French cruiser Suffren
Service
- as Suffren8 March 1930 — 24 March 19722,193 days of the war
- Name
- Suffren
- Namesake
- Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez
- Builder
- Arsenal de Brest
- Ordered
- 1 November 1925
- Laid down
- 17 April 1926
- Launched
- 3 May 1927
- Commissioned
- 8 March 1930
- Struck
- 24 March 1972
- Fate
- Towed for scrapping 22 February 1976 (1976)
- Status
- Unknown
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 10,000 long tons (10,160 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 12,928 long tons (13,135 t)
- Length
- 194 m (636.5 ft) OA
- Beam
- 19.26 m (63.2 ft)
- Draught
- 6.51 m (21.4 ft)
- Speed
- 32 knots (59.3 km/h, 36.8 mph)
- Range
- 4,600 nmi (8,519 km)
- Complement
- 773
- Main gun
- 203 mm (8 in)
Suffren was a light cruiser of the Suffren-class cruiser built for the Marine Nationale. Arsenal de Brest laid her keel on 17 April 1926. Launched on 3 May 1927, she entered service on 8 March 1930.
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 12,928 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. Her belt armour was 50 mm (2.0 in) and her deck 25 mm. She carried two aircraft.
She was in commission for 2,193 days of the Second World War. She was struck from the register on 24 March 1972.
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°)
- 2 small coal/oil fired cruising boilers
- 3-shaft Rateau-Bretagne single-reduction geared steam turbines for 88768.8 shp
- Armament
- Initial
- 8 × 203 mm/50 guns (4 × 2)
- 8 × 75 mm/50 AA guns (8 × 1)
- 8 × 37 mm light AA guns (8 × 1)
- 12 × 13.2 mm AA machine guns (6 × 2)
- 6 × 550 mm torpedo tubes (2 × 3)
- 1943 refit
- 8 × 203 mm/50 guns (4 × 2)
- 8 × 75 mm/50 AA guns (8 × 1)
- 8 × 40 mm AA guns (2 × 4)
- 20 × 20 mm light AA guns (20 × 1)
- Armour
- Belt: 50 mm
- Deck: 25 mm
- Turrets and conning tower: 30 mm
- Magazine box 50 mm sides with 20 mm crowns
- Aircraft
- 2 GL-810 then Loire-Nieuport 130
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from French cruiser Suffren on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Photo by U.S. Naval Air Station Hampton Roads. — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 85857 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons