The French battleship Richelieu was built in pieces because her dock was too short.

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Commissioned just days before France fell in 1940, the battleship Richelieu was a marvel of unconventional design. With all main guns mounted forward, she was rushed to Africa to avoid capture, only to endure repeated attacks by her former British allies, eventually becoming a floating battery in a desperate colonial standoff.

Designed to counter Italy's Littorio-class battleships, the Richelieu represented a significant evolution of French naval engineering. To remain within the 35,000-long-ton limit set by the Washington Naval Treaty, designers adopted the Dunkerque class's unique layout, placing all eight 380 mm main guns in two quadruple turrets forward of the superstructure. This configuration minimized the length of the armored belt, saving critical weight. Construction began in 1935 at the Arsenal de Brest, but the slipway was too short for the 247.85-meter vessel, forcing builders to construct the bow and stern separately and attach them after the main hull was launched in January 1939.

The ship's wartime career was defined by the chaotic politics of the Vichy regime. After fleeing to Dakar in June 1940 to escape German occupation, the Richelieu became a target for the British, who feared the French fleet might fall into Axis hands. During Operation Catapult in July 1940, a torpedo strike from a British Fairey Swordfish disabled the ship's screws and caused severe flooding. Because Dakar lacked a dry dock, repairs were agonizingly slow; crews had to patch damaged bulkheads individually while the ship rested on the harbor bottom at low tide. Despite these handicaps, the ship remained a potent symbol of French resistance.

By September 1940, the Richelieu faced further aggression during Operation Menace, an Anglo-Free French attempt to seize the colony. The battleship, moored and facing north, initially struggled to engage the British fleet but eventually brought her main battery to bear after tugboats repositioned her. Following the Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942, the Richelieu finally joined the Free French forces. She underwent extensive modernization in the United States before serving in the Indian Ocean against Japan. After the war, she saw limited service before being relegated to a training role, ultimately being sold for scrap in 1968.

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