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French battleship Richelieu (1939)
Encyclopedia
The Richelieu was a battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
, lead ship of her class
Richelieu class battleship
The Richelieu class battleships were the last and largest battleships of the French Navy, staying in service into the 1960s. They still remain to this day the largest warships ever built by France...
. She served during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, on the Vichy Regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
side, notably fending off an Allied attempt on Dakar
Battle of Dakar
The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa , which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.-Background:At...
, and later with Allied forces in the Indian Ocean in 1944 and 1945. She took part in the return of French forces to Indochina in 1945, and served into the 1960s.
Design
On 1932, the first modern battleship of the French Navy (DunkerqueFrench battleship Dunkerque
The Dunkerque was the first unit of a new class of warships of the French Navy built in the 1930s, officially rated as battleships, or even «navires de ligne» , as Dunkerque and Strasbourg constituted, from the commissionig of Strasbourg to some days after Mers-el Kebir, the «1ère Division de Ligne»...
) was ordered. Dunkerque was designed to outclass the German "pocket battleship" Deutschland
Deutschland class cruiser
The Deutschland class was a series of three panzerschiffe , a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the Reichsmarine officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles...
, which outgunned all existing heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s. Only HMS Hood
Admiral class battlecruiser
The Admiral-class battlecruisers were a class of four British Royal Navy battlecruisers designed near the end of World War I. Their design began as a improved version of the s, but it was recast as a battlecruiser after Admiral John Jellicoe, commander of the Grand Fleet, pointed out that there was...
, and the two Renown
Renown class battlecruiser
The Renown class consisted of a pair of battlecruisers built during the First World War for the Royal Navy. They were originally laid down as improved versions of the s. Their construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds they would not be ready in a timely manner...
class battlecruisers could catch Deutschland. Dunkerque had a displacement of 26,500 tons, and was armed with eight 330 mm
330mm/50 Modèle 1931 gun
The 330mm/50 Modèle 1931 gun was a heavy naval gun of the French Navy.The built-up gun was carried by the Dunkerque class fast battleships, in quadruple turrets inspired by those intended for the Normandie class. They had one of the longest range, while firing quite powerful projectiles: APC -...
guns. This was well below the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
limits of 35,000 tons and 406 mm (16 in), and thus she was much weaker than ships built to the Treaty limit,
The German Reichsmarine
Reichsmarine
The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1918 to 1935...
was building two more "pocket battleships", Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee
German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee
Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron that fought the battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands in World War I...
. So in May 1934 Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
decided to build two 35,000 tons battleships, armed with nine 381 mm
381mm / 50 Model 1934 naval gun
The 381 mm/50 Ansaldo was the main battery gun of Italy's most modern battleships: Vittorio Veneto, Littorio, and Roma. These built-up guns consisted of a liner, a cylinder over the chamber and part of the rifle bore, a full length cylinder, and a 3/4 length jacket with a hydro-pneumatically...
guns. The French reaction was to lay down, on November 1934, a second Dunkerque class ship, Strasbourg
French battleship Strasbourg
The Strasbourg was a more heavily armoured Dunkerque-class battleship of the French Navy, labeled as a "fast battleship". Faster than full battleships, but not as heavily armed or armoured as them, they were designed to counter the threat of the German "pocket battleships" - the Deutschland-class...
, and to plan the first French 35,000 ton battleship.
The lead ship, Richelieu, was laid down in October 1935. Much stronger than the Dunkerque class, the Richelieu class was designed with speed, armor, armament, and overall technology which compared favourably to contemporary rivals. The turret arrangement for the main battery of eight 380 mm (15 in) guns was unusual, with two 4-gun turrets located forward.
