Dreadnought Battleships: Courbet Class

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship Courbet pictured at Toulon in 1919...She was completed at Arsenal de Lorient shortly before the start of World War I in August 1914. She spent the war in the Mediterranean, where she helped to sink an Austro-Hungarian Cruiser, covered the Otranto Barrage that blockaded the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, and often served as a flagship. Although upgraded several times before World War II, she was not considered to be a first-line Battleship by the 1930s and spent much of that decade as a gunnery Training Ship.
A few weeks after the German invasion of France on May 10th 1940, Courbet was hastily reactivated. She supported Allied troops in the defence of Cherbourg in mid-June, taking refuge in England shortly afterwards. As part of Operation Catapult, the ship was seized in Portsmouth by British forces on July 3rd and was turned over to the Free French a week later. She was used as a stationary anti-aircraft battery and as an Accommodation Ship there. Courbet was disarmed in early 1941 and was used as a Target Ship during 1943. Her engines and boilers were removed in 1944 to prepare her for use as a breakwater during the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune) in June 1944. She was scrapped in situ after the war.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship Courbet pictured at Toulon on January 4th 1914.

[Brian James]

Launch day for Courbet Class Dreadnought Battleship Paris, pictured on the ways at Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée Shipyard, La Seyne on September 28th 1912.

[Brian James]

A Barr & Stroud Triplex 15ft rangefinder pictured on the Director Control Tower of Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship Courbet c1916...She was completed at Arsenal de Lorient shortly before the start of World War I in August 1914. She spent the war in the Mediterranean, where she helped to sink an Austro-Hungarian Cruiser, covered the Otranto Barrage that blockaded the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, and often served as a flagship. Although upgraded several times before World War II, she was not considered to be a first-line Battleship by the 1930s and spent much of that decade as a gunnery Training Ship.
A few weeks after the German invasion of France on May 10th 1940, Courbet was hastily reactivated. She supported Allied troops in the defence of Cherbourg in mid-June, taking refuge in England shortly afterwards. As part of Operation Catapult, the ship was seized in Portsmouth by British forces on July 3rd and was turned over to the Free French a week later. She was used as a stationary AA battery and as an Accommodation Ship there. Courbet was disarmed in early 1941 and was used as a Target Ship during 1943. Her engines and boilers were removed in 1944 to prepare her for use as a breakwater during the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune) in June 1944. She was scrapped in situ after the war.