacks with a short interval, but all the torpedoes dropped outside the curtain of destroyers missed. The destroyer "Pursuvant" (from Oran) informed the battleship in advance about the torpedoes noticed, and "Strasbourg" managed to shift the rudder in time every time. The chase had to be stopped. Moreover, the destroyers following with the Hood were running out of fuel, the Valient and the Resolution were in a dangerous area without an anti-submarine escort, and there were reports from everywhere that strong detachments of cruisers and destroyers were approaching from Algeria. This meant being drawn into a night battle with superior forces. Force "H" returned to Gibraltar on July 4.
"Strasbourg" continued to leave at a 25-knot speed until an accident occurred in one of the boiler rooms. As a result, five people died and the speed had to be reduced to 20. nodes After 45 minutes, the damage was repaired and the ship again increased its speed to 25 knots. Rounding the southern tip of Sardinia to avoid further collisions with Force H, at 20 10 On July 4, Strasbourg, accompanied by the leaders of Volta, Tiger and Terrible, came to Toulon.
But let's return to Dunkirk. At 17 10 (1810 ) On July 3, he was in such a state that he was about to leave. It was better not to think about the sea. Admiral Gensoul ordered the damaged ship to leave the channel and proceed to the harbor of Saint-André, where Fort Santon and the terrain could provide some protection from British artillery fire. After 3 minutes, "Dunkirk" carried out the order and dropped anchor at a depth of 15 meters. The crew began to inspect the damage. The results were disappointing.
Turret No. 3 (2-gun 130-mm starboard) failed due to a fire in the reloading compartment, the servants of which died. The starboard electrical wiring was interrupted and the emergency parties tried to restore the power supply to the combat posts by putting other circuits into operation. The bow MO and its KO were out of action, as well as the elevator of turret No. 4 (2-gun 130 mm installation on the port side). Tower No. 2 (GK) can be controlled manually, but there is no power supply to it. Tower No. 1 is intact and powered by 400 kW diesel generators. The hydraulic mechanisms for opening and closing armored doors are disabled due to damage to the valves and storage tank. The rangefinders of 330 mm and 130 mm guns do not work due to lack of energy. Smoke from turret No. 4 forced the bow 130-mm magazines to be battened down during the battle. At about 8 p.m., new explosions occurred in the elevator of tower No. 3. Needless to say, it’s not fun. In this condition, the ship could not continue the battle. But, by and large, only three shells hit.
Fortunately. "Dunkirk" was at the base. Admiral Zhensul ordered to push him to the shallows. Before touching the ground, the shell hole in the area of KO No. 1, which caused the flooding of several fuel tanks and empty compartments on the starboard side, was repaired. The evacuation of unnecessary personnel began immediately; 400 people were left on board for repair work. At about 19 o'clock, the tugboats Estrel and Cotentin, together with the patrol ships Ter Neuve and Setus, pulled the battleship to the shore, where it ran aground at a depth of 8 meters with about 30 meters of the central part of the hull. For the 400 people left on board, a difficult time began. The installation of the patch began in places where the casing was broken through. After full recovery. power supply, began the grim work of searching for and identifying their fallen comrades.
On July 4, Admiral Esteva, commander of naval forces in North Africa, issued a communiqué stating that "Dunkirk's damage is minor and will be quickly repaired." This reckless statement prompted a swift response from the Royal Navy. On the evening of July 5, Formation "N" again went to sea, leaving the slow-moving "Resolution" in the base. Admiral Sommerville decided, instead of conducting another artillery battle, to proceed in a completely modern manner, to use aircraft from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal to attack - stuck - to the shore of the Dunkirk. 20 On July 6, while 90 miles from Oran, the Ark Royal launched 12 Swordfish torpedo bombers, accompanied by 12 Skue fighters. The torpedoes were set at a speed of 27 knots and a running depth of about 4 meters. The air defense of Mers el-Kabir was not ready to repel the attack in pat light and only the second wave of aircraft met more intense anti-aircraft fire. And only then did the intervention of French fighters follow.
Unfortunately, the commander of the Dunkirk evacuated the anti-aircraft guns to the shore, leaving only the personnel of the emergency parties on board. The patrol vessel "Terre Neuve" stood alongside, receiving some of the crew members and coffins of those killed on July 3. During this sad procedure, at 06:28, a raid of British planes began, attacking in three waves. Two Swordfish of the first wave dropped their torpedoes prematurely and they exploded on impact with the pier, causing no damage. Nine minutes later, the second wave approached, but none of the three torpedoes dropped hit Dunkirk. But one torpedo hit Ter Neuve, which was just in a hurry to move away from the battleship. The explosion literally tore the small ship in half, and debris from its superstructure showered the Dunkirk.
At 0650, 6 more Swordfish appeared with fighter cover. The flight entering from the starboard side came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and was attacked by fighters. The dropped torpedoes again failed to reach their target. The last group of three vehicles attacked from the left side. This time, two torpedoes rushed towards the Dunkirk diagonally from the port side. One hit the Estrel tugboat, which was located about 70 meters from the battleship, and literally blew it off the surface of the water. The second, apparently with a faulty depth gauge, passed under the keel of the Dunkirk and, hitting the stern of the Terre Neuve wreckage, caused the detonation of forty-two 100-kilogram depth charges, despite their lack of fuses. The consequences of the explosion were terrible. A hole about 40 meters long appeared in the right side plating. Several of the belt's armor plates were displaced and water filled the side protection system. The force of the explosion tore off a steel plate above the armor belt and threw it onto the deck, burying several people underneath it. The anti-torpedo bulkhead was torn from its fastenings over a distance of 40 meters, and other watertight bulkheads were torn or deformed. There was a strong list to starboard and the ship sank with its nose so that the water rose above the armor belt. The compartments behind the damaged bulkhead were flooded with salt water and liquid fuel. As a result of this attack and the previous battle on Dunkirk, 210 people died. There is no doubt that if the ship were in deep water, such an explosion would lead to its rapid death.
A temporary patch was applied to the hole and on August 8 the Dunkirk was pulled into free water. Repair work progressed very slowly. And where were the French in a hurry? Only on February 19, 1942, Dunkirk went to sea in complete secrecy. When the workers arrived in the morning, they saw their tools neatly stacked on the embankment and... nothing else. At 23- 00 The next day the ship reached Toulon, carrying on board some scaffolding from Mers-el-Kebir.
