![]() Colbert | |
History | |
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Name | Colbert |
Namesake | Jean Baptiste Colbert |
Builder | Arsenal de Brest |
Laid down | 12 June 1927 |
Launched | 20 April 1928 |
Completed | 4 March 1931 |
Commissioned | 11 November 1929 |
In service | 1 April 1931 |
Out of service | scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942 |
Fate | Scrapped 1948 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Suffren-class cruiser |
Type |
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Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam | 19.26 m (63.19 ft) |
Draught | 6.51 m (21.36 ft) at normal displacement |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h) (designed) |
Range |
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Complement | 773 |
Armament |
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Armour |
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Aircraft carried | 3 GL-810 then Loire-Nieuport 130 |
Aviation facilities | 2 catapults |
Colbert was the second of four Suffren class cruisers built for the French Navy. During the interwar period she served in the Mediterranean. In 1935 she underwent a major refit at Lorient before joining the International Patrol off the Spanish south coast during the Spanish Civil War. In 1939 she was in Oran moving to Toulon in January 1940. She partook in the bombardment of Genoa in mid-June. She was in Toulon at the time of the French Armistice. She underwent a refit in 1941 to augment her light anti-aircraft guns then was placed in care and maintenance at Toulon. She was scuttled at Toulon when the Germans attempted to seize the French Fleet at the end of November 1942. She was raised and scrapped post war in 1948.
She was named in honour of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), the Controller General of Finances under King Louis XIV from 1665 to 1683. He was responsible for bringing France out of bankruptcy, restoring the financial health of the nation and laying the foundation of the French Navy, including bases and the training of the officers and men. [3]
Under the 1926 program a 10,000 ton Treaty Cruiser was authorized, becoming the second ship of the Suffren class. The contract for the new vessel was awarded to the Arsenal de Brest with the order being placed on 1 March 1927. The Hull would be basically identical to the Suffren with the same level of protection and machinery layout. The differences in the layout topside would differentiate her from her sister. The raised bridge was lowered back on top of the conning position, 90 mm guns in single mounts would replace the 75 mm guns. The aircraft catapults were moved forward to between the funnels and two new cranes were fitted abeam of the second funnel. [4] She was laid down as Project Number C1 with her hull designated as number 77 on 12 June 1927 at Brest. She was launched on 20 April 1928. She continued to fit out until ready for her contractor trials on 15 June 1929. With acceptance from the contractors she underwent acceptance trials on 29 August. She was commissioned on 11 November 1929 [5] On 10 May 1930 she partook in a Naval Review celebrating 100 years since the arrival of the French in Algeria at Algiers. [6] She was finally completed on 4 March 1931. [7]
On 1 April 1931 she entered service with La Marine National and was assigned to the First Light Division of the First Squadron at Toulon. She carried out normal peacetime operations until 1935. In February 1935 she proceeded to Lorient and started a major refit on 16 February which lasted until January 1936. [8] On 12 April 1937 the First Light Division was renamed as the First Cruiser Division and consisted of Colbert, Foch, Dupleix and Algérie. [9] On 27 May 1937 she was present at the Great Naval Review at Brest following Naval Maneuvers with the Mediterranean and Atlantic Squadrons. [10] Upon returning to the Mediterranean she was assigned to the International Patrol off the south coast of Spain. The international Patrol had been formed to protect merchant shipping from piracy instituted by unknown (probably Italian) submarines. [11]
At the beginning of the war she was in Toulon. In December she sailed with Tourville for Bizerte, Tunisia. On 8 December after forming the Second Cruiser Division both ships sailed to monitor shipping as far east as Beirut. She returned to Bizerte on 28 December. [12] In January 1940 she joined Force Y arriving at Dakar on 30 January to replace Force X. The first sortie was from 18 to 28 February. She was due to participate in the second sortie from 6 to 18 March, but was sent on 7 March to reinforce Force X consisting of the battleship Bretagne and cruiser Algérie escorting gold to Canada. She returned to Dakar when completed. Force Y left Dakar on 11 April 1940 and returned to Toulon. [13]
