Bretagne-class battleship
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The ''Bretagne''-class battleships were the first " super-dreadnoughts" built for the
French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The class comprised three vessels: ''Bretagne'', the
lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...
, ''Provence'', and ''Lorraine''. They were an improvement of the previous , and mounted ten guns instead of twelve guns as on the ''Courbet''s. A fourth was ordered by the
Greek Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...
, though work was suspended due to the outbreak of the war. The three completed ships were named after French provinces. The three ships saw limited service during World War I, and were primarily occupied with containing the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
. After the war, they conducted training cruises in the Mediterranean and participated in non-intervention patrols off Spain during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
. After the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the ships were tasked with convoy duties and anti-commerce raider patrols until the fall of France in June 1940. ''Bretagne'' and ''Provence'' were sunk by the British
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
during the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir the following month; ''Provence'' was later raised and towed to
Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
, where she was again scuttled in November 1942. ''Lorraine'' was disarmed by the British in Alexandria and recommissioned in 1942 to serve with the
Free French Naval Forces The Free French Naval Forces (french: Forces Navales Françaises Libres, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier. History In the wake of the Armistice a ...
. She provided gunfire support during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, and shelled German fortresses in northern France. She survived as a gunnery training ship and a floating barracks until the early 1950s, before being broken up for scrap in 1954. ''Bretagne'' and ''Provence'' were scrapped in 1952 and 1949, respectively.


Design

By 1910, France had yet to lay down a single
dreadnought battleship The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
; Britain had by then completed ten dreadnoughts and five battlecruisers, with eight and three more of the two types, respectively, under construction. Germany had built eight dreadnoughts and one battlecruiser and the United States had six built and four more building. Late that year, the French Navy laid down the first of the four ships. To remedy the inferiority of the French fleet, the government passed the ''Statut Naval'' on 30 March 1912, authorizing a force of twenty-eight battleships, to be in service by 1920. The first three ships were to be laid down in 1912. The ''Bretagne'' class were replacements for the battleships ''Carnot'', ''Charles Martel'' and ''Liberté''. They were developed from the ''Courbet'' class, and were built with the same hulls. The primary reason for the decision to use the same hull design as the ''Courbet'' class was limitations of French shipyards. The ''Courbet''-class ships were the largest possible ships that could fit in existing dockyards and refitting basins. The Superior Naval Council () ordered the construction department to prepare designs for a ship armed with twelve guns in six twin
gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...
s. The additional weight of the 340 mm turrets compared to the of the ''Courbet''-class ships imposed insurmountable problems for the designers. To incorporate six turrets with the same arrangement of the earlier vessels, with four on the centerline in superfiring pairs and two wing turrets
amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...
would have required an additional displacement as well as a significant increase in the length of the hull. After several other proposals, the Superior Naval Council chose a design with five twin turrets, all mounted on the centerline. This would achieve the same broadside of ten guns, despite the reduction in the number of guns. The width of the armored belt was reduced by to compensate for the increased weight of the main battery. ''Provence'' was the first ship of the class to be laid down, which she was on 21 May 1912 at the ''
Arsenal de Lorient Naval Group is a major French industrial group specialized in naval defense design, development and construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards initiated in 1631 by Cardinal Richelieu and to the Di ...
''. ''Bretagne'' was laid down at the ''Arsenal de Brest'' shipyard in
Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...
on 22 July 1912. ''Lorraine'' followed at the ''
Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (ACL) was a French shipbuilding company of the late 19th and early 20th century. The name translates roughly to English as "Workshops and Shipyard of the Loire". Early years In the eighteenth century Nantes h ...
'' shipyard in St. Nazaire almost six months later on 7 November 1912. Due to the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in the summer of 1914, French industrial capacity was redirected to the army and work slowed on the ships. The
Greek Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...
ordered a battleship to be named ''Vasilefs Konstantinos'' to the same design from AC de St Nazaire Penhoet. Work began in June 1914 but ceased on the outbreak of war in August and never resumed. The contract dispute was settled in 1925.


