Dunkerque

Dunkerque at anchor, date and location unknown.

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 come to be because French shipbuilding and war manufacturing priorities had been drastically 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 suspended, and in fact, construction never resumed due to wartime manufacturing needs, the enormous expense incurred by the war, and consequent reconstruction. This had left France in the possession of the aging Bretagne-class battleships as well as the entirely obsolete Danton-class ships, which were pre-dreadnoughts.

The London Naval Treaty made allowance for 70,000 tons of new capital ship construction by France. As expense, lack of necessary slipways, and political realities rendered construction of anything approaching 35,000 tons impossible, smaller ships had to be considered. The first discussions centered on four lighter battlecruisers to counter the new Italian treaty cruisers. As the existing French battleships were considered comparable to their Italian counterparts, the need for new, large battleships was not believed necessary. While the suitability of this proposal was eventually challenged by the construction of the Deutschland class cruisers in Germany, the preliminary proposal for an all-forward, eight-gun main armament stuck.

With the construction of the Deutschland cruisers, the proposed design shifted to three full, if small, battleships of approximately 23,000 tons. However, they were to retain the higher speed and lighter armament of the battlecruiser proposal. Further iterations on the design saw displacement rise to 26,000 tons with thicker armor, a reduced top speed of 29 knots, and an up-gunned main battery, from 305mm to 330mm. The number of proposed ships was reduced from three to two. This became the basis for the final design of Dunkerque, though the second ship of the class, Strasbourg, would receive significant modifications after the design and construction of the Italian Littorio class became known.

Service

Dunkerque began service in April 1936 while still not fully complete. Work remained to be finished on her superstructure and her light anti-aircraft complement had not been installed. She continued sea trials through 1937, and represented France 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 which 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 the end of the Spanish Civil War. Based in Brest, Dunkerque visited Britain and was back in port at the outbreak of World War II.

Dunkerque spent most of 1939 operating in support of Atlantic convoys or attempting to intercept German raiders, ending in a joint sortie with HMS Hood at the time Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were also raiding in the North Atlantic. She sustained damage from heavy seas and returned to port for repairs. On 11 December 1939, Dunkerque sailed from Brest for Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying gold to pay for weapons. On her return, she escorted a troop convoy to Britain. Returning to Brest in late December, she underwent refit, repairs, and trials until deployed in April to Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria 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 operations in Norway, but was again sent back to Mers-el-Kébir 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-Kébir, Dunkerque was in port when the British launched Operation Catapult. Force H, consisting of several battleships, bombarded the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir 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 damage to prevent her use if captured, attacked again, this time with aircraft from HMS Ark Royal. Though sustaining one direct torpedo hit only, two further torpedoes struck auxiliary ships moored alongside, one carrying a load of depth charges. These were detonated by the torpedo strike, causing massive damage, and combined with the direct torpedo strike on Dunkerque herself, caused sufficient flooding to settle her in the harbor. Dunkerque was made watertight and floated off the bottom by September 1940, but repairs, several fires, and consequent delays prevented her from returning to France until January 1942. Reaching Toulon, Dunkerque went into drydock two years to the day after the initial attack in Mers-el-Kébir for full repairs.

Still in drydock in November 1942, the German militarization of Cosmopolitan Vichy 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 Dunkerque scuttled her, detonating charges throughout the ship and setting her afire. She settled in dock, where she remained until 1944, when she was stripped down, her bow removed, and refloated to clear the dock.

Dunkerque was never repaired. She was sold for scrap in 1958.

Historical Inaccuracies

• Turrets are not compartmentalized.
• Catapult fighter is the Dewoitine HD.780, a floatplane derivative of the D.520. Only one prototype was built and it never flew or entered service.
• Dunkerque’s camouflaged hull resembles the late war British Admiralty Standard paint scheme, which was actually applied to Richelieu in 1945. Demounting the premium camouflage will reveal Dunkerque’s historical appearance, but at the cost of the camouflage's bonuses.
• Early 1940 overall dark grey 'Atlantic' livery is missing. Dunkerque was still wearing this paint scheme in February 1942.
• The tricolour bands on Dunkerque’s turrets indicate she is in 1942 condition, when she was under Vichy control; the HD.780 catapult fighter was scrapped in 1940 and the British Admiralty Standard paint scheme was only painted on French ships that sided with the Allies.

• 

  Dunkerque in un-dated, pre-war photo.

• 

  U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence drawing of Dunkerque.

• 

  Inboard profile of Dunkerque.

• 

  Dunkerque test-firing her main battery guns, date unknown.

• 

  Forward view of Dunkerque’s main battery, date unknown.

• 

  Dunkerque at Spithead for the coronation of King George VI, 1937.

• 

  Dunkerque in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, circa 1939.

• 

  Dunkerque seen from atop the Mers-el-Kebir fortress in July 1940 (foreground) with sister ship Strasbourg alongside (background). The funnels have been painted to allow the ships to be easily distinguished from each other: one stripe for Dunkerque, two for Strasbourg.

• 

  Dunkerque anchored at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria, July 1940. Dunkerque is the nearest ship, with the Bretagne-class battleship Provence to her port side, followed by Dunkerque's sister-ship Strasbourg, battleship Bretagne and seaplane tender Commandant Teste.