On the night of 13/14 June she participated in Operation Vado, the bombardment of Genoa and Vado, Italy by the Third Squadron. The Vado Group included the cruisers Foch and Algérie and the Genoa Group included the cruisers Dupleix and Colbert. The bombardment cause little damage as Group Genoa fired at the wrong target and half of Group Vado shells fell into the sea. The squadron returned to Toulon by mid-day on 14 June. Foch suffered a steering malfunction but returned safely. [14] On 25 June the Franco-German Armistice took effect and La Marine National ceased all offensive operations. On 3 July with the ill-conceived British attack on Mers-el-Kébir, the battleship Strasbourg had escape undamaged, the Fourth Cruiser Division had sailed from Algiers to Oran. The Fourth failed to link up with Strasbourg so they sailed for Toulon. Algérie, Foch and Colbert with twelve contre-torpilleurs sailed from Toulon to rendezvous with the French forces sailing north to France. They linked up with the Fourth in the early morning of 4 July and returned to Toulon. Strasbourg arrived later that evening. [15] In August 1940 Colbert underwent a refit to upgrade her light anti-aircraft weapons. The quad 13.2 mm machineguns were finally installed during this refit. When completed she was placed in care and maintenance with a reduced crew. On 1 January 1941 she was activated to replace Dupleix in the Forces de haute mer. [16]
On 11 November 1942 the Germans started their occupation of Vichy France. The FHM was ready to sail to North Africa to defend it from the Torch landings but was denied permission to sail. By 27 November they had reached Toulon and entered the base. The Germans were delayed from entering the naval dockyard, giving the French sailors time to scuttle the fleet. Colbert was at Dock No. 5. Her guns were spiked with 35 kg charges that were successfully detonated, destroying the guns, and the sea cocks were opened, leaving Colbert to settle on the bottom. Fire took hold of the ship and she burned until 3 December. [17] Colbert was raised after the war, and scrapped between 1946 and 1947. [18]
The French Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, also known as CECMED is a French Armed Forces regional commander. He commands the zone, the region and the Mediterranean maritime arrondissements. He is usually an admiral of the French Navy, and is under the direct authority of the French Chief of the Defence Staff. As of 2015 the position was held by Admiral Yann Tainguy.
Algérie was the last treaty cruiser constructed for the French Navy. Designed and built in response to the Italian's Zara class of 8-inch gun cruisers, she was a totally new design and not based on the previous ships. The armoured caisson system used in Foch and Dupleix was abandoned in favour of a full armoured belt enclosing both the magazines and machinery spaces. She abandoned the unit propulsion system used previously and grouped her boilers forward leading to the reduction to a single funnel. She was one of the first vessels to utilize super heating boilers. Welding was used primarily in place of the normal rivetting in previous vessels. She maintained the same main armament but her secondary guns were increased to 100 mm guns. She served in the Mediterranean Sea after entering service then searched for German surface raiders at the beginning of the war. She was at Toulon, France, at the time of the Armistice and remained there until scuttled in November 1942.
The Suffren class was an interwar treaty cruiser built by France for the French Navy. The design was based on the preceding Duquesne-class cruiser and traded speed for protection while retaining the same armament. The first ship, Suffren, was completed based on this design. The following ships, Colbert, Foch, Dupleix, were completed to a modified design with heavier secondary armament and rearranged topside. The ships entered service from 1930 to 1933, with Suffren being the sole survivor of the Second World War.
Dupleix was the fourth unit of the Suffren class. She entered service in 1933 and spent the interwar period in the Mediterranean. She participated in the International Patrol during the Spanish Civil War. September 1939 found her still in Toulon. She participated in the search for the Graf Spee in the Atlantic before returning to Toulon. The only time she fired her guns in conflict was during the bombardment of Vado, Italy in mid-June 1940. She was at Toulon at the time of the Franco-German Armistice in June 1940. She remained at Toulon until the French fleet there was scuttled in late November 1942. She was subsequently raised by the Italians in 1943.
