French Battleships, 1922-1956

by John Jordan, Robert Dumas

The French battleships of the Dunkerque and Richelieu classes were the most radical and influential battleship designs of the interwar period, and were coveted by the British, German and Italian navies following the Armistice of June 1940. Using a wealth of primary-source material, some of which has only recently been made available, the authors provide a full account of their development and a detailed analysis of their design characteristics. The technical chapters are interspersed with operational histories, with a particular focus on the operations in which the ships engaged other heavy units. The book is extensively illustrated with hundreds of photographs and technical drawings, including twenty-two color profile and plan views of the ships.

Genres: Naval History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

John Jordan is a former teacher of modern languages. He is the author of two major books on the Soviet Navy, and has coauthored a series of books on the French Navy.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike their counterparts in the British, American, German and (to a lesser degree) Japanese navies of the period, the French Dunkerque and Richelieu classes, and associated designs, have had limited coverage in English. This book remedies this, and does it emphatically, providing coverage of these ships that is up to par with the quality of classic works on battleships such as Raven and Roberts’ British Battleships of World War Two.

The design of the ships is included in some detail, with a wonderful collection of diagrams – in my view, John Jordan does the best ship diagrams in the business, and these are no exception, providing clear yet detailed visual references to the layout of the ships, armour scheme, main turrets and even structure of the shells used in the main and secondary armament.

The writing is of a very high standard, with things explained clearly (noting that the authors do expect the reader to have some familiarity with naval/maritime terms, which is very much standard for this type of work, but nothing that couldn’t be looked up) – with occasional and well-chosen excerpts from (translated) reports. The books are very well-illustrated with photographs as well as the diagrams, which are reproduced in high quality, and there is a colour plates section with many profile and some plan views with colour schemes.

There are helpful descriptions of French terms, the terminology used for French decks, a section on sources and a well-designed index, enhancing its value as a reference work.

There were some occasional editing slips (for example, 305mm given as the main armament for the Normandie class in a table, when the text makes it clear it was 340mm, and the same ship’s main armament described in the text as “twelve 340mm guns in four quadruple turrets”), but by and large I saw wasn’t clear in the context of the broader work. By no means bad, but the diagrams trump the tables when it comes to accuracy, and if there is a discrepancy (of which there aren’t many), refer to the diagrams.

As well as the design of the ships, the book also provides operational histories for all four vessels, including detailed analysis of the war damage experienced by all four, and the actions the vessels were involved in (including the most detailed coverage of Operation Menace from the French side I’ve seen by some margin).

All up, excellent books, and I would strongly recommended for those interested in battleships in general, the French battleships covered in particular, the Marine Nationale in the interwar period and Second World War.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Battleships were obsolete as a state-of-the-art strategic weapon in 1922 when the authors begin their story. But engineers and most decision-makers didn't know this yet. 1922 was the year of the Washington Treaty, the first arms control treaty after the ruinous First World War. And the treaty centered on the number and capabilities of battleships, still seen as the ultimate naval combat weapon.

Each country adopted creative solutions to develop combat platforms that excelled within the limits that the treaty signatories allowed themselves. This book gives us the French solutions, the Dunkirk class, the Richelieu class. They were France's original response to the Deutschland, Scharnhorst, Littorio and Bismarck classes. French experts have opted for different solutions, less traditional than their potential opponents.

The limitations on size and tonnage imposed on French designers radical concepts in accordance with the country's available technologies and ressources; in particular for metallurgy and the availability of construction basins. The book, like all those in this series, excels in presenting the development of concepts and the solutions envisaged and chosen. The authors present the entire political, economic, technological, and technical context that surrounded the development of these two unique classes. These 4 units stood out from their competitors, reflecting the culture and imagination of the designers. The information is detailed and the drawings and graphics are precise and neat.

 The "fortune of war" did not allow these ships to have a great career, France being put out of action in six weeks in the spring of 1940; its combat fleet was neutralized and then a majority of combat ships were scuttled in 1942. Only the Richelieu was able to be put into service as part of a British task force after a long refurbishment in the United States. The main value of these works is to offer us a quality testimony on the development of these strategic projects unique in maritime history

[Bobble Hat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jordan French series are everything a type history should be. Comprehensive design and service information with great drawings and photos.