French cruiser Foch

Foch
History
France
Name	Foch
Namesake	Ferdinand Foch
Ordered	1 Mar 1928
Builder	Arsenal de Brest
Laid down	21 June 1928
Launched	24 April 1929
Completed	15 September 1931
Commissioned	15 March 1931
In service	20 December 1931
Out of service	27 November 1942
Fate	scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942. Refloated by the Italians 16 April 1943 then scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Suffren-class cruiser
Type	Heavy cruiser
Displacement	10,160 t (10,000 long tons) (standard) 11,504 t (11,322 long tons) (Normal) 13,644 t (13,429 long tons) (full load)
Length	194 m (636.48 ft) overall 185 m (606.96 ft) between perpendiculars
Beam	19.26 m (63.19 ft)
Draught	6.57 m (21.56 ft) at normal displacement
Propulsion	6 Guyot du Temple boilers, 20 kg/cm2 (215°) 3-shaft Rateau-Bretagne single-reduction geared steam turbines for 88,768.8 shp (66,194.9 kW)
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h) (designed)
Range	2,600 tons oil fuel radius 5,300 nautical miles (9,800 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) 3,700 nautical miles (6,900 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	773
Armament	Initial[1] 8 × 203 mm (8.0 in)/50 guns (4 × 2) 8 × 90 mm (3.5 in)/50 AA guns (8 × 1) 8 × 37 mm (1.5 in) light AA guns (4 × 2) 12 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA machine guns (4 × 3) 6 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes (2 × 3) 1941 refit[2] 8 × 203 mm (8.0 in)/50 guns (4 × 2) 8 × 90 mm (3.5 in)/50 AA guns (8 × 1) 16 × 37 mm (1.5 in) light AA guns (4 × 2, 8 × 1) 32 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA machine guns (4 × 4, 4 × 3, 2 × 2) 7 × 8 mm (0.31 in) AA machine guns (7 × 1) 6 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes (2 × 3)
Armour	Caisson: 54 mm (2.1 in) sides and 18 mm (0.71 in) deck over machinery spaces Deck: 25 mm (0.98 in) Turrets and conning tower: 30 mm (1.2 in) Magazine box 54 mm (2.1 in) sides with 20 mm (0.79 in) crowns Steering gear: 26 mm (1.0 in) sides and 18 mm (0.71 in) roof
Aircraft carried	3 GL-810 then Loire-Nieuport 130
Aviation facilities	2 catapults

Foch was the third unit of the Suffren class. She entered service in 1931 and spent the interwar period in the Mediterranean. September 1939 found her still in Toulon. She participated in the search for the Graf Spee in the Atlantic before returning to Toulon. The only time she fired her guns in anger was during the bombardment of Vado, Italy in mid-June 1940. She was at Toulon at the time of the Franco-German Armistice in June 1940. She remained at Toulon until the French Fleet there was scuttled in late November 1942. She was subsequently raised by the Italians who scrapped her in 1943-44.

She was originally to be named Louvois after the Marquis de Louvois, the Minister of War under King Louis XIV. However, Marshall Ferdinand Foch, France's most famous soldier during the First World War died on 29 March 1929 one month before her launch. She was then renamed Foch in his honour. The main gun turrets were named after places that were associated with Marshall Foch during the Great War.^[3]