- French cruiser Suffren
The "Suffren" was the name ship of her class of French
heavy cruisers . She was named forPierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez , 18th century French admiral.In early June 1940, the cruisers "Suffren", "Duquesne", "Tourville", "Duguay-Trouin" and 3 destroyers operated against the Italian-occupied
Dodecanese . Later on in June, "Suffren" participated in a joint operation with the Royal Navy - the last before the French surrender.At the French surrender in 1940, "Suffren" was at
Alexandria , Egypt with other French warships. In contrast to the situation atMers-el-Kébir , British and French admirals, Cunningham and Godfroy, reached a peaceful settlement. She was disarmed and interned by the British on 3 July 1940. She rejoined the Allied cause and was rearmed on 30 May 1943.On 17 July 1943, "Suffren" rescued survivors of the torpedoed "
City of Canton ", offBeira, Mozambique .On November 1946, "Suffren" bombarded the city of
Haiphong, Vietnam which resulted in more than two thousand casualties and contributed to a start ofFirst Indochina War .She was eventually decommissioned on 1 October 1947, and used as a hulk in
Toulon before being broken up in 1974.External links
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship.html?ID=5978 "Suffren"] on uboat.net
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