Work on the ship was completed on 15 June 1940, days before France surrendered to Germany after the Battle of France. The four ships arrived in Trincomalee, Ceylon on 10 April, where they joined an Allied fleet that included the carriers Illustrious and USS Saratoga, the battleships Valiant and Queen Elizabeth, and numerous cruisers and destroyers, commanded by Admiral James Somerville. In the early 1930s, the French Navy began construction of the two small Dunkerque-class battleships in response to the German Deutschland-class cruisers. Japanese aircraft attacked the fleet as it withdrew back to Trincomalee but were, once again, poorly coordinated and they failed to damage the ships. The Dunkerques had adopted an unusual arrangement of the main battery that grouped all eight guns in a pair of four-gun turrets placed forward of the superstructure in a superfiring pair. While cruising off Casablanca, French Morocco at 17:00 on 20 June, the torpedo boats were detached to refuel, their place being taken by the new destroyer Fleuret. [33] During this period, in April 1941, the ship received the first radar set installed on a French battleship. Bismarck is in my opinion the quintessence of a battleship. The Sural boilers were experimental, and were thus a major risk to take with what were to be the most powerful capital ships of the French fleet; they nevertheless proved to be generally reliable in service. Richelieu steamed in company with the destroyers Fougueux and Frondeur while German aircraft made several ineffective attacks against the ships. Because the compact Sural boilers allowed the machinery spaces to be shortened, the ships featured a very compact superstructure. [13][14][15], Later that afternoon, tankers came alongside and began pumping oil out of the ship's bunkers to reduce her draft, but water continued to leak into the hull through the cable tunnels. Given the limited ability to repair the damage to the ship, Marzin focused efforts on ensuring that the main and secondary batteries could be effectively used, even if the ship could only be employed as a static floating battery against an expected second attack from British forces. Thirteen of the ship's 20 mm guns were replaced with four 40 mm guns, as the lighter weapons had proved to be ineffective against kamikazes. Jaujard left the ship and her crew was reduced to 750 men. Table 1. The ship was in most respects identical to her half-sisters, with the same dimensions and propulsion system, main battery, and armor layout. Richelieu vs Littorio in direct confrontation can only meet in the western Mediteranean. Hit several times by 406 mm (16 in) shells from Massachusetts, one of which jammed her operational turret, Jean Bart was nevertheless not seriously damaged and unknown to the Americans, her main battery remained in operation after damaged armor plate was cut away later that day. The following day, she steamed for six hours at 26.5 kn (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph), for two hours at 28.9 kn (53.5 km/h; 33.3 mph), and finally for fifty minutes at 30.2 kn (55.9 km/h; 34.8 mph). The objective was to lure the German heavy cruisers in the area so that the two battleships could destroy them. Richelieu was accordingly placed in reserve on 1 April 1949. 5 also exploded, leaving No. Richelieu arrived in port on 18 May. The starboard propeller shafts also required repairs: the mounting brackets were straightened, but the inboard shaft was too badly damaged and had to be replaced. The fleet returned to port on the 12th, and Richelieu thereafter went to Rosyth for ten days to rest the crew. 7 gun was destroyed by a shell that detonated in the barrel and the No. They were supplied with a total of 3,600 semi-AP and high explosive rounds, the former for surface targets and the latter for use against aircraft. A small party of Free French troops sent to rally the port to de Gaulle was repulsed with machine-gun fire and Richelieu's 100 mm guns fired warning shots toward the Free French aviso Savorgnan de Brazza shortly after 07:00. Richelieu was not hit and, from 12:56, she fired guns 5 and 6 at the British cruisers, quickly straddling one of them and convincing them to disengage. Richelieu was finished shortly before the French defeat in the Battle of France, while Jean Bart was hurriedly prepared to be ready to go to sea during the campaign. The next morning, after engaging the American heavy cruiser Augusta at long range, Jean Bart came under heavy air attack from American dive bombers and was badly damaged by a pair of 1,000-pound (450 kg) bombs. Before long, the Japanese begin to reply with their 18.1” guns. While the ship was being modernized, CV Lambert replaced Deramont as the ship's commander on 29 April. The story of the chase and the sinking of the Bismarck is as epic as the Troyan war. Operation Bishop, a strike against Japanese airfields in