The Algérie was a French 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...

 that served during the early years of World War II. She was built in response to the Italian Zara class cruisers, incorporating better armour than previous French cruisers.

Algérie started World War II as flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron which also included the cruisers Dupleix

French cruiser Dupleix

The Dupleix was a French heavy cruiser of the Suffren type, that saw service during World War II. She was named for the 18th century Governor-General of French India Joseph François Dupleix....

, Foch

French cruiser Foch

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

, Duquesne

French cruiser Duquesne

The Duquesne was a French Duquesne class heavy cruiser that served during World War II.After her launch, she was used on prestige missions.In January 1940, she took part in the hunt for the Admiral Graf Spee, and later returned to Alexandria...

, Tourville

French cruiser Tourville

The Tourville was a French Duquesne class heavy cruiser that served during World War II....

, Colbert

French cruiser Colbert (1928)

The Colbert was a French heavy cruiser of the Suffren class, that saw service in World War II. She was named for Jean Baptiste Colbert.Colbert was part of the 1st Light Division of the 1st Squadron in the Mediterranean, which also included Algérie and Dupleix...

and destroyers from the 5th, 7th and 9th Contre-Torpilleur divisions. The Algérie, Dupleix, the battlecruiser 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 the British aircraft carrier 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...

were based in Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

 in French West Africa

French West Africa

French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...

, while searching for the German Graf Spee.

In March 1940, after refitting at Toulon, she accompanied the battleship Bretagne

French battleship Bretagne

The Bretagne was a battleship of the French Navy, and the lead ship of her class. She was named in honour of the French region of Brittany, and was built by Arsenal de Brest...

to Canada, with 3,000 cases of French gold. In April, Algérie returned to the Mediterranean and when Italy declared war on France, she shelled 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 June. Her last mission before the French surrender was as a convoy escort.

After the French defeat in 1940, Algérie remained with the Vichy

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...

 fleet based at 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....

. Her only mission for the Vichy navy was to escort the battleship Provence

French battleship Provence

The Provence was a French Navy battleship of the Bretagne class named in honour of the French region of Provence.- Construction :She was built by Arsenal de Lorient, and her keel was laid on 1 May 1912...

back to Toulon, as the battleship had been summarily repaired after the damages received during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir in 1940. In 1941, her secondary and anti-aircraft weaponry was strengthened and in 1942, she was fitted with the early French-built radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

.

She was still there when the Germans invaded the so-called "Free Zone

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...

" on the 27 November 1942. She was scuttled in the Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon

Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon

The French fleet in Toulon was scuttled on 27 November 1942 on the order of the Admiralty of Vichy France to avoid capture by Nazi German forces during Operation Lila of the Case Anton takeover of Vichy France.- Context :...

. Demolition charges were set on the ship. The Germans tried to persuade her crew that scuttling was not permitted by Armistice provisions; her captain requested the Germans to wait until his superior could advise, as the fuses were lit. When Admiral Lacroix finally arrived, he ordered the ship evacuated; as the Germans were preparing to board, he told them that the cruiser was about to explode. She was blown up and burnt for 20 days.

The Italians raised her on 18 March 1943 and, being too damaged to be repaired, she was broken up for scrap.