The British ships did not receive any damage in this operation. But they hardly completed their task. All modern French ships survived and took refuge in their bases. That is, the danger that, from the point of view of the British Admiralty and government, existed from the former allied fleet remained. In general, these fears seem somewhat far-fetched. Did the British really think they were stupider than the Germans? After all, the Germans were able to scuttle their fleet interned at the British Scapa Flow base in 1919. But at that time their disarmed ships were left with far from full crews; the war in Europe had already ended a year ago, and the British Royal Navy was in complete control of the situation at sea. Why could one expect that the Germans, who also did not have a strong fleet, would be able to prevent the French from sinking their ships in their own bases? Most likely, the reason that forced the British to treat their former ally so cruelly was something else...
The main result of this operation can be considered that the attitude towards the former allies among the French sailors, who before July 3 were almost 100% pro-English, changed and, naturally, not in favor of the British. And only almost two and a half years later, the British leadership was convinced that its fears regarding the French fleet were in vain, and that hundreds of sailors died in vain on his instructions in Mers-el-Kebir. Faithful to their duty, the French sailors, at the first threat of their fleet being captured by the Germans, sank their ships, including the Dunkirk and Strasbourg lost by the British. But more on that below.
Toulon tragedy
The Dunkirk, which arrived in Toulon for final repairs, was placed in one of Vauban's dry docks, but due to a lack of funds, the work was carried out very slowly. The perfectly serviceable Strasbourg remained in Toulon during 1941-42. Before Admiral Zhensul became the Chief Inspector of the fleet, he flew his flag on it. Later, Admiral de Laborde chose him as his flagship. There was little fuel and this limited the ship's operations to short trips near Toulon. Strasbourg's operations during this period amounted to between a quarter and a third of pre-war levels.
On November 8, 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa and a few days later the French garrisons ceased resistance. All the ships that were on the Atlantic coast of Africa also surrendered to the allies. In retaliation, Hitler ordered the occupation of southern France, although this was a violation of the terms of the 1940 armistice. At dawn on November 27, German tanks entered Toulon.
At that time, this French naval base housed about 80 warships, the most modern and powerful, collected from all over the Mediterranean - more than half the tonnage of the fleet. The main striking force, the High Seas Fleet of Admiral de Laborde, consisted of the flagship Strasbourg, the heavy cruisers Algerie, Dupleix and Colbert, the cruisers Marseillaise and Jean de Vienne, 10 leaders and 3 destroyers. The commander of the naval district of Toulon, Vice Admiral Marcus, had under his command the battleship Provence, the seaplane carrier Commandant Guest, two destroyers, 4 destroyers and 10 submarines. The remaining ships (the damaged Dunkirk, the heavy cruiser Foch, the light La Galissoniere, 8 leaders, 6 destroyers and 10 submarines) were disarmed under the terms of the truce and had only part of the crew on board.
But Toulon was not only crowded with sailors. A huge wave of refugees, driven by the German army, flooded the city, making it difficult to organize defense and creating a lot of rumors that caused panic. The army regiments that came to the aid of the base garrison were resolutely opposed to the Germans, but the naval command was more concerned about the possibility of a repeat of Mers el-Kebir by the Allies, who sent powerful squadrons into the Mediterranean. In general, we decided to prepare to defend the base from everyone and scuttle the ships, both in case of threat of their capture by the Germans and the Allies.
At the same time, two German tank columns entered Toulon, one from the west, the other from the east. The first had the task of capturing the main shipyards and berths of the base, where the largest ships were located, the other was the command post of the district commandant and the Murillon shipyard. Admiral de Laborde was on his flagship when in 05- 20 a message arrived that the Murillon shipyard had already been captured. Five minutes later, German tanks blew up the northern gate of the base. Admiral de Laborde immediately radioed a general order to the fleet for immediate scuttling. The radio operators repeated it continuously, and the signalmen raised flags on the halyards: “Drown! Drown! Drown!”
It was still dark and the German tanks got lost in the maze of warehouses and docks of the huge base. Only at about 6 o'clock one of them appeared at the Milkhod piers, where the Strasbourg and three cruisers were moored. The flagship had already moved away from the wall, the crew was preparing to leave the ship. Trying to do at least something, the tank commander ordered the cannon to be fired at the battleship (the Germans assured that the shot happened by accident). The shell hit one of the 130-mm turrets, killing an officer and wounding several sailors who were setting demolition charges at the guns. Immediately the anti-aircraft guns opened fire back, but the admiral ordered it to stop.
It was still dark. A German infantryman walked to the edge of the pier and shouted at the Strasbourg: “Admiral, my commander says that you must surrender your ship undamaged.”
De Laborde shouted back: “It’s already flooded.”
A discussion ensued on the shore in German and a voice was heard again: “Admiral! My commander conveys to you his deepest respect.”
Meanwhile, the commander of the ship, having made sure that the kingstons in the engine rooms were open and that there were no people left in the lower decks, sounded the siren signal for execution. Immediately the Strasbourg was surrounded by explosions - one gun after another screamed. Internal explosions caused the skin to swell and the cracks and tears that formed between its sheets accelerated the flow of water into the huge hull. Soon the ship sank to the bottom of the harbor on an even keel, plunging 2 meters into the mud. The upper deck was 4 meters under water. Oil spilled all around from ruptured tanks.
There was also an interesting discussion on the heavy cruiser Algeri, the flagship of Vice Admiral Lacroix, standing across the pier from Strasbourg. When a German officer approached the pier, the cruiser had already received 2,500 tons of water and was close to flooding. All the guns were blown up, with the exception of the aft turret, where they were just waiting for the order to light the fuse.
The German said: “We have come to capture the ship.”
“You’re a little late,” Lacroix replied. "It almost sank."
"Are you going to blow it up?" - "No".
“In that case,” said the German, “we will go on board.”
“In that case,” Lacroix replied, “I’ll blow it up.”
Immediately, flames blazed from the pilothouse windows and almost simultaneously the aft tower exploded. The Algerie burned for two days, and the cruiser Marseillaise, which sat next to it on the bottom with a 30-degree list, burned for more than a week. The cruiser Colbert, closest to Strasbourg, began to explode when two crowds collided at its side—the French fleeing from it and the Germans trying to get on board. Under the whistling of fragments flying from everywhere, people rushed about in search of protection, illuminated by a bright flame set on fire on the plane's catapult. The Germans managed to board the heavy cruiser Dupleix, moored in the Missiessi basin. But then explosions began and the ship sank with a large list, and then was completely destroyed by the explosion of the cellars at 08 30 . They were also unlucky with the battleship "Provence", although it did not start sinking longer than others, since it received a telephone message from the base commandant's headquarters captured by the Germans: "An order has been received from Monsieur Laval (Prime Minister of the Vichy government - author) that the incident is over." When they realized that this was a provocation, the crew did 4 everything possible so that the ship does not reach the enemy. The maximum that the Germans, who managed to climb onto the tilting deck that was leaving under their feet, could do was declare the officers of the Provence prisoners of war. and headquarters officials led by the division commander, Rear Admiral Marcel Jarry.