Characteristics of the class:
- Planned displacement: 35,000 tons
Hull dimensions
- Length: 245 m
- Beam: 33m
- Draft: 9.6 m
Armor
- Main belt: 327 mm
- Fore bulkhead: 383 mm
- After bulkhead: 251 mm
- Main deck: 150/170mm, except Gascogne: 140/150 mm
- Lower deck : 40 mm,
- Main turrets: 430 mm faces, 270 mm back, 170–195 mm roofs
- Conning tower: 340 mm front and sides, 300 mm back, 170 mm hood, 100 mm deck
Propulsion:
- Six Sural Indret boilers (Sural for « suralimenté », meaning supercharged) and four ParsonsCharles Algernon ParsonsSir Charles Algernon Parsons OM KCB FRS was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the steam turbine. He worked as an engineer on dynamo and turbine design, and power generation, with great influence on the naval and electrical engineering fields...
geared turbines, four shafts, 150,000 hp, 32 knots
The main battery quadruple arrangement was specific to the French modern battleships, in the 1930s. It had been foreseen, with 340 mm guns, for the French Normandie
Normandie class battleship
The Normandie-class dreadnought battleships were ordered for the French Navy before the First World War. They were named after provinces of France. These ships were never completed as battleships because the war stopped their construction...
and Lyon
Lyon class battleship
The Lyon was a class of battleship which was planned for the French Navy, beginning in 1914. However, construction was halted and then cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. No ship of the Lyon type was laid down.-Design:...
class battleships, just before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In the context of the Washington Naval Treaty, the fore quad arrangement chosen for the Dunkerque
Dunkerque class battleship
The Dunkerque class was a new type of warship of the French Navy built during the 1930s, labeled as 'fast battleships'. Not as large as other contemporary battleships, they were designed to counter the threat of the German pocket battleships of the Deutschland class. They had a specific main...
had the advantage of saving weight on turret armor, compared to four double turrets, while retaining the same firepower. The entire main battery could fire forwards, as the ship closed with the enemy, at an angle where she made the smallest possible target.
For the Richelieu class, this gun arrangement was chosen again, but only after comparison with various other three turrets arrangements (one triple and two double, or two triple and one double, one quadruple and two double, even three triple, as on the Nelson
Nelson class battleship
The Nelson class was a class of two battleships of the British Royal Navy, built shortly after, and under the terms of, the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922...
class battleships), all carried forward but leading to a less concentrated main battery. But every three turrets arrangement would exceed the Washington Naval Treaty tonnage limits, or have a lower top speed, as in the Nelson class. In November 1934, Vice-Admiral Durand-Viel, Chef d'Etat-major Général de la Marine choose the two quadruple turret arrangement, the 380 mm/45 Modèle 1935 gun being considered the largest feasible in a quadruple turret.
The drawback was that a single lucky hit immobilizing or disabling a turret would effectively put half the main battery out of action. So the quadruple turrets of both the Dunkerque and Richelieu class were divided internally to localize damage. The four guns were not in individual mounts because this would have meant an unduly large barbette diameter. Instead there were double mounts for the right and left hand pairs of guns. (In the quadruple 14" turrets of the British HMS King George V
King George V class battleship (1939)
The King George V-class battleships were the most modern British battleships used during World War II. Five ships of this class were built and commissioned: King George V , Prince of Wales , Duke of York , Howe , and Anson .The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 limiting all of the number,...
class battleships, the guns were mounted individually.) This design proved effective at Mers-el-Kebir and Dakar
Battle of Dakar
The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa , which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.-Background:At...
. However, the guns in each half turret were so close together that when fired simultaneously, there was a wake effect between the shells, which led to excessive dispersal. This problem had not been corrected before 1948.
For the secondary battery, all early projects kept the 130 mm caliber, in five quadruple turrets, in the same position as on the Dunkerque class, but with two quadruple side turrets in the center of the ship, instead of double turrets. It soon appeared necessary to increase the caliber, however, to 152 mm in triple turrets. The project to have a tertiary anti-aircraft 75 mm caliber battery was momentarily considered, but quickly abandoned. At the very beginning of the war, on November 1939, this idea of a tertiary battery came back, with the fitting, in place of each side central triple 152 mm turret, of three dual mountings of 100 mm guns, removed from the battleship Lorraine
French battleship Lorraine
The Lorraine was a French Navy battleship of the Bretagne class named in honour of the region of Lorraine in France.- Construction :...
, and from a battery near Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
.
