French Battleship Jean Bart (1940)
- For the first French battleship with this name, see French battleship Jean Bart (1911).
The Jean Bart was a French battleship of World War II, named for the 17th-century seaman, privateer, and corsair Jean Bart. She was the second Richelieu-class battleship. Derived from the Dunkerque class, Jean Bart (and her sister ship Richelieu) were designed to counter the threat of the heavy ships of the Italian Navy. Their speed, shielding, armament, and overall technology were state of the art, but they had a rather unusual main battery armament arrangement, with two 4-gun turrets to the bow and none to the stern.
An incomplete Jean Bart left Saint-Nazaire for Casablanca in June 1940 just before the Armistice. She was completed post-war with an updated anti-aircraft battery and entered service in 1955. She had a very short career. Jean Bart was put into reserve in 1957, decommissioned in 1961, and scrapped in 1969.
Read more about French Battleship Jean Bart (1940): Design, Pictures
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