The Dunkirk, which was docked and had almost no crew, was more difficult to sink. On the ship, they opened everything that could let water into the hull, and then opened the dock gates. But it was easier to drain the dock than to raise a ship lying at the bottom. Therefore, everything that could be of interest was destroyed on the Dunkirk: guns, turbines, rangefinders, radio equipment and optical instruments, control posts and entire superstructures were blown up. This ship never sailed again.
On June 18, 1940, in Bordeaux, the commander of the French fleet, Admiral Darlan, his assistant Admiral Ofan and a number of other senior naval officers gave their word to representatives of the British fleet that they would never allow the capture of French ships by the Germans. They fulfilled their promise by sinking 77 of the most modern and powerful ships in Toulon: 3 battleships, 7 cruisers, 32 destroyers of all classes, 16 submarines, seaplane transport, 18 patrol and smaller ships.
In the hands of the enemy
The further fate of the fleet sunk in Toulon was in the hands of the Germans and Italians. The former were not at all interested in the exploded ships lying under water, and the latter viewed them not only as a means of possibly strengthening their naval forces, but as a potential threat in the future. All measures had to be taken to prevent these ships from becoming the core of the new French fleet after the war. The Italians wasted no time and after the German statement on December 3 that “all warships belonging to the French State have been confiscated,” they demanded the lion’s share. Of the 70 ships of interest with a total displacement of 237,049 tons, they modestly requested 212,559 tons, leaving the Germans with only 24,490 tons of small ships.
Crowds of Italian engineers rushed to Toulon. The specially formed Italian Salvage Company of Toulon, under the leadership of the chief Italian shipbuilder Giannelli, quickly assembled personnel and equipment from all Italian salvage companies and began work with enviable energy. On December 22, the command of the Italian fleet even appointed a commander over those ships that could be raised in the near future. In early January 1943, despite protests from the French Admiralty over flagrant violations of the terms of the 1940 armistice, the leaders of the destroyers Lyon, Tiger and Panther, as well as the destroyer Trombe, were raised. These were ships that were practically devoid of crew at the time of the sinking, which did not allow them to be destroyed properly. They were towed to Italy and, after repairs, completed for the Italian Navy. During the 220 days spent under a foreign flag, these ships spent from 20 to 40 days at sea. But every cloud has a silver lining. After Italy's surrender to the Allies in September 1943, the Lyon and Panther were sunk in La Spezia, but the other two returned to their old owners, becoming the only ones from the sunken Toulon Fleet who returned to the service of the Republic.
By June, the Italians had raised or docked three cruisers, seven leaders and the seaplane Commandant Test, and before their surrender they were able to raise only 30 combat units, not counting 4 minesweepers and three small destroyers raised by the Germans, as well as ships that were not subject to repairs and were immediately scrapped. Needless to say, enviable performance! Hundreds of tons of scrap metal, armor plates, catapults, and other equipment and fittings were sent to Italy in a wide stream. In short, everything that could be removed and that could be at least somehow useful to the new owners. From the Strasbourg raised on July 17, they removed the catapult, superstructures and armor from one of the towers, and from the Dunkirk that remained in the dock - the conning tower and internal equipment (pipelines, cables, fittings). To free the dock from Dunkirk, the Italians cut off and towed away the damaged bow. Further dismantling of the ship was prevented by allied aviation, which, during one of its raids on Toulon, damaged the aft section remaining in the dock. But in order to completely bring Dunkirk to an irreparable state, the Italians even cut off the barrels of the 330-mm guns. This, one might say, naval looting, continued even after the fall of Mussolini's regime on July 25, 1943. Despite the futile protests of the French, the Italians in June, August and September also captured the destroyers Siroco, Lansquenet and Hardy, and the submarine Henri Poincaré. Although already on August 1, the new Italian government of Marshal Badoglio prepared an agreement with the allies, and on the 19th, negotiations began in Lisbon. Now the Italians had to scuttle the captured ships so that they would not fall to the Germans.
As soon as the Germans learned about the Negotiations between the “pasta makers” and the Allies, they immediately arrested all the Italians conducting rescue work in Toulon. The French leadership, taking advantage of the situation, turned to the Germans with a request for permission to place French guards on the raised ships, which would become the core of the post-war fleet. After short negotiations, the Germans agreed on September 25 to consider the ships sunk in Toulon to be the property of the French fleet. But only on April 1, 1944, the French were allowed to take measures to preserve those ships that could be of combat value in the future: Strasbourg, Dunkirk, seaplane Commandant Test, the cruiser La Galissoniere and four 1800-ton destroyers . Captain 1st Rank Emil Rosset was appointed to command this “fleet,” who carefully selected 150-200 sailors for work. The remaining ships were scrapped or used for various military experiments. The condition of the “Dunkirk” was so bad that it was impossible to restore them. Moreover, the Germans demanded by any means to remove it from the dock, which they intended to use for their ships.
Toulon became increasingly subject to Allied air raids. Nalrimer, during the raid on November 24, 1943, six of the raised ships (cruiser and 5 destroyers) went to the bottom for the second time, and the cruiser, 2 leaders and the destroyer received new damage. And Captain 1st Rank Rosset decided to transfer the Strasbourg and La Galissoniere from the Toulon roadstead to Lazare Bay. By August, out of more than 35 ships supported, allied aircraft had sunk about 20, and by the time Toulon was captured, its raid was completely empty for the second time. Of course, the point was not the skill of the American pilots (in fact, their target was German submarines). The ships simply stood idle and without enough people on board to conduct anti-aircraft fire and fight for survivability.
