French Battleship Dunkerque Country: France Type: Battleship Service: 1937 - 1942 Laid down: 24 December 1932 Launched: 2 October 1935 Commissioned: 1 May 1937 Fate: Scuttled 27 November 1942

The Dunkerque class was a new type of warship of the French Navy, referred to as fast battleships. Not as large as other contemporary battleships, they were designed to counter the threat of the German pocket battleships of the Deutschland class.

This new battleship design was innovative. The main armament was mounted forward in quadruple turrets; it was a feature unique to the late design French battleships, beginning with the Dunkerque class. In the context of the Washington Naval Treaty (1922) which limited the upper displacement of ships, the quad arrangement had the advantage of saving weight on turret armouring, compared to four double turrets, while retaining the same firepower. The armour protection of the class was also very modern though the Dunkerque class was considerably less armoured than contemporary battleships. The Dunkerque was the first of this new class of warship of the French Navy.

During the early period of World War II, the Dunkerque served as a convoy escort. After the collapse of France, she was docked in Mers-El-Kebir, along with Strasbourg. The sinking of these ships became one of the main objectives of the British attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir on 3 July 1940. Dunkerque was severely damaged by gunfire during this attack, settling on the bottom of the harbour. Two days later, she sustained further damage by torpedo-bombers from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal.

After being refloated and temporary repairs completed, Dunkerque returned to Toulon in February 1942. She was in armistice custody, disarmed and in drydock, when the Germans invaded the Free Zone of Vichy France on 27 November 1942. She was scuttled in the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon.