Dunkerque History

Design
The Dunkerque class began as an answer to the increasing gap in performance and
ability of capital ships available to the French navy in the 1930s. This had com
e to be because French shipbuilding and war manufacturing priorities had been dr
astically altered during World War I. Having had to cancel the modern Lyon class
before they had been laid down, even the preceding Normandie class was suspende
d, and in fact, construction never resumed due to wartime manufacturing needs, t
he enormous expense incurred by the war, and consequent reconstruction. This had
left France in the possession of the aging Bretagne-class battleships as well a
s the entirely obsolete Danton-class ships, which were pre-dreadnoughts. The Lon
don Naval Treaty made allowance for 70,000 tons of new capital ship construction
by France. As expense, lack of necessary slipways, and political realities rend
ered construction of anything approaching 35,000 tons impossible, smaller ships
had to be considered. The first discussions centered on four lighter battlecruis
ers to counter the new Italian treaty cruisers. As the existing French battleshi
ps were considered comparable to their Italian counterparts, the need for new, l
arge battleships was not believed necessary. While the suitability of this propo
sal was eventually challenged by the construction of the Deutschland class cruis
ers in Germany, the preliminary proposal for an all-forward, eight-gun main arma
ment stuck.
With the construction of the Deutschland cruisers, the proposed design shifted t
o three full, if small, battleships of approximately 23,000 tons. However, they
were to retain the higher speed and lighter armament of the battlecruiser propos
al. Further iterations on the design saw displacement rise to 26,000 tons with t
hicker armor, a reduced top speed of 29 knots, and an up-gunned main battery, fr
om 305mm to 330mm. The number of proposed ships was reduced from three to two. T
his became the basis for the final design of Dunkerque, though the second ship o
f the class, Strasbourg, would receive significant modifications after the desig
n and construction of the Italian Littorio class became known.
Service
Dunkerque began service in April 1936 while still not fully complete. Work remai
ned to be finished on her superstructure and her light anti-aircraft complement
had not been installed. She continued sea trials through 1937, and represented F
rance during the coronation review for Britain s George VI in May. Afterward, she
embarked on a series of colonial visits, returning to France in early 1938, at w
hich time she actively joined the fleet as the flagship of the Atlantic Squadron
.
In early 1939, Dunkerque was attached to the Raiding Force, operating as part of
a French neutrality patrol and observation force off the Spanish coast during t
he end of the Spanish Civil War. Based in Brest, Dunkerque visited Britain and w
as back in port at the outbreak of World War II.
Dunkerque spent most of 1939 operating in support of Atlantic convoys or attempt
ing to intercept German raiders, ending in a joint sortie with HMS Hood at the t
ime Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were also raiding in the North Atlantic. She susta
ined damage from heavy seas and returned to port for repairs. On 11 December 193
9, Dunkerque sailed from Brest for Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying gold to pay fo
r weapons. On her return, she escorted a troop convoy to Britain. Returning to B
rest in late December, she underwent refit, repairs, and trials until deployed i
n April to Mers-el-Kebir with the Raiding Force as a counter to the increasingly
belligerent Italy.
Dunkerque stayed less than a week, redeploying back to Brest in support of opera
tions in Norway, but was again sent back to Mers-el-Kbir before April had ended.
She sortied several times in attempts to intercept Italian ships, but all proved
to be failures.
Still in port at Mers-el-Kbir, Dunkerque was in port when the British launched Op
eration Catapult. Force H, consisting of several battleships, bombarded the Fren
ch fleet at Mers-el-Kbir on 22 June 1940, in the belief that crippling or sinking
the French ships would keep them out of German hands. Dunkerque sustained heavy
damage. The British, not believing Dunkerque to have sustained sufficient damag
e to prevent her use if captured, attacked again, this time with aircraft from H
MS Ark Royal. Though sustaining one direct torpedo hit only, two further torpedo
es struck auxiliary ships moored alongside, one carrying a load of depth charges
. These were detonated by the torpedo strike, causing massive damage, and combin
ed with the direct torpedo strike on Dunkerque herself, caused sufficient floodi
ng to settle her in the harbor. Dunkerque was made watertight and floated off th
e bottom by September 1940, but repairs, several fires, and consequent delays pr
evented her from returning to France until January 1942. Reaching Toulon, Dunker
que went into drydock two years to the day after the initial attack in Mers-el-Kb
ir for full repairs.
Still in drydock in November 1942, the German militarization of Cosmopolitan Vic
hy France saw an attempt to seize the various ships of the French fleet in dock
or at anchor in Toulon. To prevent her falling into German hands, the crew of Du
nkerque scuttled her, detonating charges throughout the ship and setting her afi
re. She settled in dock, where she remained until 1944, when she was stripped do
wn, her bow removed, and refloated to clear the dock.
Dunkerque was never repaired. She was sold for scrap in 1958.