The final
On August 20, 1940, the battleship Lorraine, the cruisers Georges Leygues and Montcalm from the Free French fleet, together with British and American ships, began bombing coastal batteries and German fortifications near Toulon, preparing for the landing of the Allied forces. Admiral Ernst von Schörlen, commander of the coastal defense of southern France, ordered the German commandant of Toulon, Admiral Heinrich Ruhfuss, to scuttle all ships in the base in order to block the fairway and destroy all coastal objects of the base. On August 21, German tugboats approached the Strasbourg and the cruiser La Galissoniere, stationed near Saint-Mandre, to take them to the southern channel and scuttle them there as fire ships. In the northern fairway, the Germans had already sunk the tanker Garonne." But Captain 1st Rank Rosset sank the barge around the barge in advance, so that the ships could not be moved from the site. But the Germans' work was carried out by American B-25 aircraft from the 321st Bomber Air Group, operating on an erroneous message about the combat readiness of the "Strasbourg". In fact, the ship had not only no crew, but also no ammunition, and the rangefinders had long been stolen by thieving Italians. Only a few Germans on board opened fire on the planes with small arms.
In total, 36 aircraft dropped 44,454 kg of general purpose bombs and 108,454 kg of semi-armor-piercing bombs on the two ships. Approximate locations of hits on Strasbourg are shown in the figure.
Approximate locations of bomb hits on the Strasbourg, August 1944.
One general purpose bomb hit the upper deck in front of the catapult installation site, slightly to the right of its axis. The catapult itself was removed long ago by the Italians. The bomb pierced the upper and main decks and exploded 6.1 meters from the starboard side plating, creating a hole measuring 7.92 by 3.43 meters in it. Above the hole, the sheathing sheets were bent, the main one. the deck shifted upward by 10.67 meters, and a deflection with a diameter of 3 meters and a height of 17 mm formed in the lower deck.
Another bomb hit the starboard side between the hangar and the base of the catapult and exploded near the lower deck. The riveted seam of the skin was torn over a length of 10.6 meters, swellings formed in the upper and main decks in the area of the impact, and a number of reinforcement on the lower deck was destroyed or damaged over a length of about 23 meters.
Another bomb hit the left side exactly opposite the previous one, penetrated the upper deck and exploded 3 meters from the side immediately above the main one. The riveted seam tore apart over a length of 8.7 meters, and the upper deck plating around the impact site was torn and bulged.
A semi-armor-piercing bomb hit the left side 4.5 meters from the third hit, penetrated the upper deck and exploded upon impact with a strip of 100 mm armor between two hatches. The armor failed and the bulkhead between the hatches was completely destroyed. As a result of this and the previous hit, several rooms were severely damaged, and three packages of electrical cables were broken by shrapnel.
Another general purpose bomb hit near the breech of the outer right gun of turret No. 2. At the point of impact, a hole 50 mm deep and 0.6 m in diameter was formed in the barrel. The barrel of the adjacent gun was chipped and scratched by shrapnel. It was not possible to determine how much this hit damaged the guns, tjc. no shooting was done after that.
Another similar bomb hit the 150-mm roof armor of the same turret and its fragments seriously damaged the bow superstructure. The next one exploded on the deck of the lower bridge, in which a hole measuring 1.73x1.14 m was formed. The casing of a nearby generator was pierced by shrapnel, and several cables were also broken.
The last semi-armor-piercing bomb hit in front of turret No. 2 just to the right of the centreline and exploded between the main and lower decks. The force of the explosion bent the upper deck plating to the stern, which would have prevented turret No. 2 from pointing to the starboard side. Bulkheads and fittings on the main deck sustained extensive damage over 15.24 m.
The seriously damaged Strasbourg landed on the ground. The sinking was caused by close explosions of bombs in the water, which damaged the hull at the waterline. Proper survivability control was not carried out due to the lack of a crew on board, but if there had been one, the loss of life would have been enormous. The heaviest damage was received by the superstructures, hull components and electrical systems. The latter, without a doubt, would have disabled the control of the ship and made it difficult to fight for survivability. La Galissoniere sank nearby, and the Americans also managed to sink several German small ships. At that time On the same day, the city itself was visited by 130 B-26 bombers.
After liberation, Strasbourg was planned to be restored at a shipyard in the United States, but due to extensive damage this idea had to be abandoned. The ship was raised only in 1946, when the French Admiralty, in need of ships, proposed converting its hull into a light aircraft carrier. Later, this plan was rejected due to lack of funds, and the ship itself was used for experiments with underwater explosions. In May 1955, what was left of the Strasbourg was sold for 458 million francs (-$1.208 million) and dismantled for metal in Toulon.
The French removed the remains of the Dunkirk from the dock immediately after the end of the war - the dock was needed, and the Dunkirk was left to rust in one of the nooks and crannies of the base. Only in 1958, the remaining part of the once beautiful ship was sold for scrap for 253 million francs.
Summary
In the Dunkirk and Strasbourg projects, French shipbuilders demonstrated some new concepts, which then formed the basis for the design of the much more powerful Richelieu-class battleships. Both ships were a response to the German battleships of the Deutschland type, and their protection was designed to counter guns no higher than 280 mm in caliber. "Dunkirk" can rightfully be considered a battle cruiser, which is supported by its high speed, good autonomy and lack of truly powerful armor. The latter was clearly demonstrated in the battle of Mers el-Kebir, where he suffered severely from British 381 mm shells. Strasbourg can be considered a small battleship because her vertical armor was much thicker, but her horizontal armor and gun caliber were relatively weak compared to other World War II battleships.
The main disadvantage of the project was its limited displacement. And in any case, with such a limitation, the design of a ship that is balanced in all respects is hampered by inevitable compromises in the choice of weapons and protection, which as a result led to the creation of a ship that is unable to withstand an artillery duel with the majority of contemporary battleships. Only the modernized Italian battleships with 320-mm guns of the Giulio Cesare and Andrea Doria types, the Japanese Kongo type, as well as the German Scharnhorst and Gneusenau and the American Alaska type (in fact large cruisers).
When comparing Dunkirk and Strasbourg with previous Provence-class ships built, it may seem that the French were reducing firepower in favor of defense, but this is not entirely true. The eight 330mm guns were more powerful than the 10 older 340mm guns. Due to the increase in artillery range and bombing accuracy, more attention was paid to protection, especially horizontal, than before. If Provence had a total deck thickness of only 89 mm, then the new ships are 155-165 mm. Mainly due to this, the relative armor weight increased from 34% to 40-42%.The principle of strengthening horizontal protection can be seen in all subsequent battleship projects.
The underwater defense system was one of the deepest in the world. The explosion of 42 depth charges (almost 4 tons of explosives!) at the side of the Dunkirk confirmed its effectiveness, although the force of the explosion in that case was directed towards the surface of the water and away from the ship, and the ship itself was located in a base where it was easier to fight for survivability and, if necessary, you can stick to the shore. With minor modifications, this system was also used on the Richelieu class.
