- French cruiser Dupleix
The "Dupleix" was a French
heavy cruiser of the "Suffren" type, that saw service duringWorld War II . She was named for the 18th centuryGovernor-General ofFrench India Joseph François Dupleix .She was commissioned on 7 July 1932 and based in
Toulon , as part of the 1st light division of the 1st squadron. In 1937, she was completely refitted. From 14 October 1939 to the end of January 1940, along with the cruiser "Algérie", she was part ofForce X based inDakar .While on patrol in the Atlantic with the destroyers, "Le Fantasque" and "Le Terrible", she intercepted and captured the German freighter "Santa Fé", on 25 October 1939, On 14 June 1940, "Dupleix" participated in the French raid on
Genoa , with sister ships Foch and Colbert.After the surrender, "Dupleix" remained with the
Vichy Fleet at Toulon. When the Germans occupied Vichy France, she was scuttled, in theScuttling of the French fleet in Toulon . German officers, attempting to take the ship intact, rushed aboard and forced the French crew below decks, and successfully located and closed the sea valves. The ship's captain,capitaine de vaisseau Moreau, ordered the scuttling charges in the main turrets to be lit with shortened fuses and when they exploded and fires took hold, Moreau ordered the final evacuation. French and Germans aboard all fled the vessel. Explosions of the ship's torpedo stores destroyed the vessel, which burned for 10 days.The Italians raised the ship on 3 July 1943, but she was sunk again during an allied air raid in 1944.
External links
* [http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNFR_8-50_m1924.htm NavWeaps]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.