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She was the sixth ship (and second cruiser) of the French Navy to be named after Jean-Baptiste Colbert (the previous one was scuttled at Toulon in 1942). She served in the Navy from 1956 to 1991, before being converted into a museum ship at Bordeaux from 1993. Colbert was scrapped in 2016. [3]
In January 1939 she joined the 3rd Cruiser Division at Casablanca, and she was at Toulon when war was declared, as flagship of the 4th Squadron, part of Force Z. Marseillaise participated in the transport of gold to Canada in April 1940. Concerns regarding Italian intentions prompted reorganisation of French naval forces.
The fleet held another fleet review outside Toulon on 4 September. Admiral Jauréguiberry took the fleet to sea on 11 September for maneuvers and visits to Golfe-Juan and Marseilles, returning to port five days later. On 25 September, Liberté exploded while in Toulon, another French battleship claimed by unstable Poudre B propellant.
After the successful Allied landings in Morocco and Algeria, in November 1942, the Germans occupied the Zone libre, and tried to seize the French warships in Toulon, (Operation Lila). But the three La Galissonière-class cruisers, La Galissonnière, Jean de Vienne, Marseillaise, as most of the ships based at Toulon, were scuttled, on 27 ...
Vichy military authorities lived in fear of a coup de main organised by the British or by the Free French. The population of Toulon, defiant of the Germans, mostly supported the Allies; the soldiers and officers were hostile to the Italians who were seen as "illegitimate victors" and duplicitous. The fate of the fleet, in particular, seemed ...
View of downtown Toulon and Mediterranean Sea from Mount Faron. Toulon was the main port for the French Navy (French: Marine nationale, "national navy"), informally "La Royale". On 27 November 1942, German troops had attacked the port, with the intention of seizing the French fleet, the subsequent fight lasted just long enough to scuttle the 75 ...
Jean Bart instead remained in Casablanca, where Free French authorities had already set about readying the ship for sea. [27] [28] [29] Options to complete the ship without US assistance were limited; the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon in November 1942 wrecked much of the shipyard facilities, and Brest would not be liberated until ...
Suffren was a predreadnought battleship built for the Marine Nationale (French Navy) in the first decade of the twentieth century. Completed in 1902, the ship was assigned to the Escadre de la Méditerranée (Mediterranean Squadron) for most of her career and often served as a flagship.