The versatile 130mm artillery was technically advanced by design. Already at the time of designing Dunkirk, French shipbuilders were correctly convinced; that in a future war aviation will become one of the decisive factors. They were willing to sacrifice one or two main battery guns to give the ship decent protection from aircraft. But close-range air defense was weak. If the ships had actively participated in the war and had survived to the end not dismantled, but in service, then they would probably have received a completely new light anti-aircraft battery, complementing their 16 130-mm guns, as was done on the Richelieu. and "Jean Baret".
Concentrating the main gun in the nose was a bold but understandable decision. After all, the emphasis was on saving weight. When placing the main battery turrets in the bow, only one director was required (UAO post), the length of the armored citadel was reduced, and the boats and aircraft equipment were well insulated from the effects of muzzle gases. But a serious drawback, also evident in Mers el-Kebir, was the lack of fire in the aft sector.
The power plant turned out to be compact, but its location in only five compartments reduced its survivability. One hit could deprive the ship of power on two shafts at once. This risk was partially compensated by deep PTZ.
The design featured many innovative ideas and for their size, Dunkirk and Strasbourg were extremely powerful and well-protected ships. Particularly successful in design were the PTZ system, good horizontal protection and a powerful universal battery. As battlecruisers, they were excellent, but they were not suitable for battle with battleships.
The first design of the new capital unit was completed in 1926. It was planned to create a battle cruiser designed to destroy Washington cruisers and attack convoys guarded by battleships. The result was a rather strange ship with a displacement of 17,500 tons, a speed of 34-36 knots, very weak armor and armament from four-gun turrets with 305-mm guns placed asymmetrically on the sides. This project was considered a failure.
A revival in the design of capital ships began in France after the news of the laying down of the first pocket battleship in Germany. By 1930, a design had been prepared for a battlecruiser with a displacement of 25,000 tons with armor protecting against 280 mm pickpocket shells and armed with 305 mm guns. After a number of adjustments, in particular the strengthening of armament, the project was ready by 1931, but construction began only a year later due to opposition from the French parliament.
After receiving news of the laying of two Littorio-class battleships in Italy, a decision was made to build a second Dunkirk-class ship, but with enhanced armor. Deputies allocated money immediately for the construction of Strasbourg.
Design
Dunkirk was designed under strict displacement restrictions (parliamentarians wanted a cheaper ship), which predetermined the use of unconventional solutions on it. So, to save weight, all the main caliber artillery was located in the nose, in two four-gun turrets - for the first time in the world. To reduce vulnerability, the turrets were widely spaced along the length of the hull, and inside they were divided into two half-turrets, separated by an armored bulkhead. The main caliber was chosen to ensure reliable destruction of pocket battleships. Fire directly to the stern was impossible, but the firing sectors of the towers were very large - 286° lower and 300° upper. The 330 mm guns could send 570 kg shells at a range of up to 41,700 meters. Fire control was carried out using one command and rangefinder post at the top of the tower-like superstructure; in addition, there were rangefinders in each tower.
Also for the first time, Dunkirk received universal artillery. However, its suitability for air defense purposes turned out to be conditional - the four-gun turrets of the 130 mm guns turned out to be too clumsy, and the guns themselves were not fast enough. The light anti-aircraft battery did not meet the requirements of the Second World War at all, but this drawback was characteristic of all pre-war battleships.
The armor was designed to withstand 280 mm shells from pocket battleships. It was carried out according to the “all or nothing” principle. An armor belt 225 mm thick was installed inside the hull and protected only the artillery magazines and the power plant. Further, the Dunkirk was completely unprotected bow and stern. The French battleship became the first capital ship designed with airborne threats in mind. The armored deck was unusually thick by the standards of previous years - its thickness reached 115 mm above the power plant and 130 mm above the artillery magazines. The anti-torpedo protection system was also considered relatively reliable.
Unconventional solutions made it possible to choose very sharp contours of the bow for the ship, thanks to which Dunkirk developed high speed with moderate turbine power. During testing, it showed 31.06 knots when boosting the power plant. The new layout also made it possible to place all aircraft equipment and lifeboats in the stern, away from the muzzle gases of heavy guns. According to participants in the 1937 Spithead parade, Dunkirk was recognized as the most beautiful warship.
File:Dunkerque plan.jpeg
"Dunkirk". Profile
Strasbourg was built according to a design adjusted to take into account a possible collision with new Italian battleships armed with 381 mm guns. Because of this, the reservation was strengthened. Thus, the thickness of the side belt reached 283 mm, which, taking into account the inclination of 11.3°, gave a reduced thickness of 340 mm.
Service
"Dunkirk"- laid down on December 24, 1932, launched on October 2, 1935, commissioned on May 1, 1937.
"Strasbourg"- laid down on November 25, 1934, launched on December 12, 1936, commissioned on April 6, 1939.
These ships spent most of their careers together. "Dunkirk", which entered service earlier, managed to make several overseas voyages and take part in the Spithead naval parade on the occasion of the coronation of George VI. With the beginning of the war, both ships became part of the Raider Force ( Force de Raid), based in Brest. Due to the expected entry of Italy into the war, both ships moved to Mers el-Kebir on the Mediterranean in April 1940. They took part in the search for German raiders together with British ships.
Literature
- Suliga S. Dunkirk and Strasbourg. - M.: 1995.
- Balakin S. A. Dashyan. A.V. et al. Battleships of World War II. - M.: Collection, Yauza, EKSMO, 2005.
- Dumas R. Les cuirasses Dunkerque et Strasbourg. Nantes, Marines editons, 2001.
p·o·r Warships of the French Navy from to year |
||
|---|---|---|
| Battleships | type "Dunkirk"· Richelieu type * | |
| Aircraft carriers | "Béarn" · type "Joffre" * | |
| Seaplane carriers | "Command Test" | |
| Heavy cruisers | ||
Dunkerque
Historical data
Total information
EU
real
doc
Booking
Armament
Same type ships
General information
Dunkerque was built specifically to fight German pocket battleships. Due to its narrow specialization, difficulties arise in classifying this ship. In the French navy, ships of the type Dunkerque were officially listed as battleships, but they were often classified as battlecruisers. By this time, all the leading naval powers had battleships armed with guns with a caliber of 381 mm or more, against which the French 330 mm guns looked completely unconvincing. It is now generally accepted that ships of the type Dunkerque became the founders of a new class - high-speed battleships.
