Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria. Fearful that the Germans would seize the French Navy, the British attacked the ships there on 3 July 1940 after the French refused to surrender or demilitarise the fleet; Bretagne was hit four times and exploded, killing the majority of her crew. Her wreck was salvaged in 1952 and broken up for scrap
deep load. Their crew numbered 34 officers and 1,159 men as a private ship and increased to 42 officers and 1,208 crewmen when serving as a flagship.[3]
The ships were powered by two
metric horsepower (20,594 kW; 27,617 shp) and were designed for a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph), but none of the ships exceeded 20.6 knots (38.2 km/h; 23.7 mph) during their sea trials. They carried enough coal and fuel oil to give them a range of 4,700 nautical miles (8,700 km; 5,400 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[3]
The Bretagne class's
sub-calibre training, one on each turret roof, before they entered service. The Bretagnes were also armed with a pair of submerged 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes on each broadside and could stow 20–28 mines below decks. Their waterlinebelt ranged in thickness from 140 to 250 mm (5.5 to 9.8 in) and was thickest amidships. Armour plate that was 300 mm (11.8 in) thick protected the gun turrets and 160 mm (6.3 in) plates protected the casemates. The curved armoured deck was 40 mm (1.6 in) thick on the flat and 70 mm (2.8 in) on the outer slopes. The armour of the conning tower was 266 mm (10.5 in) thick.[5]
Construction and career
1912–1923
Bretagne in Toulon harbour, 23 October 1916
The ship was ordered on 1 May 1912
anti-aircraft (AA) mounts in 1918.[11]Bretagne returned to Toulon after the war's end in November.[12]
The ship received a lengthy refit there from 12 June 1919 to 18 October 1920. This included modifications to her gun turrets which increased the elevation of her main armament from 12° to 18° and thus their maximum range. The four forward 138 mm guns were removed and their casemates plated over, because they could only be worked in good weather—in rough seas, water would frequently rush over the guns. The 75 mm AA guns were replaced by four 75 mm modèle 1918 AA guns mounted amidships. The ship's
rangefinder was installed atop the tripod mast; two other 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) rangefinders were added, one on each side of the superstructure for the 138 mm guns. Flying-off platforms were fitted to the roofs of Turrets 2 and 4, but these were unsuccessful.[13]
Bretagne became flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron again
naval review that month, and they were back in Toulon in September.[12] During this period, Lieutenant de vaisseauPaul Teste used Bretagne in a series of dive-bombing experiments.[16]Bretagne and the battleship France hosted the British battleship Queen Elizabeth and the light cruiserCoventry during a port visit to Villefranche from 18 February to 1 March 1922. The two French battleships had a gunnery exercise on 28 June using the former Austro-Hungarian battleship Prinz Eugen as a target and sank her. On 18 July, Bretagne, France and the battleship Paris began a cruise visiting French ports in the Bay of Biscay and English Channel. On the evening of 25/26 August, France struck an uncharted rock while entering Quiberon and sank several hours later. Bretagne and Paris were able to rescue all but three of her crew. During a training exercise, Bretagne briefly ran aground in the Bizerte canal in Tunisia on 22 June 1923, but was not damaged.[17]Provence relieved Bretagne as the fleet flagship[14] on 1 September.[15]
1924–1939
Bretagne's aft turrets, 1919
She received a major refit at Toulon from 1 May 1924 to 28 September 1925, during which the elevation of her main armament was increased to 23°, giving her guns a maximum range of 23,700 metres (25,900 yd), and two 1.5-metre (4 ft 11 in) high-angle rangefinders were added for the AA guns. Part of her forward hull armour was removed to lighten the bow and increase her forward
director-control tower (DCT), and replaced all of her original rangefinders with the exception of the 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) rangefinders in each turret. A pair of 4.57-metre (15 ft) rangefinders were added on the conning tower roof, another one in the DCT at the top of the foremast and another at the base of the mainmast. A 3-metre (9 ft 10 in) rangefinder was added to the DCT to measure the distance between the target and shell splashes, and a traversable 8.2-metre (26 ft 11 in) rangefinder was fitted to the roof of No. 2 turret. Directors with 2-metre rangefinders were also added to control the secondary guns.[19]
On 3 July 1928, Bretagne, Provence and their sister
decommissioned in anticipation of a modernisation that began on 1 July 1932. Her original coal-fired boilers were replaced by new and smaller oil-burning ones, which allowed the No. 2 boiler room to be converted into an oil tank. This increased her fuel capacity to 2,500 tonnes (2,500 long tons). Geared Parsons cruise turbines were fitted to the inboard propeller shafts and the outer high-pressure turbines were replaced. The four aft 138 mm guns were removed and their casemates plated over. The four 75 mm mle 1918 AA guns were replaced by eight Canon de 75 mm modèle 1922 AA guns and the torpedo tubes were removed. A new DCT was installed as were a pair of anti-aircraft directors fitted with 2-metre rangefinders.[20]
