Service
After entering service in 1916, Bretagne and her sisters were assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Battle Squadron, their unit for the remainder of the war, Bretagne becoming flagship of the squadron. They spent the majority of their time at Corfu to prevent the Austro-Hungarian fleet from attempting to break out of the Adriatic. The fleet's presence was also intended to intimidate Greece, which had become increasingly hostile to the Triple Entente. Later in the war, men were drawn from their crews for anti-submarine warfare vessels. As the Austro-Hungarians largely remained in port for the duration of the war, Bretagne saw no action during the conflict. Indeed, she did not leave port at all for the entirety of 1917, due to a severe shortage of coal at Corfu. Around July 1918, the ship's foremast was replaced by a tripod foremast that mounted an experimental fire-control director and her mainmast was shortened to allow the ship to fly a captive kite balloon. Bretagne returned to Toulon in November 1918.
The ship received a lengthy refit at Toulon from 12 June 1919 to 18 October 1920. This included modifications to her gun turrets that increased the elevation of the 340-millimeter (13 in) from 12° to 18° and thus their maximum range to 21,000 meters (23,000 yd). The four forward 138-millimeter (5.4 in) guns were removed. Both 75-millimeter (3.0 in) anti-aircraft (AA) guns and two 47-millimeter guns were replaced by four 75 mm AA guns mounted on the forward superstructure. A Vickers fire-control director replaced the experimental model and it was equipped with a 3.66-meter (12 ft 0 in) rangefinder. Two additional 2-meter (6 ft 7 in) rangefinders were installed, one on each side of the superstructure, to control the 138 mm guns. Bretagne became flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet in mid-June 1921 and the ship accompanied Provence to Le Havre for a naval review, and were back in Toulon in September. In 1922, Provence and Lorraine were placed in reserve, leaving Bretagne the only member of her class in service. She spent the 1920s conducting periodic fleet maneuvers and cruises around the Mediterranean and to French colonial possessions in West Africa. Provence became the fleet flagship in September 1923.
Bretagne received a major refit at Toulon from 1 May 1924 to 29 September 1925, during which the elevation of her main armament was increased to 23°, giving her a maximum range of 23,700 meters (25,900 yd), the forward hull armor was removed to make her less bow heavy, one group of boilers was converted to oil-firing and two 1.5-meter (4 ft 11 in) high-angle rangefinders were added for the AA guns. The ship resumed her position as flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet in October after her refit was completed, but Provence assumed that role in October 1927 when Bretagne began another refit to repair her boilers. The navy took the opportunity to upgrade her fire-control systems; replacing her Vickers system with a French Chamond-Granat model, adding a 4.57-meter (15 ft 0 in) rangefinder at the top of the foremast and another on the conning tower.
Bretagne was modernized in 1931–32; her torpedo tubes and four more 138 mm guns were removed while four more 75 anti-aircraft guns were added. In 1934, Bretagne and Provence were assigned to the 2nd Squadron in the Atlantic. There, they joined fleet exercises off the Azores, Madeira, and Morocco. The two ships took part in a cruise to Africa in 1936. In August, they were involved in non-intervention patrols after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War; these patrols lasted until April 1937.
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Famous quotes containing the word service:
“Let the good service of well-deservers be never rewarded with loss. Let their thanks be such as may encourage more strivers for the like.”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“We could not help being struck by the seeming, though innocent, indifference of Nature to these men’s necessities, while elsewhere she was equally serving others. Like a true benefactress, the secret of her service is unchangeableness. Thus is the busiest merchant, though within sight of his Lowell, put to pilgrim’s shifts, and soon comes to staff and scrip and scallop-shell.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Mr. Speaker, at a time when the nation is again confronted with necessity for calling its young men into service in the interests of National Security, I cannot see the wisdom of denying our young women the opportunity to serve their country.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)