The ship is named after a city in northern France.
Battleship diagram Dunkerque
Construction
Dunkerque became the first large French ship built after the First World War. The battleship was laid down at the Brest naval shipyard on December 24, 1932. Since the Salu dock was too small for the 209-meter hull (the total length of the ship was 215.1 m), the ship was built without a bow. On October 2, 1935, the ship was launched and moved to drydock 8 in Laninon Harbor, where the missing bow was reattached. The ship was provisionally handed over to the fleet on February 1, 1936. Acceptance tests of the battleship began on April 18, 1936, even before the completion of work on the superstructure, and lasted until the end of April 1937.
Modernization and refurbishment
In October 1937, the ship's anti-aircraft weapons were strengthened by installing 6 quad 13.2 mm/76 machine guns.
In May 1938, 4 twin 37-mm/50 installations were removed, adding 2 more quad 13.2-mm/76 machine guns.
In December 1939, the ship's air defense was again strengthened by installing 4 twin 37 mm/50 Mod guns. 1933.
Service history
Dunkerque in Toulon
Dunkerque officially became part of the French fleet on May 1, 1937, and at the end of the month Vice Admiral Devits raised his flag on it. On 17 May the ship left Brest to take part in the Speedhead Parade marking the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth. In 1938, the battleship made a cruise to the West Indies and Dakar. On September 1, the battleship became the flagship of Vice Admiral Gensoul.
14th of April Dunkerque left Brest as the head of a special detachment of cruisers and destroyers to cover a training cruiser returning from the West Indies Jeanne d'Arc.
In May 1939, the ship was in Brest and took part in the reception of the English Home Fleet, and at the end of the month took part in joint maneuvers with it as part of the French Atlantic Fleet, returning to Brest in June. The following month, Vice Admiral Gensoul moved his flag to Strasbourg. In August, the French fleet was put on alert.
The Second World War
With the outbreak of war, the French Atlantic Fleet was reorganized into several search groups. Dunkerque became part of the 1st Squadron or Raider Formation, based at Brest. This formation, under the command of Vice Admiral Marcel Gensoul, was intended to intercept German heavy cruisers of the type Germany, because at least two of them were known to be at sea.
On September 1, the Raider Formation left Brest to cover the passage of the minelayer cruiser to Casablanca Le Pluton, which was supposed to put up a defensive barrier off the Moroccan coast, and the passage of the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc to Martinique. On September 6, it returned to Brest to participate in the search for the liner Ile de France. During this operation, the battleship lost a seaplane and another was damaged.
Dunkerque As part of a search group, on October 22, he went to sea to cover convoy KJ3 from Kingston (Jamaica), as intelligence reported that it could be intercepted by a German raider Germany. The group guarded the convoy until it reached a safe area, after which it returned to Brest.
November 25 Dunkerque with light cruisers Georges Leygues And Montcalm and with 8 destroyers joined the English detachment from the battlecruiser Hood and 4 destroyers for joint hunting Germany. In fact, the formation tried to intercept German battleships Scharnhorst And Gneisenau. As a result of a heavy storm, a leak opened in the bow compartments of the battleship. After an unsuccessful four-day search, the allied force came to Belfast to receive fuel. The German ships managed to slip through undetected on November 27 to reach Wilhelmshaven. Therefore, the search was suspended and on December 2 Dunkerque returned to Brest.
The battleship fires from its main battery
Soon Dunkerque were involved in another allied operation - guarding a convoy from Halifax to London consisting of 7 passenger liners with Canadian troops. They decided to use the transition to Canada for another important task - transporting gold to the USA to pay for military equipment. Dunkerque delivered 100 tons of gold to Halifax. December 22 Dunkerque together with a light cruiser Gloire and an English battleship Nelson left Halifax, covering the convoy, and after the end of the operation returned to Brest.
The first months of 1940 Dunkerque And Strasbourg were based in Brest, but soon, due to the threat of war with Italy, the Admiralty decided to transfer them to the Mediterranean base of Mers el-Kebir (Algeria). But no activity was observed off the African coast and Gensoul’s squadron was returned to Brest to participate in proposed operations off the coast of Norway. With the German invasion of this country, operations were canceled. April 27 Dunkerque, Strasbourg accompanied by light forces, they again arrived at Mers el-Kebir.
On June 10, war with Italy began. June 15 Dunkerque And Strasbourg went out to intercept German Scharnhorst And Gneisenau, which, according to intelligence data, could break through Gibraltar.
Mers el-Kebir
Dunkerque under fire from British battleships
After the surrender of France, the British government decided to carry out an operation to neutralize the French fleet, codenamed "Catapult". The strongest was the French squadron at the Mers-el-Kebir base. It included battleships Dunkerque, Strasbourg, Provence, Bretagne, 6 destroyer leaders and a seaplane carrier Commandant Test. The base was covered by coastal batteries, and there were 42 fighters at airfields nearby. At Oran, a few miles to the east, a large number of destroyers, patrol ships and minesweepers were stationed. To neutralize the ships in Mers el-Kebir, the British allocated Admiral Somerville’s “H” formation, which included the battle cruiser Hood, battleships Resolution And Valiant, aircraft carrier Ark Royal, light cruisers Arethusa, Enterprise and 11 destroyers.
In the morning, the English formation approached Mers el-Kebir. At 7 o'clock GMT a destroyer entered the harbor Foxhound. He transmitted to Dunkerque ultimatum to Admiral Zhensul. Long negotiations did not end in anything.
At 16:56, formation "H" opened fire on the stationary French ships. Dunkerque gave up the mooring lines and began to go out to sea after the battleship Strasbourg. Dunkerque began firing at 17:00 and fired about forty 330 mm shells at the English battleship Hood, before taking several hits.
Damage to a battleship from 4 hits
Hit No. 1 - main caliber turret No. 2
The first 381-mm shell hit the main caliber turret No. 2. The turret was turned towards the British ships - at an angle of about 100° from the center plane to the starboard side. The shell hit at an angle of 20° into the inclined part of the turret roof above gun No. 8 (the thickness in this place was 150 mm) and ricocheted without exploding. The cemented slab was dented at the top, and a piece of armor was torn out at the bottom. Armor fragments pierced the knurling cylinder on the right side of the gun and hit the gunner's position on the right side. At the end of its path, the fragment was reflected from the side wall of the turret and fell into the charging tray of gun No. 8. The powder charges located in the tray ignited and the servants of the right half of the turret died in the fire. The personnel located in the command compartment of the tower also received minor injuries. The left half-turret and reloading compartment were not damaged - the armored bulkhead between the half-turrets and fire dampers in the supply system helped. The fire did not cause significant damage - the feed system worked for all four guns. The turret could continue to fire from guns No. 5 and 6, and after the electric fuse was restored, gun No. 7 could resume fire.
