French cruiser Foch

Foch

Foch
History
France
Name:	Foch
Namesake:	Ferdinand Foch
Builder:	Arsenal de Brest
Laid down:	21 June 1928
Launched:	24 April 1929
Commissioned:	15 August 1931
Fate:	scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942, scrapped 1943-44
General characteristics
Class & type:	Suffren-class cruiser
Displacement:	10,000 tonnes (standard) 12,780 tonnes (full load)
Length:	196 m (643.04 ft)
Beam:	20 m (65.62 ft)
Draught:	7.3 m (23.95 ft)
Propulsion:	3-shaft Rateau-Bretagne SR geared turbines, 9 Guyot boilers, 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range:	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	773
Armament:	8 203mm/50 Modèle 1924 guns (4 × 2) 8 90 mm (3.5 inch) 55-calibre anti-aircraft guns (8 × 1) 8 37 mm anti-aircraft guns (4 × 2) 12 13.2 mm AA (4 × 3) 6 550 mm (21.7 inch) torpedo tubes (2 × 3);
Armour:	belt 60 millimetres; deck 25 millimetres; turrets and tower, 30 millimetres.
Aircraft carried:	2 Loire-Nieuport 130, 2 catapults

Foch was a French Navy heavy cruiser of the Suffren class, that saw service in World War II. She was the first French warship named for the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch.

Service history

In the early part of World War II, Foch and her sister, Dupleix, formed Force M, based at Dakar.

On 14 June 1940, the French 1st cruiser division comprising the cruisers Algérie, Foch and escorting destroyers bombarded Vado near Genoa.

Foch was among the ships on 27 November 1942 that took part in the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon. The ship was scuttled with open sea valves, plus charges to her main armament, to prevent her capture by the Germans. However, the ship was relatively undamaged and repair (possibly as an aircraft carrier) was contemplated by the Italians, who refloated her on 16 April 1943. She was instead towed to La Seyne where she was broken up during 1943-44.