the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, was to cover British Army landings at Rangoon in Burma. On 16 April, the Eastern Fleet got underway for Operation Cockpit, a diversionary raid to distract the Japanese while American forces landed at Hollandia in New Guinea. The ship would carry the SNCAC NC.420 floatplane, which had been developed to replace the Loire 130. Richelieu and the other ships conducted shooting practice on 7, 14–15, and 17 July in preparation for the raid. 8 gun was also badly damaged. The number of triple 152 mm turrets was reduced to four, with two amidships wing turrets and two turrets on the centerline aft of the superstructure. The plan called for Richelieu, Valiant, Queen Elizabeth, and Renown, supported by cruisers, to shell the port at longer range while the Dutch cruiser Tromp led a group of destroyers in a close-range attack. Six new 37 mm ACAD twin mounts would be added to supplement the 100 mm guns; four of these would be placed a deck higher and further inboard than the 100 mm guns aft and the other two would be placed on either side of the superfiring main turret. The ship's career as a sea-going gunnery ship ended in February, when she was laid up in Brest. After completing the overhaul and modernization, the ship served with the British Home Fleet in early 1944; there, she served as part of the force guarding against the German battleship Tirpitz that threatened the convoy lanes to the Soviet Union. The boiler blowers were not providing sufficient oxygen, so the boilers were not fully burning the fuel. [2][3], She was armed with eight 380 mm/45 Modèle (Mle) 1935 guns arranged in two quadruple gun turrets,[a] both of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward of the superstructure. Hermes raised anchor as well and began to follow Richelieu with her Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers on her flight deck, but the coastal artillery trained their guns on the ship, convincing Hermes' commander to return to port. [27][28], As the British approached on the morning of 25 September, Marzin decided to engage Barham with his main battery and Resolution with his 152 mm guns. After being sent to the United States for repairs and an extensive modernization, the ship served with the British Home Fleet in early 1944 before being deployed to the Eastern Fleet for operations against the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. French rule was opposed by the Viet Minh, and on arrival Richelieu was used to support the forces ashore in a variety of capacities: she served as a staging area, hospital, artillery support, and troop transport. These were dual-purpose guns, but were outfitted primarily with time-fused shells for anti-aircraft defense, as the 152 mm guns were expected to fulfill the close-range anti-ship role. The Italian ships were to be armed with nine 381 mm (15 in) guns, significantly more powerful than t… The ship conducted training and trials of South Africa before departing for Diego Suarez, ultimately arriving back in Trincomalee on 18 August, by which time Japan had surrendered. This series looks at the modern battleships that the World War II combatants would produce in the 1930s which saw service in the war. So realistically speaking the victor woyld be whicher ship could more rapidly score a telling hit. As part of these preparations, both Plançon and Cayla, who were suspected of being pro-British, were removed from their posts, with Plançon's place taken by CA Platon and then CA Landriau. [22], The reduction in weight achieved by the removal of one of these turrets allowed for the adoption of new dual-purpose 100 mm Mle 1937 autocannon; six of these twin mounts were to be installed around the forward superstructure, four abreast the rear superstructure and two between the conning tower and the main battery. The ship began initial testing on 15 October while still fitting-out in an effort to rush the ship into service; the same day, the ship's first commander, Capitaine de vaisseau (CV—Ship-of-the-line captain) Marzin came aboard. [40], To repair the hull, the concrete was broken up and removed, the sections that had been most badly damaged by the torpedo were stripped of all fittings, and deformed bulkheads and plating were cut out. [14], As designed, the light anti-aircraft battery was to have consisted of 37 mm (1.5 in) automatic guns in twin Mle 1935 mounts, but these were not ready by 1939, and so the two amidships 152 mm turrets were replaced with a group of twelve 100 mm (3.9 in) /45 Mle 1930 anti-aircraft guns in twin turrets. [18], The ships' underwater protection system was based on the system used in the Dunkerque class. Richelieu was a French fast battleship, the lead ship of the Richelieu class.Built as a response to the Italian Littorio class, the Richelieus were based on their immediate predecessors of the Dunkerque class with the same unconventional arrangement that