Hit No. 3 - in the area of engine room No. 1
The second shell hit the unarmored part of the deck at the stern. Passed without breaking through the seaplane hangar and midshipmen's cabins and emerged 2.5 m below the waterline. As it moved, the projectile broke the electrical cables of the crane for lifting seaplanes and the cables going to the steering gear. As a result, the battleship had to switch to control using a four-horsepower reserve Renault engine. A number of compartments in the aft section were flooded, including the port side fuel tank. But the seaplane was removed before the battle and the jet fuel was drained, so these first two hits had little effect on the battleship’s combat readiness.
Around 18:00 Dunkerque received simultaneous hits from two more 381-mm shells. The third shell hit the main armor belt on the starboard side in the area of compartment J - 1.2 m from the bulkhead between compartments J and K. It pierced the 225 mm belt and went through the reloading compartment of the 130 mm guns. Continuing its movement towards the center of the ship, it broke through two anti-fragmentation bulkheads and exploded in the air conditioning and fan compartment. The compartment was completely destroyed, all its personnel were killed or seriously wounded. Several bulkheads and a ventilation duct were destroyed by shell fragments and the explosion. The 20-mm bulkhead between the medical compartment and the air-cooling unit compartment of engine room No. 1 was also destroyed. Several charges and 130-mm shells caught fire and exploded in the starboard reloading compartment. And here all the servants were killed. In the absence of ventilation, smoke from the fires and combustion products of 130 mm charges filled the engine room. In the department, 20 people died and only ten managed to escape. Explosions of 130-mm shells in the supply system also led to a strong fire in the cable tunnel and put them out of action. Immediately after receiving information about a fire in the reloading compartment of 130-mm turret No. 3 on the starboard side, its cellars in compartment N were flooded. And an hour later, after a signal about smoke penetrating the supply system of turret No. 4 (130-mm turret on the left side) , her cellar was also flooded.
Hit No. 4 - in the area of boiler room No. 2
The fourth shell hit the main armor belt at the beginning of compartment L - 0.3 m from the waterproof partition between compartments K (boiler room No. 2) and L (boiler room No. 3), 2.5 meters below the upper edge of the belt - above the very water's edge. It pierced the 225 mm belt and the bevel of the 40 mm thick armored deck. The shell passed through the almost full fuel tank of compartment K and exploded on the torpedo bulkhead. The explosion destroyed the lower armored deck along the entire length of these compartments, the armored slope above the fuel tank, the anti-torpedo bulkhead and the starboard tunnel for cables and pipelines. The shell fragments caused a fire in the right boiler of boiler room No. 2, damaged several valves on the pipelines and broke the main steam line between the boiler and the turbine unit. The products of the explosion and hot steam quickly filled the compartment, killing most of the people in it. The pressure surge caused the destruction of the chimneys of both boilers and damaged the hydraulic system for locking the armored doors between the compartments. The cessation of ventilation led to the fact that the air in boiler room No. 3 became unbreathable and the ship’s commander ordered the evacuation of all personnel from it.
As a result of these four hits, only boiler room No. 3 and engine room No. 2 remained operational, driving the internal shafts. Therefore, even theoretically the speed Dunkerque could not exceed 26 knots. Due to damage to the electrical wiring, the power supply to the aft part of the ship was completely stopped, the starboard network failed, and the aft 130-mm towers were left without power. The steering wheel was controlled using an auxiliary engine. Due to the loss of one of the main substations, the bow emergency diesel generators were turned on. The directors of the 330 mm and 130 mm guns failed without electricity. Main caliber turret No. 1 continued to fire at Hood, Tower No. 2 could not fire due to lack of electricity.
Due to the damage received, the ship could not go to sea, so at 17:10 Admiral Zhansoul ordered to cease fire and anchor opposite the village of Saint-André, under the protection of the coast and Fort Santon. At 17:13 the battleship dropped anchor at a depth of 15 meters. And at 18:00 with the help of tugs and patrol boats Terre Neuve And La Setoise Dunkerque they pushed it to the shore - about 30 meters of its bow part was pulled onto the sandbank. The battleship took in approximately 700 tons of water through the holes and another 150 tons of ballast was taken into the left side tanks to level the list. Emergency crews began repairing the damage. At 19:00, Zhansul received an order to evacuate the crew - about 360 crew members remained on board, engaged in repair work. 800 people with Dunkerque went ashore and were sent from Oran to Toulon on liners Champollion And Mariette Pacha. The wounded were admitted to the hospital in Sant'André.
On July 5, the fires were extinguished, work began to restore power supply, patch holes and pump out water. Admiral Zhansoul informed the command that within a few days it was possible to repair the boiler and steam collectors and move to Toulon for a major overhaul. Admiral Esteva, commander of the naval forces in North Africa, said in a press communiqué that the damage to the battleship was not great and that in a few days it would arrive under its own power in Toulon. The British command immediately gave the order to Admiral Somerville to attack the French battleship.
At 19:00 on July 5, Force H left Gibraltar consisting of 2 battleships, an aircraft carrier, 2 cruisers and 10 destroyers. Because Dunkerque stood near the village of Sant Andre, Somerville decided that the shelling could lead to casualties among civilians. Therefore, in agreement with the Admiralty, it was decided to carry out the attack with torpedo bombers from an aircraft carrier Ark Royal .
At 04:20 on July 6, 1940, when Ark Royal was about 100 miles from Oran, Swordfish torpedo bombers began to take off from its side under the cover of fighters Blackburn Skua .
Explosion Terre Neuve
Dunkerque was not ready for an air attack. All of the battleship's 130 mm guns were out of action, and power to their directors was also not restored. The maintenance of anti-aircraft machine guns and machine guns was evacuated. The team had orders from Admiral Zhansoul and the commander of the battleship Seguin to abandon ship in the event of an air attack. There was no aerial reconnaissance and there was no fighter cover. Around Dunkerque anti-torpedo nets were not installed. There was a patrol ship on the starboard side of the battleship Terre Neuve, to which the bodies of the dead were transferred. On board the patrol ship there were depth charges, most of them with the fuses removed, the danger of which was ignored.