Aircraft installations (aircraft hangar, hangar and two catapults, for four seaplanes) were fitted on Richelieus stern.
A massive fore control tower was topped by three range finders mounted on the same axis, as on the Dunkerque class. The accumulation of heavy weights high up in the top was noteworthy. The most conspicuous difference from the Dunkerque class was the mounting of the rear main battery rangefinder, not on a separate tower located behind the funnel, but on a kind of mack
Mack (ship)
In naval architecture, a Mack is a structure which combines the radar MAsts and the exhaust stACK of a surface ship, thereby saving the upper deck space used for separate funnels and the increasingly large lattice masts used to carry heavy radar aerials. The word itself is a composite of "mast" and...
, so that the funnel opening was taken out obliquely aft underneath the control position tower.
The keel was laid down on 22 October 1935 in Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
. The hull was floated out on 17 January 1939. Richelieu then left the Salou graving dock, to be armed in one of the Laninon docks at Brest Navy Yards. The bow and the stern, built separately, were attached there, as the Salou graving dock was only 200 m long. Machinery trials began at the end of March 1940.
Service entry and Vichy years
In April 1940, Richelieu went to sea for the first time. In late May and mid-June, the Commanding Officer, Captain Marzin carried out speed and gunnery trials, reaching 32 knots, and firing a few shots from her main and secondary batteries. Due to the advance of German troops, Richelieu hastily left Brest bound for Dakar on June 18, having on board 250 shells but only 48 powder charges for her main battery. Escorted by the destroyers FougueuxL'Adroit class destroyer
The Adroit class destroyer was a group of fourteen French navy destroyers laid down in 1925-6 and commissioned from 1928 to 1931...
and Frondeur
L'Adroit class destroyer
The Adroit class destroyer was a group of fourteen French navy destroyers laid down in 1925-6 and commissioned from 1928 to 1931...
, she reached Dakar on June 23.
As the local political conditions seemed very dubious in regard of the acceptance of the armistice
Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)
The Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed at 18:50 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, in the department of Oise, between Nazi Germany and France...
between France and Germany, Captain Marzin decided to proceed to Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
two days later, shadowed by a powerful British battle group. Richelieu was sent back to Dakar by the French Admiralty on 28 June where she moored in the outer roadstead, protected only, on the side of the high sea, by a line of five freighters. Her anti-aircraft artillery was very weak. The 152 mm turrets could not fire on aerial targets, as the corresponding uppermost range finder on the fore tower had not been put in service; moreover, shells and powder charges were lacking. Only the six 100 mm turrets were usable. The short range anti-aircraft artillery was only four double 37 mm mountings, four quadruple 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun
13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun
The 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun was a heavy machine gun designed and manufactured by Hotchkiss et Cie from the late 1920s until World War II where it saw service with various nation's forces, including Japan where the gun was built under licence....
s, and two twin 13.2 mm MGs.
The 22 June 1940 armistice
Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)
The Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed at 18:50 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, in the department of Oise, between Nazi Germany and France...
prompted British anxiety that the French Navy would be taken over by the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
. This led to attacks from the Royal Navy against the French warships (Operation Catapult), to seize them (in British harbours), sink them (at Mers el-Kebir), or intern them (at Alexandria). During the night of July 7 to 8, five days after the attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, a team from HMS Hermes
HMS Hermes (95)
HMS Hermes was an aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy. The ship was begun during World War I and finished after the war ended. She was the world's first ship to be designed and built as an aircraft carrier, although the Imperial Japanese Navy's was the first to be commissioned...
attempted to damage Richelieu with depth charges moored under her stern, but they did not explode. In the morning, Swordfish
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...
bombers from Hermes torpedoed Richelieu below the armored deck. This caused a 40' long hole, and disabled the starboard propeller shaft; flooding caused her stern to touch bottom. One torpedo is likely to have hit the depth charges moored during the night. The crippled battleship was pumped out after a few days and made seaworthy for emergencies, and moored inside Dakar harbour.
