The Dunkerque-class battleship was a type of warship constructed for the French Navy in the 1930s.
The Dunkerques were designed to counter the German Deutschland-class pocket battleships. Their main armament was two quadruple 330 mm turrets forward, with a 225 mm (8.9 in) thick armored belt. They were smaller, with a 26,500- to 27,300-ton standard displacement and a smaller main artillery caliber, than the battleships authorized by the Washington Naval Treaty, but their speed was 7 knots higher than all the battleships built from 1920 to 1937. When they were commissioned, only the last existing battlecruisers of the British Royal Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy were their equals.
Specifications[]
- Type: Fast Battleship
- Service Period: 1937-194X
- Characteristics:
- Length: 706 feet (215.19 meters)
- Beam: 102 feet (31.09 meters)
- Draught: 29 feet (8.84 meters)
- Displacement: 29,212 tons (Standard); 39,132 tons (Full Load)
- Crew: 1,381
- Propulsion: 6 Indret boilers, 4 Parsons geared turbines, 107,500 hp (designed)
- Range: 7,850 nautical miles (14,538 kilometers) at 15 knots (27.78 km/h)
- Speed: 31 knots (57.41 km/h)
- Armament:
- 8 × 330mm/50-caliber Modèle 1931 guns (2x4)
- 16 × 130mm/45-caliber Modèle 1932 dual purpose naval guns
- 8 x 37mm anti-aircraft guns
- 32 x 13.2mm anti-aircraft guns
- Armour:
- Belt armor: 225 mm (8.9 in)
- Main deck: 115 mm (4.5 in)
- Gun turrets: 330 mm (13 in)
- Conning tower: 270 mm (11 in)
- Aircraft carried: 2 x floatplanes
Unit Run[]
- MN Dunkerque
- MN Strasbourg