General characteristics

The ships were long at the waterline and
long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...
. They had a beam of and a
draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of between and . At the designed load, the ships displaced , and at full combat load, this increased to . The crew included 34 officers, 139
petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be super ...
s, and 1,020 enlisted men, for a total crew of 1,193. The vessels carried a number of smaller boats, including two steamboats, three patrol boats, one long boat, three
dinghies A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
, two dinghies, two whaleboats, and two
lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...
s. The ships' propulsion systems consisted of four
Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...
steam turbines. ''Bretagne'' was equipped with twenty-four
Niclausse boiler A Field-tube boiler (also known as a bayonet tube) is a form of water-tube boiler where the water tubes are single-ended. The tubes are closed at one end, and they contain a concentric inner tube. Flow is thus separated into the colder inner flow ...
s; ''Lorraine'' had the same number of Guyot du Temple boilers. ''Provence'' was equipped with eighteen
Belleville boiler There have been a vast number of designs of steam boiler, particularly towards the end of the 19th century when the technology was evolving rapidly. A great many of these took the names of their originators or primary manufacturers, rather than a m ...
s. All three ships were coal-fired. The turbines each drove a single
screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...
and were rated at a total of . This provided a top speed of . The four ships could carry of coal, though additional spaces could be used for coal storage, for up to . At maximum speed, the ships could steam for ; at , the range increased significantly to A further reduction in speed to correspondingly increased the range to . The ships were modified several times in the interwar period. In 1919, ''Bretagne'' was equipped with a heavy tripod mast; ''Provence'' and ''Lorraine'' were given tripod masts in the early 1920s. Four of ''Bretagne''s boilers were converted to oil-firing in 1924, and half of ''Provence''s boilers in the rear boiler room were similarly converted in 1927. ''Bretagne'' subsequently had six new oil-fired boilers to replace the rest of the old coal-fired boilers, and her direct drive turbines were replaced with Parsons geared turbines. ''Provence'' was similarly modified in 1931–1934. ''Lorraine''s propulsion system was improved in a similar pattern. In 1935, ''Lorraine'' had her center main battery turret replaced with an aircraft catapult and a hangar for three aircraft. These were initially
Gourdou-Leseurre Gourdou-Leseurre was a French aircraft manufacturer whose founders were Charles Edouard Pierre Gourdou and Jean Adolphe Leseurre. History Engineers Jean Leseurre and his brother-in-law Charles Gourdou founded the ''Établissements Gourdou-Leseur ...
GL-819 and
Potez 452 The Potez 452 was a French flying boat designed and built by Potez in response to a French Navy specification for a shipboard reconnaissance machine for use on its battleships and cruisers. Design The design requirements included the ability fo ...
seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...
s, though they were replaced with the
Loire 130 The Loire 130 was a French flying boat that saw service during World War II. It was designed and built by Loire Aviation of St Nazaire. Development The Loire 130 originated from a mid-1930s requirement from the French Navy for a reconnaissance s ...
flying boat. In March–May 1944, the aircraft installation was removed.


Armament

The ship's main battery consisted of ten 340mm/45 Modèle 1912 guns in five twin gun turrets. The turrets were mounted all on the centerline, with two in a superfiring pair forward of the conning tower, one amidships between the two funnels, and two superfiring aft of the rear superstructure. These guns had a maximum elevation of 12 degrees, with a range of ; this was a result of the Councils belief that the decisive battle range would only be and that fleets would not engage at ranges longer than . ''Lorraine'' was modified in 1917 to increase the elevation of the guns to 18 degrees, which correspondingly increased the range to . ''Bretagne'' and ''Provence'' were similarly modified after the end of the war in 1919. Each gun was supplied with 100 rounds of ammunition, stored in shell rooms located beneath the propellant magazines. Twenty-two Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1910 guns were mounted in casemates along the length of the ship's hull. They were expected to be used offensively to attack the upper works of enemy battleships, as well as to defend against
torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
attacks. The secondary battery fire control consisted of two central directors four rangefinders, which were located abreast of the superfiring turrets, fore and aft. The ships carried seven 47 mm M1885 Hotchkiss quick-firing guns. Two were placed on the conning tower and one was placed on each main battery turret. During World War I, a pair of guns were added. The ships' armament were rounded out by four
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s. The tubes were submerged in the ships' hulls. In the interwar period, all three ships had their armament rearranged. In 1919–1920, ''Bretagne'' had the four forwardmost of her 138 mm guns removed, along with the 75 mm and two of the 47 mm guns. In their place, four 75 mm mle 1897 guns were installed on the forward superstructure. Twenty-four Hotchkiss machine guns were installed on the forecastle deck in 1927. The four rearmost 138 mm guns were removed during this refit, along with the 75 mm guns, which were replaced with eight 75 mm mle 1922 anti-aircraft guns. Sixteen 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine guns, in quadruple mounts, were also added. ''Provence'' had her four forward 138 mm guns removed in 1919, and was equipped similarly to ''Bretagne''. In 1931–1934, she received the same eight 75 mm guns as ''Bretagne'' did, and in 1940, three quadruple mounts of 13.2 mm guns were fitted. ''Lorraine'' followed a similar pattern, though in 1935, her center main battery turret was removed; an aircraft catapult was fitted in its place. At this time, four Model M1930 guns were added, along with two of the 13.2 mm quadruple mounts. In 1940, the 100 mm guns were removed to arm the new battleship ''Richelieu'', and eight 75 mm M1922 guns replaced them. In March–May 1944, fourteen and twenty-five guns in single mounts were added, and the quadruple 13.2 mm guns were removed.


