In the early months of the war, the Marine Nationale cooperated closely with the RN, dispatching its battleships to hunt German raiders and protect transatlantic convoys. 3 They had been laid down to counter the Italian Littorios, and another pair, counters to Bismarck and Tirpitz, had been authorized in 1938, although only one was laid down before the outbreak of war, and both were suspended in favor of more urgent projects. 2 Two more battleships of the Richelieu class, built to the full treaty limit with two 15" quad turrets forward, were nearing completion. They displaced only 26,500 tons standard, well under the 35,000 ton treaty limit, and were designed to hunt the German Deutschland class panzerschiffe. 1 In front-line service, the Bretagnes were joined by the two ships of the Dunkerque class, the only small battleships built under the Washington Naval Treaty. The Courbets were the first French dreadnoughts, and by 1939, both had been relegated to training duties. Their dreadnought construction program had been interrupted by the outbreak of WWI, leaving them with five pre-1914 battleships, two Courbets and three Bretagnes. At the start of WWII, France was among the second rank of the world's major naval powers.
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