readx; The Richelieu-class battleships had extremely strong underwater protection capabilities, and the French designers learned the lessons of the mine-sinking of the Bouvet in the Battle of Dardanelles when they were designed, and vigorously strengthened the underwater protection. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoFirst of all, the main armor belt extends 2.5 meters under water with an angle of inclination to minimize threats from underwater. In the lower part of the armor belt, a lightning wall (in fact, a reinforced hull), a lightning protection compartment, a fuel tank for indirect protection, an armored partition wall, a multi-armored partition combined with a watertight compartment, etc., are adopted. Moreover, a thick layer of foam rubber is also filled between the hull and the lightning wall, which can effectively reduce and cushion the impact caused by torpedoes and mine explosions. The design proved to be a success.

A series of efforts made by the French have been proven by history, the comprehensive protection capability of the Richelieu-class battleships is very outstanding in a series of last battleship models built by the great powers, not only stronger than the British George V-class battleships, the Italian Veneto-class battleships (the Richelieu-class is inferior to the Veneto class in terms of the main armor belt above the waterline, but the armor below the waterline is greatly exceeded, and the horizontal armor and lightning resistance performance are also much better), the German Bismarck-class battleships, It even surpassed the American Iowa-class battleships with a displacement of 55,710 tons (this is mainly because the design and positioning of the Iowa-class battleships is more similar to that of battlecruisers, focusing on the pursuit of high speed performance and long range, and making trade-offs in protection capabilities, only requiring the maintenance of the protection level of South Dakota-class battleships, in addition, the restrictions on the passage of the Suez Canal have also affected the protection ability at the expense of the ship's width), second only to the Japanese Yamato-class battleships with a full load displacement of more than 73,000 tons. The many actual battles of the Second World War proved the excellent protection of the Richelieu-class battleships.

dynamical system

When France designed the Richelieu-class ships, they required high speeds. The Richelieu uses four steam turbines with a total power of 150,000 horsepower, four axles of propulsion, and a design speed of 30 knots. The No. 2 ship of this class, the "Jean-Bar", was only completed after the war, and used a new main engine of 176,000 horsepower with a speed of 32 knots. In the tests after the launch of the Richelieu, the main engine reached a peak power of 155,000 horsepower, a maximum speed of 32 knots, and could sail at a speed of 30 knots for 60 hours. Compared to the high speed, the endurance of the Richelieu class is not outstanding. The Richelieu can hold 6,800 tons of heavy fuel oil and has a maximum endurance of 5,000 nautical miles when sailing at an economic speed of 18 knots. In comparison, the American Iowa-class battleships have a fuel load of 9,000 tons and a cruising range of 15,900 nautical miles. The reasons for this phenomenon are, first, the low efficiency of the French steam turbine unit used by the "Richelieu", and second, the front-mounted main gun scheme causes the waterline in the front half of the warship to be too hypertrophied, thus increasing the navigation resistance. However, fighting in the Mediterranean Sea does not require much endurance of warships, so this shortcoming does not have a great impact on combat effectiveness.

Source of the ship's name

Richelieu, French cardinal, statesman, and father of the navy.

Jean Barr, a famous French admiral, privateer, and "patriotic pirate".

French Prime Minister of World War I, "Tiger Prime Minister" Clemenceau.

"Richelieu".

Construction began on the Richelieu in 1935, and by June 1940 only 95% of the construction was complete, and the main equipment on the ship, although installed, had not been commissioned. In September 1939, Germany launched an attack on Poland and World War II broke out. In 1940, the Germans bypassed the Maginot Line and swept through northern France, which was quickly routed from land. With the signing of the armistice between France and Nazi Germany, there was unprecedented chaos in the French navy. The capital ships left the ports of mainland France, some headed directly for Britain, but many more battleships took refuge in the ports of the French colonies of North Africa and were in a wait-and-see mode. On 15 June, the Richelieu, which had not yet been finalized, left Brest with all the ammunition and spare parts it could collect, and arrived in Dakar, the French colony of Senegal, on 18 June. "Jean-Bar", which only completed the hull works, was also towed to Casablanca, Morocco.

After the fall of France, the number of French battleships in a wait-and-see state reached 6, while the German Navy had only 3 battleships built at that time. These French battleships, in the event that they ended up in German hands, would be a serious threat to the British fleet. In order to eliminate these potential adversaries, the British developed a plan of action called "Catapult", a combination of political persuasion and military settlement to disarm these overseas French fleets.

On 3 July 1940, the British Navy took action against French ships anchored in various ports in North Africa. The 4 French battleships anchored in Oran, Algeria, were the first to be shelled by the British fleet, 3 of the 4 French battleships were sunk or stranded, and only the "Strasbourg" escaped.

On 8 July, bad luck befell the Richelieu, and the British fleet with the aircraft carrier Athletic as the core attacked Dakar. The "Richelieu", as the primary target of the strike, was attacked by the "Swordfish" torpedo planes that took off from the "Athletic". But the 450-mm torpedoes dropped by the "Swordfish" had little effect.

After the first unsuccessful attack, on September 23, 1940, the British Royal Navy sent three battleships, "Barham" and "Resolve", to Dakar again, with the aim of destroying the most powerful French battleship. The "Richelieu", which was at anchor, fought back with its main guns, and the coastal batteries in Dakar also shelled the British fleet. In the exchange of fire with these two 32,000-ton British battleships equipped with 15-inch guns, the "Richelieu" was damaged again, but fortunately the armor was thick and did not hurt the bones. During the battle, the British battleship "Resolve" was damaged. Forced by the strong fire of the coastal batteries, the British fleet had to withdraw from the battle in order to avoid greater losses.