Fire control

The ''Bretagne''s were provided with Barr and Stroud
rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography an ...
s. Each turret had rangefinder under an armoured hood at the rear of the turret. Between the wars, fire-control directors were added for the main, secondary and anti-aircraft armament. The rangefinder on the forward superfiring turret was replaced by a instrument.


Armor

The ships' main armored belt was thick amidships and reduced to on either end of the ship. Above the belt, the secondary battery casemates were armored with thick steel plate. Horizontal protection consisted of three armored decks; the main deck was thick. The upper and lower decks were both 40 mm thick. Sloped armor thick connected the main deck to the armored belt. Each of the main battery
barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...
s that housed the lower turret assemblies were armored with thick steel. The forward-most and rear-most turrets had thick sides. The superfiring turrets were less well protected, with 270 mm thick sides. The amidships turret was the most heavily armored, with thick sides. The conning tower was protected with thick armor plating. The total weight of armor was .


Ships

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , + Construction data ! scope="col" , Ship ! scope="col" , Builder ! scope="col" ,
Laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...
! scope="col" , Launched ! scope="col" , In Service ! scope="col" , Fate , - ! scope="row" , ,
Arsenal de Brest The Brest Arsenal (French - ''arsenal de Brest'') is a collection of naval and military buildings located on the banks of the river Penfeld, in Brest, France. It is located at . Timeline *1631-1635 Beginning of the foundations of the port infr ...
,
Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...
, 22 July 1912 , 21 April 1913 , 10 February 1916 , Sunk by the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
at Mers-el-Kébir, 4 July 1940 , - ! scope="row" , ,
Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (ACL) was a French shipbuilding company of the late 19th and early 20th century. The name translates roughly to English as "Workshops and Shipyard of the Loire". Early years In the eighteenth century Nantes h ...
, Saint-Nazaire , 7 November 1912 , 30 September 1913 , 10 March 1916 , Scrapped beginning January 1954 , - ! scope="row" , ,
Arsenal de Lorient Naval Group is a major French industrial group specialized in naval defense design, development and construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards initiated in 1631 by Cardinal Richelieu and to the Di ...
,
Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...
, 21 May 1912 , 20 April 1913 , 1 March 1916 , {{indented plainlist, *
Scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
at
Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
, 27 November 1942 * Refloated, 11 July 1943, and eventually scrapped , - ! scope="row" , ''Vasilefs Konstantinos'' , Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire{{sfn, Mach, p=384 , 12 June 1914{{sfn, Mach, p=384 , , , Work halted, August 1914{{sfn, Mach, p=384


