French cruiser Foch
Service
- as Foch15 March 1931 — 27 November 19421,183 days of the war
- Name
- Foch
- Namesake
- Ferdinand Foch
- Builder
- Arsenal de Brest
- Ordered
- 1 March 1928
- Laid down
- 21 June 1928
- Launched
- 24 April 1929
- Commissioned
- 15 March 1931
- Fate
- scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942. Refloated by the Italians 16 April 1943 then scrapped (1942)
- Status
- Wreck
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 10,000 long tons (10,160 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 13,429 long tons (13,644 t)
- Length
- 194 m (636.5 ft) OA
- Beam
- 19.26 m (63.2 ft)
- Draught
- 6.57 m (21.6 ft)
- Speed
- 32 knots (59.3 km/h, 36.8 mph)
- Range
- 5,300 nmi (9,816 km)
- Complement
- 773
- Main gun
- 203 mm (8 in)
Foch was a heavy cruiser of the Suffren-class cruiser, operated by the Marine Nationale. She was named for Ferdinand Foch. Her keel was laid at Arsenal de Brest on 21 June 1928. She entered service on 15 March 1931, having been launched on 24 April 1929.
Four ships of the class were built. The class followed the Duquesne-class cruiser and was succeeded by the French cruiser Algérie.
Displacement was 10,000 long tons standard and 13,429 long tons at full load. She measured 194 m (636 ft) long with a beam of 19.3 m (63 ft). Her designed speed was 32 knots, and she carried a complement of 773.
Her main battery was eight 203 mm (8.0 in) guns. She carried three aircraft.
She was in commission for 1,183 days of the Second World War.
She was scuttled on 27 November 1942. The wreck survives.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- 6 Guyot du Temple boilers, 20 kg/cm2 (215°)
- 3-shaft Rateau-Bretagne single-reduction geared steam turbines for 88768.8 shp
- Armament
- Initial
- 8 × 203 mm/50 guns (4 × 2)
- 8 × 90 mm/50 AA guns (8 × 1)
- 6 × 37 mm light AA guns (6 × 1)
- 12 × 13.2 mm AA machine guns (4 × 3)
- 6 × 550 mm torpedo tubes (2 × 3)
- 1941 refit
- 8 × 203 mm/50 guns (4 × 2)
- 8 × 90 mm/50 AA guns (8 × 1)
- 14 × 37 mm light AA guns (4 × 2, 6 × 1)
- 32 × 13.2 mm AA machine guns (7 × 4, 2 × 2)
- 7 × 8 mm AA machine guns (7 × 1)
- 6 × 550 mm torpedo tubes (2 × 3)
- Armour
- Caisson: 54 mm sides and 18 mm deck over machinery spaces
- Deck: 25 mm
- Turrets and conning tower: 30 mm
- Magazine box 54 mm sides with 20 mm crowns
- Steering gear: 26 mm sides and 18 mm roof
- Aircraft
- 3 GL-810 then Loire-Nieuport 130
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from French cruiser Foch on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Unknown author — ONI203 booklet for identification of ships, published by the Division of Naval Inteligence of the Navy Department of the United States (9 November 1942) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons