Name Foch Laid down 21 June 1928 Class and type Suffren-class cruiser Launched 24 April 1929 Draft 7.3 m Builder Brest Arsenal | Namesake Ferdinand Foch Commissioned 15 August 1931 Construction started 21 June 1928 Length 196 m Beam 9.1 m | |
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Fate scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942, scrapped 1943-44 | ||
Foch was a French Navy heavy cruiser of the Suffren class, that saw service in World War II. She was the first French warship named for the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch.
Service history
In the early part of World War II, Foch and her sister, Dupleix, formed Force M, based at Dakar.
On 14 June 1940, during World War II, the French 1st Cruiser Division comprising the cruisers Algérie and Foch and escorting destroyers bombarded Vado near Genoa, Italy.
After France surrendered to Germany in June 1940, Foch served with the navy of Vichy France. Foch was among the ships scuttled during the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon on 27 November 1942 . The ship was scuttled with open sea valves, plus charges to her main armament, to prevent her capture by the Germans. However, the ship was relatively undamaged and repair (possibly as an aircraft carrier) was contemplated by the Italians, who refloated her on 16 April 1943. She was instead towed to La Seyne where she was broken up during 1943-1944.