The British attack stiffened the relationship between the French overseas fleet and the Allies. Throughout 1941, the "Richelieu" anchored in Dakar, not announcing its accession to the Axis sequence, but at the same time not compromising with the British. In 1942, during the Allied operation "Torch" in North Africa, the "Richelieu" remained neutral, that is, it did not participate in the landing operation and did not strike at the Allied landing force. Under the mediation of the United States, at the end of 1942, the Free France and the crew of the "Richelieu" finally reached a settlement: the United States nominally bought the "Richelieu", and after the United States underwent refurbishment, it was put into the Pacific theater to fight against Japan, and then returned to the French government after the war.

On January 16, 1943, the Richelieu arrived in New York to undergo a transformation. The 100-mm large-caliber anti-aircraft gun, the 152-mm secondary gun and the 380-mm main gun were retained. The seaplane catapults and seaplane hangars were dismantled, and the French 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and 13.2-mm anti-aircraft machine guns were replaced with 40-mm "Bofors" anti-aircraft guns and 20-mm "Erlikong" anti-aircraft guns; Since the US Navy did not have battleships equipped with 380 mm guns, it finally had to make a special batch of 380 mm caliber ammunition for the "Richelieu". During the refurbishment, the "Richelieu" was also modernized, and newly developed air and sea search radars developed by the United States were installed.

In October 1943, the "Richelieu" was refitted and placed under the command of the British Far East Fleet, operating in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. Due to the high speed of 30 knots, the Richelieu was able to follow the actions of the aircraft carriers in the fleet, providing an air defense barrier for the aircraft carriers with a large number of small and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns on the ships, while at the same time bombarding the Japanese fortifications with 380 mm naval guns.

In 1944, the U.S. Navy launched a full-scale offensive against the Japanese in the Pacific theater. In March of the same year, the British Far East Fleet set out from Sri Lanka and attacked the Japanese island of Sumatra with the aircraft carrier "Tejour" as the core. The Richelieu, as the shore fire support ship in the fleet, together with the battleships "Queen Elizabeth", the battleship "Warrior" and the battlecruiser "Prestige", shelled the port of Sabang in the northwest corner of Sumatra. In June 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy, the second battlefield in Europe was opened, and the liberation of France was just around the corner. In October 1944, the Richelieu returned to France from the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. While the "Free French" fighters were parading at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the ships of the Free France also performed a parade in the port of Toulon. When the "Richelieu" slowly sailed into the port of Toulon, it was enthusiastically welcomed by the French, and the "Richelieu" became the maritime symbol of Free France.

After the celebration of the restoration of France, the "Richelieu" returned to the Pacific to fight. At the beginning of 1945, during the six-month-long island landing operation, the "Richelieu" fought side by side with the American ships "Iowa" and "North Carolina". In August 1945, the Richelieu took part in the shelling of ports and cities along the coast of Japan, and on September 2, 1945, the Richelieu participated in the signing ceremony of Japan's surrender.

After the war, the Richelieu was withdrawn from the British Far East Fleet and returned to the control of the U.S. Navy, which in turn returned the Richelieu to France. In 1946, the "Richelieu" again returned to France from the Pacific Ocean. Before returning home, the Richelieu also carried out its last combat mission: the Richelieu cruised along the coast of the Indochina Peninsula to deter the French colony of Vietnam. Although the "Richelieu" was no longer of great use after the war, it remained in service as a symbol of the French Navy until the 50s. In several wars with participation in the French colonies of North Africa, mostly as a deterrent to the Navy. Due to the high maintenance costs of the battleship, the Richelieu was retired from active service in 1959, first in Brest as a crew training ship, in 1964 as scrap, and finally dismantled in the Italian shipbreaking yard.

The Richelieu-class No. 2 ship, Jean Bart, was hastily launched in March 1940 and retreated to Casablanca, Morocco, in June 1940 with only one turret installed. Due to the control of Casablanca by the Vichy French government, during the Allied "Torch" landing operation, the "Jean-Bar" used its only main gun turret to shell the Allied forces attacking Casablanca, as a result, which attracted the attack of the American battleship Massachusetts and American bombers, and was hit by 5 406-mm shells and 3 bombs, and the hull was seriously damaged. After the capture of Casablanca, France regained the hull of the Jean-Bar, which continued unfinished after the war and was finally completed in 1955. "Jean-Barr" was the last completed battleship in the world. In 1956, he participated in the military operation of the British and French occupation of the Suez Canal. It was decommissioned in 1969 and used as a crew training ship in the port of Toulon and disbanded in 1970.

The hull of the Cemenceau, the third Richelieu-class ship, was halted after the defeat and surrender of the French and was eventually sunk by the Allies.

Displacement: 38,500 tons of standard displacement, 47,548 tons of full load displacement (49,850 tons of Jean Barr)

Dimensions: 248 m long, 33 m wide, draft 10.7 m (9.9 m Jean Bar)

The main engine power is 150,000 horsepower (165,000 horsepower on the Jean Bar), and the speed is 30 knots (32 knots on the Jean Bar); Endurance: 5000 nautical miles / 18 knots

Armament: 8 quadruple 380mm/45x guns; 9 triple 152 mm/55 x secondary guns; 12 twin 100 mm/45x anti-aircraft guns (24 Jean Barr); 4 quadruple 13.2mm anti-aircraft machine guns (48 40mm Bofors cannons and several 20mm Erlikon cannons converted in the United States in 1942, with a large number of 57mm anti-aircraft guns on board when Jean Barr was completed) and 3 seaplanes (the hangar and catapult were dismantled after the conversion in 1942)

Armor: waterline armor belt (maximum) 330 mm/15.5 degrees, upper deck 150-170 mm, main deck 50-40 mm, turret frontal 430 mm, gun mount 405 mm, conning tower 340 mm. The total weight of the armor is 16460 tons

Crew: 1550-1670 people