The Foch 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...

 of the Suffren

Suffren class cruiser

The Suffren class was a class of four heavy cruisers built for the French Navy in the late 1920s and early 1930s.The four ships of the class were:* Colbert, scuttled at Toulon during the scuttling of 27 November 1942....

 class, that saw service in World War II. She was the first French warship named for the French Marshall Ferdinand Foch

Ferdinand Foch

Ferdinand Foch , GCB, OM, DSO was a French soldier, war hero, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its...

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In the early part of World War II, the Foch and her sister, 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....

, formed Force M, based at 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...

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On 14 June 1940, the French 1st cruiser division with Algérie

French cruiser Algérie

The Algérie was a French heavy cruiser 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....

, Foch and escorting destroyers bombarded Vado

Vado

Teeyon Winfree, or best known as Vado, born on March 13, 1985, is an American rapper from Harlem, New York City. Vado is of Jamaican, St.Vincent and African American descent.-Career:...

 near 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....

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She was scuttled 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....

 on 27 November 1942, 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 :...

, with open sea valves, plus charges to her main armament, to prevent her capture by the Germans. She burnt for several days, a complete loss, but she was salvaged on 16 April 1943 by the Italians and broken up for scrap.