grouped their main battery forward in two quadruple gun turrets.They were scaled up to accommodate a much more … To further complicate the effort to repair the ship, Dakar lacked a dry dock sufficient to accommodate Richelieu; the battleship could not simply be drained and plated over. American 6-inch/47 Mk 16 shells were used as a starting point to supply the 152 mm guns, as they were the same caliber and required relatively minor modifications for use in the French weapons. On 10 October, the workers attempted to attach the patch that had been manufactured, but it did not work; it did not create a watertight seal, which meant the compartments could not be pumped out. On October 14, Richelieu sailed for Mers el-Kebir and later to Scapa Flow, where she arrived on November 20, 1943. Since the two French battleships had been ordered in response to the expanding Italian fleet, the French naval command determined that another pair of battleships would be needed to balance the Bismarcks. In addition, repairing and modernizing a ship the size of Richelieu would require significant resources that could be used for other purposes. Richelieu arrived on 18 July and work lasted from 31 July to 10 August. One of their torpedoes struck the ship aft on the starboard side and tore a hole that was 9.3 by 8.5 m (31 by 28 ft) between the propeller shafts. Parts of the crew were dispersed for other tasks: 106 were sent to man the armed merchant cruisers in the harbor, whose reservist crews had to be demobilized, and the 64-man crew of the forward gun turret were sent to man the coastal battery at Cap Manuel. The shipyard resumed work on 6 December during the "phony war", but progress was slow and only 10 percent of the hull—a length of about 130 m (426 ft 6 in)—had been assembled by 10 June, when work again halted in the wake of German victories. Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships that were ordered for the Kriegsmarine in the years prior to World War II.Built by Blohm and Voss, the battleship mounted a main battery of eight 15" guns and was capable of a top speed of over 30 knots. In addition to the hull cleaning and boiler repairs, she had new fire control and search radars installed, including a US SG-1 search radar, British Type-281B air search radar, and Type-285P fire control radars, in addition to other equipment, including an FV1 jammer and high-frequency direction finding gear. Myth #2: The Montana was Designed to Counter the Yamato These were the same guns that had been adopted for Richelieu during construction, but the mounts were new, fully enclosed gun turrets compared to the open mounts aboard the earlier vessel. For the Anglo-French operation, Somerville took only the fast ships, including Richelieu, Renown, and Illustrious with their accompanying cruiser and destroyer screens. [33], The United States Navy sent a group to evaluate the ships under Darlan's control to determine which should be modernized in the United States. Darlan instructed him that the ship was to remain under French control, and if that proved to be impossible, he was to scuttle the ship or attempt to escape to the then-neutral United States. The increases to her anti-aircraft armament brought her crew up to a total of 1,670 officers and men. The ship saw relatively limited peacetime training in the immediate postwar years and in 1952, she was removed from active service for use as a gunnery training ship. [20][29][30], From 29 September, the battlecruiser HMS Renown and escorting destroyers were detached from Force H to patrol off Dakar, as the British believed Richelieu would be transferred to metropolitan France for repairs. [73][74][75], The Force d'Intervention was reactivated for another cruise in early 1948; the three constituent groups rendezvoused at Toulon and then conducted training exercises off North Africa. [6], With German troops advancing across France by mid-June, the Navy decided to evacuate Richelieu to Dakar in French West Africa; while earlier plans had been to send the fleet to British ports to continue the war, when the possibility of a negotiated armistice arose, the government decided that the fleet would be a useful bargaining chip. Japanese naval strength at Singapore had also significantly decreased to just four heavy cruisers and several destroyers. On 3 June, the destroyer Le Triomphant arrived with spare equipment for Richelieu, which was sent to Durban for another refit. At 04:15, a group of Swordfish launched from Hermes as Richelieu was about to get underway. A series of proposals were submitted, ranging from effective repeats of the Richelieu design with minor improvements (the Project A series) to plans that shifted the superfiring main battery turret aft of the superstructure (the Project B series), to the nine-gun variants that kept two triple turrets forward and a third aft (the Project C series). [31], Repair work resumed immediately. The