French battleship Richelieu: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:38, 1 September 2005

Revision as of 17:43, 1 September 2005

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The '''''Richelieu''''' was a [[France|French]] [[battleship]] of [[World War II]] named for the [[seventeenth century]] statesman [[Cardinal Richelieu]].

Derived from the ''[[French battleship Dunkerque|Dunkerque]]'' class, ''Richelieu'' and ''[[Jean_Bart_(1940)|Jean Bart]]'' (plus unfinished ''ClémenceauClemenceau'') were designed to counter the threat of the Italian Navy. Their speed, shielding, armament and overall technology were state of the art. The turret arrangement for the main battery of eight 380 mm guns was somewhat unusual, with two 4-gun turrets located forward, enabling all the main armament to fire at the bow.

[[Image:MuseeMarine-tourelleRichelieu-p1000445.jpg|thumb|left|The quadruple 380mm turrets of the ''Richelieu'' and the ''Jean Bart'']]