However, her freeboard is insufficient and the forecastle is very wet when there is a sea running. "The Dunkerque has excellent nautical qualities and handles easily. Let's hear what ”le capitaine du vaisseau” Seguin has to say: How successful were all these innovations, you may ask. The torpedo protection consisted of a series of compartments, some of which were filled with ”ébonite mousse”, hard rubber foam. It was inclined, which increased its effective thickness. The side armor was not bolted to the ships sides, as had been the standard until then, but mounted internally. It was designed to be able to fire on both surface and air targets and could also be loaded at all elevation angles.īoth the main and the secondary artilleri was electrically remote controlled. The guns could be loaded, at least theoretically, at any elevation angle from -5° to +35°.Īlso, the secondary artillery was grouped in turrets, not in casemates as had been the practice until then. Furthermore each turret was divided by an armored bulkhead down the middle, so that one hit wouldn't knock out the entire turret. The two turrets were positioned at a distance from one another, so that they could not both be knocked out by one hit. Grouping the main artillery in quadruple turrets saved more weight. The main artillery was concentrated on the foredeck, which made it possible to shorten the armor belt, thus saving weight. The ships were very much influenced by the British Nelson class and a number of innovations were tried. The 17 meter long bow section of the Dunkerque was built separately and joined to the hull after the launch. Since the available dry docks and slipways were too short, the hulls had to be built in two parts. France had not built a battleship since 1915 and its naval infrastructure was taxed to the outmost to build the new ships. The French had no ship that could counter the new German ships.Īs a response to this new threat, the Dunkerque and Strassbourg were ordered. Only the HMS Hood, the HMS Renown and the HMS Repulse were fast enough to catch them and strong enough to beat them. They were stronger than any cruiser that the two countries had and faster than almost all of their battleships. These ships were somewhat condescendingly labelled ”pocket battleships” but behind closed doors in the British and French admiralties, there was real concern.
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