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Dunkerque Class Battleship
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Dunkerque Class Battleship Summary
This is a 3D printed sculpt of the Dunkerque class battleship by EBard Models.
The Dunkerque class was a pair of fast battleships built for the French Navy in the 1930s. The two ships, Dunkerque and Strasbourg, were the first French battleships built since the Bretagne class of pre-World War I vintage, and they were heavily influenced by the Washington Treaty system that limited naval construction in the 1920s and 1930s. French battleship studies initially focused on countering fast Italian heavy cruisers, leading to early designs for small, relatively lightly protected capital ships. But the advent of the powerful German Deutschland-class cruisers proved to be more threatening to French interests, prompting the need for larger and more heavily armed and armoured vessels. The final design, completed by 1932, produced a small battleship armed with eight 330 mm (13 in) guns that were concentrated in two quadruple gun turrets forward, with armour sufficient to defeat the Deutschlands' 283 mm (11.1 in) guns. Strasbourg was completed to a slightly modified design, receiving somewhat heavier armour in response to new Italian Littorio-class battleships. Smaller and less heavily armed and armoured than all other treaty battleships, the Dunkerques have sometimes been referred to as battlecruisers.
Both were completed just before the outbreak of World War II and were tasked with hunting down the Deutschlands that were expected to operate in the Atlantic as commerce raiders. The French never caught the German cruisers, and instead were transferred to Mers-el-Kébir to deter Italy from entering the war. Immediately after France fell, the British sent forces to sink the ships. Dunkerque was damaged but Strasbourg escaped to Toulon.
Dunkerque was badly damaged in another attack but was temporarily repaired and eventually returned to Toulon for permanent repairs. Strasbourg saw little activity during this period, as the armistice with Germany limited training operations. When the Germans launched Case Anton, occupying the rest of France in November 1942, the French Navy scuttle their fleet in Toulon to prevent the Germans from seizing them. Both ships were badly damaged and were handed over to Italian control, where they were partially broken up. American aircraft bombed their hulks in 1944. They were eventually sold for scrap in the 1950s.
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"A really wonderful model and much needed for the French fleet. I hope EBard and Greg can keep working well together to produce more ships like this one for the other "minor" navies... France, Italy, Russia, ANZAC. Thumbs up on a great job Greg...must buy."
Charles Saul - Thursday, April 4, 2024