After the modernisation was completed on 12 November 1934, Bretagne remained in Toulon for
French Morocco before sailing to Brest where they arrived on 16 June.[21] As tensions with Nazi Germany rose, the French naval command decided that the squadron based in Brest should be strengthened to deter Germany, so Bretagne and her sisters were stationed there for most of the rest of the decade.[22] Later in June 1934, Bretagne participated in exercises with the combined fleet. She was briefly refitted from 29 October to 3 December. Together with Provence, Bretagne had gunnery practice off Groix, Brittany, on 7–11 July. On 15 August, the 2nd Squadron was renamed the Atlantic Squadron (Escadre de l'Atlantique). Beginning in 1936, all three sisters had their 4.57-metre rangefinders replaced by 5-metre (16 ft 5 in) ones. The 2nd Battle Division visited ports in the Azores, Madeira, Portuguese Cape Verde, and French Morocco, returning to Brest on 26 February 1937. Later that year Navy Minister Alphonse Gasnier-Duparc reviewed the combined Atlantic and Mediterranean Squadrons on 27 May after that year's fleet manoevres. Beginning in 1938, the sisters had the rangefinder in the DCT replaced by a 8-metre (26 ft 3 in) model. Bretagne finished a refit on 1 October 1938 and was then working up until May 1939. The 2nd Battle Division was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron on 10 June 1939.[21]
World War II
Provence after her 1934 modernisation
At the start of World War II in September 1939, the division was based in Toulon. At the time, Italy was neutral, so there was no immediate threat in the Mediterranean.[12] Nonetheless, the sisters escorted troop convoys between France and French North Africa from 1 September to 5 October.[23] On 4 December, Bretagne and Provence, along with the cruisers Colbert, Dupleix, and Primauguet and several destroyers and submarines operated out of Dakar, French West Africa in search of German commerce raiders and blockade runners without success. Around the middle of the month, the task force began to return to the Mediterranean.[24] After returning to Toulon, Bretagne underwent an extensive overhaul, which lasted until 3 March 1940,[12] during which her 8-metre rangefinder was replaced by a 12-metre (39 ft 4 in) rangefinder.[25]
On 11 March, she left France carrying 1,820 boxes of gold bars from the French treasury together with the
Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 22 March. On the return voyage, they escorted two American merchant ships carrying 82 aircraft bought by France and arrived at Toulon on 10 April. Five days later, Bretagne sailed to Oran, French Algeria, together with Lorraine, arriving on the 18th where they joined Provence. On 27 April, the 2nd Battle Division was transferred to Algiers and then to Alexandria, Egypt.[14][26][27][28]Bretagne and her sisters passed through the Strait of Sicily on 30 April, covered by the French 3rd Cruiser Division on their way to Alexandria. While still en route, they met the British battleships HMS Royal Sovereign and Malaya, after which the cruisers departed, leaving the battleships to continue on to their destination, where they were assigned to a new Force X.[29]
As war with Italy became increasingly likely following Germany's invasion of France on 10 May, the Anglo-French naval command decided to concentrate naval forces in the western Mediterranean. Bretagne and Provence were accordingly recalled from Force X; they left Alexandria on 20 May, their place in Force X being taken by a pair of cruisers. Bretagne and Provence steamed together with two destroyers and reached Bizerte on 23 May. Admiral François Darlan, Commander-in-Chief of the French Navy, decided that all capital ships should be concentrated in Mers El Kébir, so he instructed them to steam there. Bretagne and Provence arrived there on 27 May, where they rendezvoused with the Force de Raid, France's most modern ships, in an unsuccessful effort to deter Italy from joining the war.[30]
Loss
Bretagne, partially obscured by the shell splash, is on fire and sinking by the stern, 3 July 1940
Free French, surrender for internment, to scuttle themselves, or be sunk. On 3 July, Somerville arrived and delivered the ultimatum; the French rejected it, and so the British ships opened fire.[31]
Bretagne, having remained in Mers El Kébir since being stationed there one month earlier, was hit by four 15-inch (381 mm) projectiles from
oxy-acetylene torch. The Serra Frères company salvaged Bretagne's wreck, breaking up the vessel for scrap beginning in 1952 and completing the job on 21 December 1954.[32]
Dumas, Robert (1986). "The French Dreadnoughts: The 23,500 ton Bretagne Class". In Lambert, Andrew D. (ed.). Warship. Vol. X. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 74–85, 158–165.
Dumas, Robert & Guiglini, Jean (1980). Les cuirassés français de 23,500 tonnes [The French 23,500-ton Battleships] (in French). Grenoble, France: Editions de 4 Seigneurs.
France
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