Strasbourg was the second and final member of the Dunkerque class of fast battleships built for the French Navy in the 1930s. She and her sister ship Dunkerque were equipped with a battery of eight 330 mm (13 in) guns. Strasbourg was laid down in November 1934, was launched in December 1936, and was commissioned in September 1938.
Strasbourg escaped the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir fleeing to Toulon. There, she served as the flagship of the newly-established Forces de haute mer until the Germans attempted to seize the fleet during Case Anton, leading to its destruction in the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon in November 1942. The wreck was later seized by the Italians, who raised Strasbourg and then started dismantling the ship, and was later taken by the Germans. The vessel was later bombed and sunk a second time by American bombers in August 1944, and was ultimately sold for scrap in 1955.
Dunkerque Class BattleshipStrasbourg Under Construction
Strasbourg
Strasbourg in Toulon 1941Strasbourg StrasbourgStrasbourg moored with Dunkerque in the distance at Le Havre between 16-20 June 1939Strasbourg at Le Havre, June 1939Strasbourg’s bridge and superstructure.Strasbourg’s superstructure Toulon, July 1941A Loire-130 after launch from the catapult of StrasbourgStrasbourg 1940Honour Guard of Strasbourg in front of her 13-inch main battery, circa 1941Strasbourg Strasbourg StrasbourgStrasbourg
Mers-el-Kébir
Cruiser Commandant Teste, Battleships Bretagne, Strasbourg, Provence and Dunkerque at Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, 1940Strasbourg seen from atop the Mers-el-Kebir fortress (the middle ship) with sister ship Dunkerque in the foregroundStrasbourg slips her moorings and makes for open water while under fire from the British Force H at Mers-el-Kébir
Scuttled at Toulon
French ships Strasbourg, Colbert, Algérie, and Marseillaise burning in Toulon harbor, France, 28 Nov 1942; photo taken by a RAF aircraftStrasbourg scuttled in Toulon, 1942.Strasbourg in Toulon November 1942German Panzer IV (Ausf. G variant) looks on next to the scuttled StrasbourgThe Scuttled Strasbourg Toulon November 1942Strasbourg Toulon 1943The Scuttled Strasbourg Toulon 13 September 1944 With the Overturned Cruiser La GalissonnièreStrasbourg With the Overturned Cruiser La GalissonnièreStrasbourg after having been bombed by US Army Air Force bombers on August 18, 1944. The capsized cruiser is the La GalissonnièreStrasbourg in Toulon September 1944The Scuttled Strasbourg, ToulonStrasbourg at Toulon, 1944Strasbourg Being Cut Up For Scrap After the WarStrasbourg in 1952