Eastern Fleet got underway on 7 May and stopped to refuel on 15 May before arriving two days later. The 130 mm dual-purpose guns used on the Dunkerques were proving to be troublesome in service, and the command wanted to determine whether the arrangement would be suitable for future construction. These proposals presented several problems: first, the anti-aircraft guns were sensitive to blast effects from the main and secondary batteries, which would require additional space that was not available, and second, the Project 1 design was already overweight, and the added guns would increase displacement even further. These guns proved to be problematic during development, owing to excessive barrel wear that resulted from its very high muzzle velocity and the weight of the projectile. German naval construction was at that time directed against France; the two Scharnhorst-class battleships had been laid down to counter the Dunkerques and the two Bismarck-class battleships had been ordered to match the two Richelieus. [33], In April, she was transferred to reinforce the Eastern Fleet for operations against the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. Her anti-aircraft armament was slowly strengthened as guns became available and a search radar was fitted in 1942. The major increase in complement was largely the result of the additional anti-aircraft guns and radar systems. The German battleship Bismarck and her sister-ship Tirpitz were the largest warships of their type to be constructed in Europe. The ships allocated for the operation consisted of Richelieu, Queen Elizabeth, two heavy cruisers, two escort carriers, and five destroyers. 4 dock in Brest, directly after Richelieu had been launched from that dock earlier that day. The main armored deck was 150 mm (5.9 in) over the machinery spaces and increased to 170 mm (6.7 in) over the magazines, backed by a layer of 15 mm (0.59 in) steel plating. After more than two and a half years without being dry-docked in a tropical port, the hull needed maintenance beyond simply repairing the torpedo damage, though given the conditions to which it had been subjected, it was in fairly good condition. The Richelieus were based on the preceding Dunkerque class, but scaled up to accommodate more powerful 380 mm (15 in) guns and armor to protect them from guns of the same caliber. Richelieu was laid down in 1935 and was launched in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II in Europe. [20][21][22], Barham and Resolution opened fire on Richelieu at 11:05, but poor visibility hampered the British shooting and they checked fire after twenty minutes, having inflicted only splinter damage to the cruiser Montcalm and the destroyer Le Malin. The ship's belt armor was 330 mm (13 in) thick amidships, and the main battery turrets were protected by 430 mm (17 in) of armor plate on the faces. Before leaving, Richelieu sent her four single 40 mm guns and most of her 20 mm guns ashore, along with a considerable stockpile of ammunition for the guns and 152 mm shells. During this period, she was present for Operations Cockpit, Transom, Pedal, and Crimson. The fleet got underway on 27 April and reached Car Nicobar two days later. After all, King George V went up against Bismarck and didn't exactly succeed (yes, her turrets were faulty). 6 to demonstrate that the shell design problem had been corrected; all six shells were fired without incident. [77], For the first and last time of either of their careers, Richelieu and Jean Bart cruised together on 30 January 1956. The unit embarked on a training cruise to Africa in May and June, beginning with the three groups assembling in Casablanca on 8 May. Ninety minutes later, the British battleships and two heavy cruisers approached and fired their 380 mm main batteries at Richelieu. From the French perspective, if Britain would cavalierly strengthen France's enemy, the French would similarly disregard their own treaty obligations in favor of self defense. The refit eventually began on 1 January 1950 and lasted until 24 October 1951, and it included a thorough overhaul of her propulsion machinery, replacement of her worn main and secondary battery guns, and repairs to her anti-aircraft battery, along with other modifications. She remained, unused, in the French Navy's inventory until 1970 when she was struck from the naval register and sold for scrap. You are confusing her with her Atlantic-built contemporaries, which had large range, and were susceptible to being "mission killed" via battle damage (see Bismarck). And in July, her Loire seaplanes finally arrived; tests with the catapults were conducted in October. 6 the only operable gun in the turret. Only HMS Hood, and the two Renow… Bismarck's turrets were vulnerable to ALL battleship guns at ALL ranges. [65][66], On arrival, the ship took on additional ammunition and fuel, and over the coming weeks, she underwent repairs to her boilers and took part in shooting practice. Her career proved to be a short one, and she was placed in reserve in 1957. The Allied command initially considered employing her to support the invasion of Normandy, but as she was only supplied with armor-piercing shells, she was instead sent to reinforce the British Eastern Fleet, along with a group of escort aircraft carriers. Loading could be accomplished at any angle, and owing to the heavy propellant charges, the rate of fire was relatively slow, at 1.3 shot per minute. The bombardments carried out earlier in the year had revealed excessive dispersion of the main battery shells, particularly if both guns on one side of the turret were fired at the same time. The vessels would also carry a secondary battery of dual-purpose guns, be capable of a speed of 29.5 to 30 knots (54.6 to 55.6 km/h; 33.9 to 34.5 mph), and carry belt armor that was 360 mm (14 in) thick. [19], By 1937, tensions in Europe had increased significantly as Germany and Italy took increasingly aggressive positions, raising the likelihood of war in the near future. Sold for scrap in 1968, she was broken up in Italy from 1968 to 1969. The ships' superstructure was fairly minimal; it featured a single tower mast directly behind the armored conning tower, along with a small deck house directly aft of the funnel. Two of her fire control directors were knocked off their tracks, the starboard propeller shafts were bent, and the blast caused significant flooding. thank you for all the support and stay awesome She incurred minor damage to her bow 20 mm guns from the blast effects of firing the main battery nearly directly forward. [5], Despite the fact that both vessels remained within the displacement limits, when construction of Richelieu began in October, France had violated the Washington Treaty. The first, Project 1, was a scaled up Dunkerque, while Project 2, 3, and 4 were variations on that design with main battery arrangements based on the British Nelson class, mounting three turrets forward of the superstructure. Before she departed Brest, her 380 mm guns were removed and two were later preserved, one in Brest and the other in Ruelle. He also instructed the coastal batteries to open fire if she closed to within 15 km (9.3 mi), though Dorsetshire remained at a distance. Jean Bart was accordingly repaired as much as possible in Casablanca, though this work was hampered by the fact that French shipyards were either still under German occupation or had been wrecked during the war. Completed just days before the Germans won the Battle of France in June, Richelieu fled to Dakar in French West Africa to keep her under French control. She sank by the stern in the shallow harbor, but her guns remained serviceable. Operation Crimson followed in July, and given the lack of a response from the Japanese fleet to the earlier raids, Somerville decided to use his battleships and battlecruiser to bombard Sabang and Sumatra. - Littorio class versus everything in all battles (0 hits at all ranges) - West Virginia vs Yamashiro (93 shells fired in 16 salvos at 22,000 yards for 5 salvo hits, a 31% hit prob.) The match of interest is the Bismarck class, which had similar main armament to Vanguard, though a generation newer and with a higher rate of fire on paper. The US Navy refused to transfer the latest radar equipment on the basis that it was too sensitive to be released. Work was also slowed by strikes in the shipyards for better pay and working conditions. But delays in the construction program, owing to a shortage of dockyards large enough to handle additional hulls of this size, allowed time for additional design studies at the request of the naval command. These included several bombardment operations and in May 1945 she was present during the Battle of the Malacca Strait, though she was too far away to engage the Japanese ships before they were sunk. [7][10], The propulsion system was rated for a total of 155,000 shaft horsepower (116,000 kW) and yielded a maximum speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph), though with forced draft up to 175,000 shp (130,000 kW) was expected—on trials, Richelieu achieved 179,000 shp (133,000 kW) for 32.63 kn (60.43 km/h; 37.55 mph) for a brief period. A repeat sweep was to have taken place at the end of the month, but two of the escorting destroyers collided while leaving Scapa Flow, leading to a postponement that became permanent as a result of bad weather. Marzin ordered that a stockpile of 330 mm propellant charges that had been stocked for the battleship Strasbourg before France's surrender to be converted into charges that were usable by Richelieu. The Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy)—France's other major naval rival—announced on 11 June 1935 that it would begin building two 35,000-long-ton (36,000 t) battleships of the Littorio class in response to the Dunkerques. In March, the Allies determined that five battleships to counter the battleship Tirpitz (which had been damaged in September 1943) was excessive. [56], By this time, Richelieu was beginning to suffer from reduced speed, the result of continued boiler trouble and biofouling of her hull. (No, I’m not going to make it as simple as that. She departed on 29 December and arrived in Toulon on 11 February 1946, thereafter taking part in the transport effort to send French soldiers back from France to North Africa. As a result, much of the improvement was limited to the installation of a new anti-aircraft battery of the latest US weapons and auxiliary equipment in addition to a thorough overhaul and permanent repairs to the torpedo damage. Salvors eventually purchased the wreck on 1 August 1951. The Free French then attempted to land further east at Rufisque, but were repulsed. Drawings of the plans for the 380 mm shells were prepared in Dakar and forwarded to the United States, where a contract to produce 930 shells was ordered from Crucible Steel. [78][79], French naval ship classes of World War II, British attack on 8 July 1940 and repairs, First deployment with the British Eastern Fleet, Second deployment with the British Eastern Fleet, /45 refers to the length of the gun in terms of, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_battleship_Richelieu&oldid=985818443, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 12 × 100 mm (3.9-inch) anti-aircraft guns, This page was last edited on 28 October 2020, at 03:31. By late August, a convoy had been assembled with five ships carrying weapons and supplies got underway, later rendezvousing with a second convoy of six troop ships carrying some 2,400 Free French soldiers and 4,270 British soldiers. [43], Escorted by the destroyers USS Tarbell and Ellet, Richelieu departed the US on 14 October, nominally bound for Gibraltar. Britain objected to the construction program, but France dismissed them by pointing out that Britain had unilaterally signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement earlier in 1935, effectively abrogating the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles that had severely constrained the size and effectiveness of the German fleet. Owing to the increased tensions with Germany, work on the ship was expedited and she was slated to be launched in 1941, with completion projected for late 1943. On 9 May, a pair of British submarines spotted Haguro as it passed through the Malacca Strait, so the East Indies Fleet launched Operation Dukedom to intercept the Japanese ships. She was present for the Japanese surrender of Singapore at the end of the war. Both the Vittorio Venato and Bismarck are outmatched by the KGV and Yamato, but as sacrificial lambs could probably occupy them long enough for the Iowa's engagement against Richelieu … Dorsetshire nevertheless shadowed Richelieu while she was at sea. Saint Chamond designed the turrets using the Dunkerque turret, which the company had also developed. Three of them were mounted on the foremast on top of each other, with the other two aft, one for the secondary guns atop the funnel in a mack-type arrangement and the other for the main battery atop a deck house. After the French African colonies shifted to Free French control, Richelieu was taken to the United States to be repaired and modernized, while Jean Bart was not completed. [13], Their secondary armament was to have consisted of fifteen 152 mm (6 in) /55 Mle 1930 guns mounted in five Mle 1936 triple turrets, three of which were arranged on the rear superstructure with the other two amidships (though neither Richelieu or Jean Bart were ever fitted with the amidships turrets). Heavy use of the pumps caused frequent breakdowns, which further slowed work. Battleships Board; Greetings, and welcome to the World Affairs Board! They could be overloaded to 1,250 kW (1,680 hp) for up to five minutes. The compact superstructure also allowed for the aviation facilities of the ships to be expanded compared to the Dunkerques. By that time, she had only one of her main turrets installed, along with a handful of anti-aircraft guns, some of which had been scrounged from another vessel in the harbor. The single 40 mm guns and all of the 20 mm guns still aboard the vessel were removed. Two related variants, Project 5 and 5 bis adopted an even more unusual arrangement featuring two quadruple turrets placed amidships between fore and aft superstructures inspired by the ideas of the Italian admiral Vincenzo De Feo. [67][68], Immediately after the surrender of Japan, French and British forces began their attempts to reassert control in their Japanese-occupied colonies. 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Draw a line between battlecruisers and battleships a headache, and fire control tower has removed. Ex-German destroyers, based in Cherbourg single 40 mm guns were not fully the!