Bretagne
| Country | France |
| Ship Class | Bretagne-class Battleship |
| Builder | Arsenal de Brest |
| Laid Down | 1 Jul 1912 |
| Launched | 21 Apr 1913 |
| Commissioned | 1 Sep 1915 |
| Sunk | 3 Jul 1940 |
| Displacement | 23,230 tons standard; 26,180 tons full |
| Length | 544 feet |
| Beam | 88 feet |
| Draft | 32 feet |
| Machinery | 4 shaft Parsons turbines, 18-24 boilers |
| Bunkerage | 2680 tons coal, 300 tons oil |
| Power Output | 43,000 shaft horsepower |
| Speed | 21 knots |
| Range | 4700nm at 10 knots |
| Crew | 1,133 |
| Armament | 5x2x340mm Model 1912 guns, 4x47mm guns, 4x450mm torpedo tubes, |
| Armor | 270mm belt, 40mm decks, 170mm casemates, 340mm turrets, 314mm conning tower |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseBretagne was the lead ship of her class of French battleships, named after the Brittany region of France. She served in WW1. Originally built as a coal-burning ship, she was converted to partially use oil power in the 1920s, raising her power output from 29,000 to 43,000-horsepower and her speed from 20 to 21 knots. In 1940, upon the German conquest of France, she sailed to Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria. Fearing the French fleet would be used against the Allies, British Royal Navy Force H launched Operation Catapult against the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir first. During the battle, Bretagne was disabled, then sunk, by British naval gunfire. 977 men lost their lives as the result of that battle. The ship was salvaged in 1942 for scrapping.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Jan 2008
Battleship Bretagne Interactive Map
Photographs
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Bretagne Operational Timeline
| 1 Sep 1915 | Bretagne was commissioned into service. |
| 11 Mar 1940 | French battleship Bretagne and cruiser Algérié, escorted by destroyers Vauban, Aigle, Maille Breze, departed Toulon, France. Bretagne had onboard her 1,200 gold bars, while Algérié carried 1,179 gold bars; these gold bars totaled 147 tons in weight. These gold bars from the French gold reserves were bound for Halifax, Canada for safekeeping. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
30 Nov 2011 06:23:37 AM
sorry
for the bretagne battleship and other french battleships, follow this link
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http://merselkebir.unblog.fr/navires-francais/
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twitter : merselkebir1940
Nicolas
31 Mar 2021 02:23:28 AM
please add july 1940 as date operation catapult both in article and after gold mission in timeline. tnx.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939
30 Nov 2011 01:34:31 AM
Hello,
i have a lot of "bretagne battleship" pictures on my web site. My grand father was killed under the bretagne when HMS HOOD open fire.
It's a complicate story, beetween France & Uk, but i have picture witch could please you.
http://merselkebir.unblog.fr/navires-anglais/
You will see some of the english warships witch where present during the Catapult operation, but a lot of, are missing ... please help me.
Best regards from the west county of France called "Bretagne".