French cruiser Foch


Foch was a French Navy heavy cruiser of the, that saw service in World War II. She was the first French warship named for the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch.

Design and description

The design of the Suffren class was derived from the preceding with more armor exchanged for less speed. The ships had an overall length of, a beam of, and a draft of. They displaced at standard load and at deep load. Their crew normally consisted of 647 men and increased by 84 when serving as flagships.

Service history

In the early part of World War II, Foch and her sister,, formed Force M, based at Dakar.
On 14 June 1940, during World War II, the French 1st Cruiser Division comprising the cruisers and Foch and escorting destroyers bombarded Vado near Genoa, Italy.
After France surrendered to Germany in June 1940, Foch served with the navy of Vichy France. Foch was among the ships scuttled during the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon on 27 November 1942. The ship was scuttled with open sea valves, plus charges to her main armament, to prevent her capture by the Germans. However, the ship was relatively undamaged and repair was contemplated by the Italians, who refloated her on 16 April 1943. She was instead towed to La Seyne where she was broken up during 1943-1944.