Foch was the third unit of the Suffren class. She entered service in 1931 and spent the interwar period in the Mediterranean. September 1939 found her still in Toulon. She participated in the search for the Graf Spee in the Atlantic before returning to Toulon. The only time she fired her guns in anger was during the bombardment of Vado, Italy in mid-June 1940. She was at Toulon at the time of the Franco-German Armistice in June 1940. She remained at Toulon until the French Fleet there was scuttled in late November 1942. She was subsequently raised by the Italians who scrapped her in 1943-44.
Suffren was the first vessel of the second group of 8-inch gunned, 10,000 ton Treaty Cruisers built for La Marine Nationale. She spent the interwar period with the two Duquesne-class cruisers until she was sent to French Indochina. Upon her return to the Mediterranean, she rejoined the Duquesnes at Alexandria. She was interned there with the other units of the French Navy. She returned to the War in 1943 spending her time based at Dakar on blockade patrol. Post war she aided in the return of the French to Indochina until placed in reserve in 1947. In reserve she was used as a training hulk and barracks ship at Brest. She was renamed Océan in 1963 and finally stricken in 1972.
Georges Leygues was a French light cruiser of the La Galissonnière class. During World War II, she served with both Vichy France and Allies. She was named for the prominent 19th and 20th-century French politician Georges Leygues.
Le Fantasque was the lead ship of her class of six large destroyers built for the Marine Nationale during the 1930s. The ship entered service in 1935 and participated in the Second World War. When war was declared in September 1939, all of the Le Fantasques were assigned to the Force de Raid which was tasked to hunt down German commerce raiders and blockade runners. Le Fantasque and two of her sister ships were based in Dakar, French West Africa, to patrol the Central Atlantic for several months in late 1939. They returned to Metropolitan France before the end of the year and were transferred to French Algeria in late April 1940 in case Italy decided to enter the war. She screened French cruisers several times as they unsuccessfully hunted for Italian ships after Italy declared war in June.
Bretagne was the lead ship of her class of three dreadnought battleships built in the 1910s for the French Navy. Bretagne entered service in February 1916, after the start of World War I. She spent the bulk of her nearly 25-year-long career with the Mediterranean Squadron and sometimes served as its flagship. During World War I she provided cover for the Otranto Barrage that blockaded the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, but saw no action.
Duquesne was the first of two Duquesne class cruisers built for the French Navy. During the interwar period she served in the Mediterranean while taking periodic cruises to show the Flag. During the war she was on blockade duty in the mid Atlantic then the Mediterranean. She was interned for three years at Alexandria, rejoining the war effort in 1943. Again assigned to blockade duty in the Mid Atlantic at Dakar. Post war she aided in the restoration of French Colonial rule in French Indochina until placed in reserve in 1947. She remained in reserve until condemned for disposal in 1955.
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Le Terrible was one of six Le Fantasque-class large destroyers built for the Marine Nationale during the 1930s. The ship entered service in 1936 and participated in the Second World War. When war was declared in September 1939, all of the Le Fantasques were assigned to the Force de Raid which was tasked to hunt down German commerce raiders and blockade runners. Le Terrible and two of her sister ships were based in Dakar, French West Africa, to patrol the Central Atlantic for several months in late 1939. They returned to Metropolitan France before the end of the year and were transferred to French Algeria in late April 1940 in case Italy decided to enter the war. She screened French cruisers once as they unsuccessfully hunted for Italian ships after Italy declared war in June.
Le Malin was one of six Le Fantasque-class large destroyers built for the Marine Nationale during the 1930s. The ship entered service in 1935 and participated in the Second World War. When war was declared in September 1939, all of the Le Fantasques were assigned to the Force de Raid, tasked with hunting down German commerce raiders and blockade runners. Le Malin and two of her sister ships were based in Dakar, French West Africa, to patrol the Central Atlantic for several months in late 1939. They returned to Metropolitan France before the end of the year and were transferred to French Algeria in late April 1940 in case Italy decided to enter the war. Le Malin played a minor role in the Norwegian Campaign in late April. After returning to the Mediterranean, she screened French cruisers several times as they unsuccessfully hunted for Italian ships after Italy declared war in June.
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