Battleships of the Bretagne Class. French Super Dreadnoughts

The Bretagne-class battleships are the only super dreadnoughts in the history of French shipbuilding. These powerful warships were armed with ten 340-mm main caliber guns and possessed strong armored protection. In World War I, Bretagne, Provence, and Lorraine (the French name for Lorraine) played an important role by blockading the Austro-Hungarian fleet in the Adriatic Sea. In World War II, after France's surrender, to prevent its ships from falling into the hands of the Third Reich, the British fleet attacked the French at the Algerian port of Mers-el-Kebir during Operation Catapult. Bretagne, with precise salvos, destroyed the famous battleship Hood (which exploded, taking with it the lives of nearly a thousand sailors), Provence was severely damaged, and Lorraine sided with Free France and participated in the operations of the Allies, including the largest amphibious landing operation in history in the Mediterranean – the landing of the anti-Hitler coalition troops in Southern France (Operation Dragoon) in 1944.
The book by the leading historian of the French Navy details the Bretagne-class battleships, which became an important milestone in the development of France's naval forces, restoring the history of their creation, design, service, and combat use.
The publication is illustrated with drawings and rare photographs.