Service history

All three ships of the class entered service with the French Navy in 1916. ''Bretagne'' and ''Lorraine'' were assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Battle Squadron, while ''Provence'' served as the fleet flagship for the entirety of the First World War. They were deployed to guard the southern end of the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
, based in
Argostoli Argostoli ( el, Αργοστόλι, Katharevousa: Ἀργοστόλιον) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the islan ...
and Corfu, to block a possible sortie by the Austro-Hungarian fleet. The three ships largely remained in port, though ''Provence'' was repeatedly used to intimidate the government of Greece, which favored Germany during the war.{{sfn, Whitley, p=42 In January 1919, after the end of the war, ''Lorraine'' was sent to
Cattaro Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative ...
to guard the Austro-Hungarian fleet. She joined her sisters in
Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
in June 1919; later that year the ships formed the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet until 1921.{{sfn, Whitley, p=43 Financial problems forced the French Navy to reduce its battleship force to four active vessels. ''Lorraine'' and ''Provence'' were reduced to reserve status in 1922, and the latter went into drydock for a major overhaul.{{sfn, Whitley, p=43 ''Lorraine'' returned to service with the Mediterranean Squadron in 1923.{{sfn, Whitley, p=44 ''Bretagne'' remained in service and conducted training cruises in the Mediterranean and along the coast of North Africa during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1934, ''Bretagne'' and ''Provence'' were assigned to the 2nd Squadron, based on France's Atlantic coast. In 1936, they joined the non-intervention patrols off Spain during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
.{{sfn, Whitley, p=43 At the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in September 1939, ''Bretagne'' and ''Provence'' were based in Toulon with the 2nd Squadron, while ''Lorraine'' was assigned to the Atlantic Squadron.{{sfn, Whitley, pp=43–44 After undergoing a refit in the early months of the war, ''Provence'' conducted anti-raider patrols with Force Y, based in Casablanca. ''Bretagne'' was also overhauled early in the war; in March 1940 she escorted a convoy to Halifax and returned with another convoy loaded with aircraft for the French Air Force. She was then ordered to join ''Lorraine'' in Force X, to be based in
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
to operate in concert with the British Mediterranean Fleet. Two weeks later, ''Bretagne'' was instead ordered to steam at high speed to Bizerte, to join the
Force de Raid The ''Force de Raid'' (Raiding Force) was a French naval squadron formed at Brest during naval mobilization for World War II. The squadron commanded by Vice Amiral d'Escadre Marcel Gensoul consisted of the most modern French capital ships ''Dun ...
with ''Provence''. The ships put in at Mers-el-Kébir and remained there until after the fall of France in June 1940.{{sfn, Whitley, p=44 To prevent the ships of the French Navy from falling into the hands of the occupying Germans, British
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
ordered the neutralization of all French warships. Force H was to deliver an ultimatum to the ships based at Mers-el-Kébir; on 3 July, the British squadron arrived outside the harbor and demanded that the ships sail with them to Britain or they would be sunk.{{sfn, O'Hara et al., pp=31–32 The British and French negotiated for several hours, and culminated in the British opening fire on the French fleet. In the span of ten minutes, ''Bretagne'' was sunk and ''Provence'' was badly damaged.{{sfn, O'Hara et al., p=32 ''Bretagne'' was hit by at least four {{convert, 15, in, abbr=on shells from {{HMS, Hood, 51, 6, {{HMS, Resolution, 09, 2 and {{HMS, Valiant, 1914, 2 and exploded, killing the vast majority of her crew. ''Provence'' was set on fire and sank to the bottom of the harbor,{{sfn, Whitley, p=44 though she was subsequently raised and transferred to Toulon, where she was later scuttled in 1942 to prevent her from being seized by the Germans. They nevertheless salvaged the ship starting in July 1943.{{sfn, Roberts, p=257 Two of her main guns were emplaced as coastal batteries outside Toulon. ''Lorraine'' was disarmed in Alexandria until December 1942, when she joined the
Free French Naval Forces The Free French Naval Forces (french: Forces Navales Françaises Libres, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier. History In the wake of the Armistice a ...
. She served as a training ship for much of 1943 until a major refit at the end of the year to prepare her to participate in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. She provided gunfire support during the landings before steaming to Britain for a minor refit. She remained in Britain until March 1945, when she bombarded German-held fortresses in northern France.{{sfn, Whitley, p=44 After the end of the war, ''Lorraine'' served as a gunnery training ship in Toulon. She was then used as a
barracks ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for s ...
until February 1953, when she was stricken from the
naval register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...
and sold for scrapping at the end of the year. She was broken up for scrap outside Toulon the following year. ''Bretagne'' remained at the bottom of Mers-el-Kébir until she was raised for scrapping in 1952 and broken up. ''Provence'' was raised in April 1949 and scrapped.{{sfn, Whitley, p=44


