Colbert
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History | |
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France | |
Name | Colbert |
Namesake | Jean Baptiste Colbert |
Builder | Arsenal de Brest |
Laid down | 12 June 1927 |
Launched | 20 April 1928 |
Completed | 4 March 1931 |
Commissioned | 11 November 1929 |
In service | 1 April 1931 |
Out of service | scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942 |
Fate | Scrapped 1948 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Suffren-class cruiser |
Type |
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Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam | 19.26 m (63.19 ft) |
Draught | 6.51 m (21.36 ft) at normal displacement |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h) (designed) |
Range |
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Complement | 773 |
Armament |
|
Armour |
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Aircraft carried | 3 GL-810 then Loire-Nieuport 130 |
Aviation facilities | 2 catapults |
Colbert was the second of four Suffren class cruisers built for the French Navy. During the interwar period she served in the Mediterranean. In 1935 she underwent a major refit at Lorient before joining the International Patrol off the Spanish south coast during the Spanish Civil War. In 1939 she was in Oran moving to Toulon in January 1940. She partook in the bombardment of Genoa in mid-June. She was in Toulon at the time of the French Armistice. She underwent a refit in 1941 to augment her light anti-aircraft guns then was placed in care and maintenance at Toulon. She was scuttled at Toulon when the Germans attempted to seize the French Fleet at the end of November 1942. She was raised and scrapped post war in 1948.
She was named in honour of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), the Controller General of Finances under King Louis XIV from 1665 to 1683. He was responsible for bringing France out of bankruptcy, restoring the financial health of the nation and laying the foundation of the French Navy, including bases and the training of the officers and men.[3]