French battleship Paris

French battleship Paris

The French battleship "Paris" was a "Courbet"-class dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. The "Courbet" class was designed by M. Lyasse. "Paris" was built as part of the 1910 naval building programme.

"Paris" was the only ship of the "Courbet" class to be built by the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée firm in La Seyne Arsenal. She and her sister ship, "France", were sent to St. Petersburg, Russia as part of French President Raymond Poincare's official visit. Both ships were en-route home through the Baltic Sea in August 1914 when the First World War broke out. At the time, "France" was not fully armed and had no ammunition aboard. "Paris" would have had to defend "France" if an enemy ship were sighted, but both managed to escape the German High Seas Fleet.

Along with her three sister ships, "Paris" served in the Mediterranean Sea during the War against Austro-Hungarian and Turkish Naval forces.

During the Second World War, on June 11 1940, "Paris" was damaged by German bombing at le Havre, France, and was towed to Brest for repairs. Before France surrendered, "Paris" sailed to Plymouth, England.

In the wake of the Armistice, "Paris" was docked at Portsmouth. On the 3 July 1940, as part of "Operation Catapult", British forces forcibly boarded "Paris", along with the destroyers "Le Triomphant" and the "Léopard", "Paris's" sister-ship "Courbet", eight torpedo boats, five submarines and a number of other ships of lesser importance. After "Operation Catapult" when "Paris" was in British hands it was planned to transfer her to the Polish Navy. The ceremony was to be held on July 15, 1940 and it was planned to rename the ship to OF "Paris" (OF - Okręt Francuski - "French ship") but due to lack of personnel the ship was never handed over to the Polish Navy and was used by the British as an accommodation ship in Devonport.

On August 21, 1945, after the war had ended, "Paris" was towed to Brest. She was never used again, and was sold for scrap on December 21, 1955.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • French battleship France — The French battleship France was a Courbet classdreadnought battleship of the French Navy. The Courbet class were designed by M. Lyasse. France was built as part of the 1910 naval building programme. France was the only one of the Courbet class… …   Wikipedia

  • French battleship Courbet (1911) — For other ships of the same name, see French ship Courbet. Courbet before her 1924 rebuild Career (France) …   Wikipedia

  • French battleship La Gloire — The French Navy s La Gloire ( Glory ) was the first ocean going ironclad battleship in history.She was developed following the Crimean War, in response to new developments in naval gun technology, especially the Paixhans guns and rifled guns,… …   Wikipedia

  • Paris (disambiguation) — Paris is the capital of France.Paris may also refer to:People* Paris (mythology), legendary figure of the Trojan War * Paris (actor under Domitian), actor in Rome under the emperor Domitianurname* Barry Paris, an author * Jackie Paris, American… …   Wikipedia

  • French Navy — Marine Nationale Naval Ensign of France Active 1624 present …   Wikipedia

  • Paris Commune — This article is about the government of Paris in 1871. For the Commune during the French Revolution, see Paris Commune (French Revolution). The Commune of Paris La Commune de Paris ← …   Wikipedia

  • French ship Neptune — A number of ships of the French Navy have borne the name Neptune : * Neptune (1610 1615), a privateer * Neptune (1628 1641), a 16 gun ship of the line * Neptune (1651 1655), a ship of the line * Neptune (1666 1671), a 64 gun ship of the line,… …   Wikipedia

  • Tegetthoff class battleship — The Tegetthoff class (sometimes called Viribus Unitis class) was the sole class of dreadnought battleship built for the Austro Hungarian navy. Four ships were built, SMS Viribus Unitis , SMS Tegetthoff , SMS Prinz Eugen and SMS Szent Istvan… …   Wikipedia

  • Courbet class battleship — Jean Bart in 1914 Class overview Name: Courbet class Operators …   Wikipedia

  • History of the French Navy — Although the History of the French Navy goes back to the Middle Ages, when it was defeated by the English at the Battle of Sluys and, with Castilian help, managed to beat the English at La Rochelle, its history can be said to effectively begin… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”