Footnotes

{{reflist, 20em


References

* {{cite book , last = Dumas , first = Robert , year = 1986 , editor-last = Lambert , editor-first = Andrew D , chapter = The French Dreadnoughts: The 23,500 ton Bretagne Class , title = Warship , volume = X , pages = 74–85, 158–165 , publisher = Conway Maritime Press , location = London , isbn = 978-0-85177-449-7 , ref = {{sfnRef, Dumas * {{cite book , last = Hore , first = Peter , year = 2006 , title = Battleships of World War I , location = London , publisher = Southwater Books , isbn = 978-1-84476-377-1 , ref = {{sfnRef, Hore * {{cite book , last1 = Jordan , first1 = John , last2 = Dumas , first2 = Robert , year = 2009 , title = French Battleships 1922–1956 , publisher = Naval Institute Press , location = Annapolis , isbn = 978-1-59114-416-8, name-list-style=amp , ref = {{sfnRef, Jordan & Dumas * {{cite book , last=Mach , first=Andrzej V. , chapter=Greece , pages=382–386 , editor1-last=Gardiner , editor1-first=Robert , editor2-last=Gray , editor2-first=Randal , title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921 , year=1985 , location=Annapolis , publisher=Naval Institute Press , isbn=978-0-87021-907-8 , name-list-style=amp , ref = {{sfnRef, Mach * {{cite book , last1 = O'Hara , first1 = Vincent P. , last2 = Dickson , first2 = W. David , last3 = Worth , first3 = Richard , year = 2010 , title = On Seas Contested: The Seven Great Navies of the Second World War , publisher = Naval Institute Press , location = Annapolis , isbn = 978-1-59114-646-9, name-list-style=amp , ref = {{sfnRef, O'Hara et al. * {{cite book , last = Roberts , first = John , chapter = France , pages = 255–279 , editor1-last = Gardiner , editor1-first = Robert , editor2-last = Chesneau , editor2-first = Roger , year = 1980 , title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946 , publisher = Naval Institute Press , location = Annapolis , isbn = 978-0-87021-913-9, name-list-style=amp , ref = {{sfnRef, Roberts * {{cite book , last=Smigielski , first=Adam , chapter=France , pages=190–220 , editor1-last=Gardiner , editor1-first=Robert , editor2-last=Gray , editor2-first=Randal , title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921 , year=1985 , location=Annapolis , publisher=Naval Institute Press , isbn=978-0-87021-907-8 , name-list-style=amp , ref = {{sfnRef, Smigielski * {{cite book, last=Whitley, first=M. J., author-link=Michael J. Whitley, title=Battleships of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia, publisher=Naval Institute Press, location=Annapolis, year=1998 , isbn=1-55750-184-X, ref = {{sfnRef, Whitley


Further reading

{{portal, Battleships {{Commons category, Bretagne class battleships * {{cite book , last1 = Dumas , first1 = Robert , last2 = Guiglini , first2 = Jean , year = 1980 , language = fr , title = Les cuirassés français de 23,500 tonnes , publisher = Editions de 4 Seigneurs , location = Grenoble , oclc = 7836734, name-list-style=amp, trans-title=The French 23,500-tonne Battleships * {{cite book, last=Friedman, first=Norman, title=Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory, publisher= Seaforth Publishing, location=Barnsley, year=2011, isbn=978-1-84832-100-7 , author-link=Norman Friedman, ref ={{sfnRef, Friedman *{{cite book, last=Gille, first=Eric, title=Cent ans de cuirassés français, publisher=Marines , location=Nantes, year=1999, isbn=2-909-675-50-5, trans-title=A Century of French Battleships , language=fr * {{cite book , last = Halpern , first = Paul G., author-link=Paul G. Halpern , year = 2004 , title = The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in World War I , publisher = Indiana University Press , location = Bloomington , isbn = 978-0-253-34379-6 *{{cite book , last1=Jordan , first1=John , last2=Caresse , first2=Philippe , title=French Battleships of World War One , date=2017 , publisher=Naval Institute Press, location=Annapolis, Maryland , isbn=978-1-59114-639-1 , name-list-style=amp, ref={{sfnRef, Jordan & Caresse {{Bretagne class battleship {{French battleships {{WWI French ships {{WWII French ships {{Good article Battleship classes Bretagne class battleship Bretagne class battleship Ship classes of the French Navy