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The Dunkerque was the first of a new class of warship of the French Navy labeled as a "fast battleship". Not quite the size of a full battleship, they were designed to counter the threat of the German pocket battleships of the ''Deutschland'' class. The design was very innovative, having the entire main armament mounted forward. This was similar to the arrangement of the Royal Navy's ''Nelson'' class battleships but those had three turrets carrying nine guns, and the angles of fire for the two rearmost turrets were limited by the turret in front. In contast, the Dunkerque used two quadruple turrets which gave unrestricted fire. The mounting of the main armament in quadruple turrets was a feature unique to the late-design French battleships, and was also found on subsequent designs such as the ''Richelieu'' and ''Jean Bart''. During the Phony War, Dunkerque was used along with her sister-ship Strasbourg to escort convoys. After the collapse of France, she was docked in Mers-El-Kebir, along with Strasbourg. The sinking of these ships became one of the main objectives of the British attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir on 3 July 1940. Dunkerque was severely damaged by gunfire during this attack, settling on the bottom of the harbour. Two days later, she sustained further damage by torpedo-bombers from the aircraft carrier ''Ark Royal''. After being refloated and temporary repairs completed, Dunkerque finally returned to Toulon in February 1942. She was in armistice custody, disarmed and in drydock, when the Germans invaded the so-called "Free Zone" on 27 November 1942. She was scuttled, along with Strasbourg, in the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon. Her commanding officer, Capitaine de vaisseau Amiel, initially refused to sink his ship without written orders, but was finally convinced to do so by the captain of the nearby light cruiser ''La Galissonnière''. Demolition charges were ignited, destroying the ship and setting the wreckage ablaze. Image:Dunkerque-206a4020.jpg Image:Dunkerque-2.jpg Image:Dunkerque-3.jpg Image:Dunkerque-4.jpg Image:Dunkerque Shell.JPG|A 330mm shell of the type used by the main armament of Dunkerque and Strasbourg.
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