Sergey Suliga Battleships Dunkirk and Strasbourg
Moscow-1995 – 34 p.
The firstborn of the era of fast battleships
Dunkirk in 1940
"Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg" are remembered not only for the fact that they became the first French capital ships built after the First World War. They are rightfully considered the first-born of a new generation of combat ships - a generation of high-speed battleships that became a symbol of sea power in the 30s and 40s. Thus, in the history of military shipbuilding they can claim the same place of honor as the English Dreadnought, built after the Russian-Japanese War. After all, it was the laying of the Dunkirk that stimulated a new round of the naval arms race, of course, not as large-scale as before the First World War, but which gave rise to the emergence of super-battleships of hitherto unimaginable size and power: ships of the Bismarck, Litgorio, Iowa, and Yamato", "Richelieu" and others.
It is unlikely that the French shipbuilders, unlike the designers of the Dreadnought, thought that their new ship would revolutionize naval technology. In principle, they were solving a rather narrowly defined task - to create a ship capable of quickly coping with the new German high-speed diesel battleships, which became better known as “pocket battleships.” But the principles of horizontal and underwater protection, first applied on Dunkirk, powerful universal and anti-aircraft batteries in multi-barrel installations, indicating the increasing role of new types of weapons at sea - aviation and submarines - became an integral attribute of all subsequent battleship projects.
The appearance of "Dunkirk" could not help but evoke a sarcastic grin from naval aesthetes, who had been brought up for decades on the symmetrical profiles of battleships, dreadnoughts and cruisers. But it was here that the French were not original - the bow arrangement of the entire main artillery with superstructures strongly shifted to the stern, a single chimney and auxiliary caliber guns in the towers they borrowed from the English battleships Nelson and Rodney built in the 20s, which could have been considered the harbingers of a new era instead of Dunkirk, if not for their 23-knot speed, which put these new ships on a par with the last dreadnoughts of the First World War. Shackled by the strict limits of the 1922 Washington Treaty on the total tonnage of its battle fleet, France first took the path of building ships of moderate size. And here, the “Nelson” layout of the main caliber guns, which promised great weight savings, came in handy, as did the inclination of the main armor belt, taken from the same “Nelsons,” which increased the effectiveness of the side protection. But the French, more than once accustomed to surprising the naval world with all sorts of new products, could not afford to borrow someone else’s idea without introducing something of their own into it. This “something” was the four-gun turrets that finally appeared on Dunkirk after a series of unfinished dreadnoughts and unrealized projects.
Unfortunately, fate did not allow Dunkirk and Strasbourg, which had such good “initial data,” to prove themselves worthily during the Second World War. France dropped out of the fight too quickly, and her beautiful ships had to fight not so much with the enemy against whom they were created, but with allies. And it was under British shells, torpedoes and bombs that the strength of the Dunkirk’s defense and the speed qualities of the Strasbourg were tested.
Design and construction
France entered the First World War with a fleet with a total displacement of 690,000 g, but there were few modern ships in it. For example, linear and high-speed light cruisers were completely absent. Occupying for a long time the second place in naval forces after Britain, eight years after the appearance of the Dreadnought, which made all existing battleships obsolete, it was never able to recover from the shock, leaving Germany and the United States ahead. Even the newest French ships of the Courbet type (12 305 mm guns with a side salvo of 10 barrels) no longer met the requirements of the time, significantly inferior in power to the so-called superdreadnoughts armed with 343-381 mm artillery. On March 30, 1912, France adopted the so-called Marine Law, according to which by 1922 it was necessary to have 28 dreadnoughts in the fleet, including several battle cruisers, but this grandiose program was not destined to be realized. During the war, only three Provence-class battleships (10,340 mm guns) entered service, and four of the five Normandy-class battleships (12,340 mm guns in 4-gun turrets) were launched. But since the fate of the country was being decided on the land front, military and industrial priority was given to the army, which had to give even part of the 340 mm and 140 mm guns intended for these ships. The construction of four more Lyon-class super-dreadnoughts with 16(!) 340-mm guns, orders for which were planned to be issued in January-April 1915, never began. Work on battlecruisers (also with the main caliber in four-gun turrets) did not progress at all beyond the preliminary design stage.
"Provence", "Brittany" and "Lorraine" (above) were the last reinforcements of the French battlefleet in the First World War (1916, 23320 tons, 20 kts, 10 340/55, 22 138.6/55, 4 TA , side armor 160-270, turrets 250-400, barbettes 250-270 mm)
"Normandie", "Languedoc", "Flandre", "Gascony" and "Béarn" (below) were laid down just before the war to form two full divisions (24832 tons, 21.5 kts) with three Provence-class battleships. 12 340/45, 24 138.6/55, 6 TA, side armor 120-300, turrets 250-340, barbettes 284 mm)
"Lyon", "Lille", "Duquesne" and "Tourville" (29600 T1 23 kts, 16 340/45, 24 138.6/55) were supposed to be a development of the Normandy class. Orders for them were planned to be issued in 1915, but before the outbreak of World War France there was no time to lay down battleships
Projects of battlecruisers of 1913, from top to bottom: designer Gilles (28,100 tons, 28 kts, 12 340 mm guns, 270 mm armor), designer Durand-Ville (27,065 tons, 27 kts, 280 mm armor) option "A" with 8 340 mm guns and option “B” with eight 370 mm guns
By 1920, work on the battleships under construction finally ceased. One of the main arguments in favor of this decision was the appearance of much more powerful ships in service and on the slipways of Britain, the USA and Japan. To continue construction meant, at the cost of significant strain on the industry undermined by the war, to burden the fleet with battleships that were obviously inferior in strength to possible opponents. The highest ranks of the fleet still considered battleships to be the basis of combat power, but the state of the French economy did not allow not only to begin the construction of new ships of this class, but also to redesign the Normandy type to meet new requirements or to “bring to mind” the designs of battlecruisers. Opinions also differed on what type of new battleship should be. It is interesting to note that the naval budget for 1920 included provisions for experiments with the 457 mm gun, its ammunition, and experiments with armor. But, I think, this was done more out of a desire not to lose face in front of other powers and to show that France is capable of something. After all, projects with guns of a similar (and even larger) caliber have already appeared in Britain and Japan. But in the end, France had to come to terms with the loss of its first roles at sea. The unfinished hulls of ships of the "Normandy" type were scrapped and only the "Béarn" was put into operation, but... as an aircraft carrier.