On 24 September, Richelieu took part in the defence of Dakar
Battle of Dakar
The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa , which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.-Background:At...
against British and Free French
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
forces. There was a gunnery duel between Richelieu and the British battleships HMS Barham
HMS Barham (1914)
HMS Barham was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the Royal Navy named after Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, built at the John Brown shipyards in Clydebank, Scotland, and launched in 1914...
and HMS Resolution: the HMS Barham was hit twice by the shore batteries manned by ratings from Richelieu. In the engagement the Richelieu was struck by two 15-inch shells, causing no serious damage, in spite of 250 near misses. Richelieu was damaged in the battle the first time her main battery was fired: a 380 mm shell blew back and disabled two guns in the number 2 main turret: this was traced to the use of a wrong type of propellant. Firing continued during the first day with the other two guns of No 2 main turret. For the second day of the engagement, No 1 main turret was used instead. The propellant for the second day was changed, however this caused serious problems regarding range-finding. In 1941, an inquiry commission under Admiral de Penfentenyo de Kervérégen concluded there had been a mistake in the design of the shell base.
During the two days, the Richelieu fired a total of 24 rounds. No hits were recorded. The third day, as HMS Resolution had been struck by a torpedo from a French submarine, the British and Free French force retired.
Temporary repairs were completed in Dakar, some light anti-aircraft mountings were added, partly taken from the wreck of the destroyer Audacieux, severely damaged by a heavy cruiser during the battle.
During the first months of 1941, Richelieu was the first French battleship to be fitted with French early radar (designated as "electro-magnetic detection"). On April 24, 1941, Richelieu could sail at 14 knots (26 km/h), on three engines, the fourth propeller having been removed. During July 1941, three Loire 130
Loire 130
-See also:-References:*Green, William . War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats. Macdonald:London. ISBN 0 356 01449 5.*Morareau, Lucien . Les aéronefs de l'aviation maritime . ARDHAN, ISBN 2-913344-04-6....
seaplanes were shipped.
Allied service
After French forces in Africa joined the Allies after the Allied landings in North Africa, in November 1942, Richelieu sailed for refitting at the New York Navy Yard on 30 January 1943.The three ruined barrels of Richelieus upper main battery turret were replaced by barrels previously fitted on Jean Bart, the second unit of the Richelieu class, which was staying at Casablanca. The fourth barrel from Jean Bart was used for trials at the Dahlgren
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division
The United States Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division , named for Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, is located in Dahlgren, Virginia and is part of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The NSWCDD was founded as the U.S...
firing range.
The seaplane equipment (hangar, catapults and crane) had been removed. The space thus spared on the stern was used to mount 40 mm anti-aircraft guns on the rear deck. The overall anti-aircraft armament was massively reinforced, with 48 20 mm AA guns in single mounts replacing the original 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine guns, and 14 quad 40 mm turrets replacing the original 37 mm semi-automatic guns. Adoption of US-pattern secondary batteries made providing ammunition easier; a special factory had to be set up to produce ammunition for the main battery. She remained with only two range finders on the fore tower, and the rear mast was shortened. She was fitted with air and surface warning radar, but the U.S. Navy has been reluctant to provide radars for gunnery practice purposes. All these modifications increased the deplacement by 3,000 tons. After sea trials (with a maximum speed of 30.2 knots) the refit was declared complete on 10 October 1943.
Richelieu sailed for Mers el-Kebir on 14 October and thence to Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
, arriving on 20 November. She served with the British Home Fleet
British Home Fleet
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy which operated in the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967.-Pre–First World War:...
from November 1943–March 1944, participating in an operation off the Norwegian coast in January 1944. She was then transferred to the British Eastern Fleet
British Eastern Fleet
The British Eastern Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed from 1941 to 1971...
to cover for British battleships undergoing refit. This was despite reputedly strong anti-Gaullist sympathies on board and limitations with her radar and ammunition (only available from US sources). She arrived at Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
, Ceylon
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
(now Sri Lanka) on 10 April 1944, in time to join the attack by Task Force 65 on Sabang
Sabang
Sabang is a city consisting of several islands in Aceh, Indonesia. The metropolitan area is located on Weh Island, 17 km north of Banda Aceh. The city covers an area of 118 square kilometres and according to the 2000 census had a population of 23,654 people...
on 19 April (Operation Cockpit
Operation Cockpit
Operation Cockpit was a bombing raid by aircraft from two Allied naval forces on 19 April 1944. The forces were made up of 22 warships, including two aircraft carriers, from the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, French Navy, Royal Netherlands Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy, and United States Navy...
) and on Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
in May 1944 (Operation Transom
Operation Transom
Operation Transom was a major bombing raid on Japanese targets at Surabaya, Java by American and British planes on 17 May 1944 during World War II....
), and to serve in Operations Councillor and Pedal in June. On 22 July, she sailed to attack Sabang and Sumatra (Operation Crimson) and returned to Trincomalee on 27 July.
Relieved by HMS Howe
HMS Howe (1940)
HMS Howe was the last of the five British King George V-class battleships of the Royal Navy . Laid down in 1937 and commissioning in 1942, Howe operated during World War II as part of the British Home Fleet, the Mediterranean Force H, and the British Pacific Fleet.Following the end of the war,...
, Richelieu returned to Europe. After about a week in Toulon, she sailed for Casablanca, where she arrived on 10 October 1944, for careening. She was refitted in Gibraltar in January 1945, and rejoined the Eastern Fleet till the end of the war against Japan, arriving back at Trincomalee on 20 March 1945. Now with Task Force 63 of the British East Indies Fleet
British Eastern Fleet
The British Eastern Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed from 1941 to 1971...
, she joined in more bombardments of Sabang in April and of the Nicobar Islands
Nicobar Islands
The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean...
in late April to early May. The next operation, to intercept the Haguro
Japanese cruiser Haguro
|-External reference links: -External links:**...
, was abortive.
Richelieu refitted at Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
in from 18 July to 10 August, and arrived via Diego Suarez at Trincomalee on 18 August, learning of the Japanese surrender on 15 August. She left Trincomalee on 5 September to participate in the liberation of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Operation Tiderace
Operation Tiderace
Operation Tiderace was the codename of the British plan to retake Singapore in 1945. The liberation force was led by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Command...
. While she was passing down the Straits of Malacca on 9 September, at 07:44 a magnetic mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
detonated 17 metres (18.6 yd) to starboard. She eventually limped into Singapore at noon on 11 September.
Post-war
After V-J Day, during the last four months of 1945, Richelieu took part in the return of French forces to IndochinaIndochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, particuliarly at Nha Trang, with her Fusiliers Marins landing party, and delivering gun support. When Richelieu left for France, the crew received congratulations from General Leclerc
Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
Philippe François Marie, comte de Hauteclocque, then Leclerc de Hauteclocque, by a 1945 decree that incorporated his French Resistance alias Jacques-Philippe Leclerc to his name, , was a French general during World War II...
, the French Commanding General in Indochina. On 29 December, she sailed for France, and arrived in Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
on 11 February 1946.
After 1946, she had the classic existence of a warship during peacetime. She alternated between training times, transporting the President of the French Republic for a visit in French West Africa colonies in 1947, and maneuvering with the aircraft carrier Arromanches (formerly HMS Colossus), when she joined the French Navy, and officially visiting Britain or Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. During a careening in Toulon, in 1951, she was fitted with French-built radar, and received one new-built 380 mm gun and three 380 mm guns which had been intended for Clemenceau, These guns had been seized by the Germans during the war; two were installed in shore batteries in Norway and in Normandy, the third was used for trials at the Krupp proving ground in Meppen
Meppen
Meppen can mean:*Meppen, Germany, a town in Germany*Meppen , a village in Drenthe, Netherlands...
, Germany.
On 30 January 1956, for the only time in her career, she maneuvered with Jean Bart for a few hours. Soon after, she was based in Brest as gunnery training school. From 25 May 1956, she was used as an accommodation ship in Brest, and was placed in reserve in 1958. Richelieu was condemned on 16 January 1968 and renamed Q432. She was scrapped by Cantieri Navali Santa Maria of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
in September 1968. One of her guns is on display in the harbor of Brest.