The De Grasse was an anti-aircraft cruiser of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

. She was the first French vessel named in honour of François Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasetilly, comte de Grasse. She was notoriously involved in the nuclear test campaigns in Mururoa.

Initial design

The De Grasse was designed in the late 30s, as the lead ship of a series of three cruisers a little heavier than the preceding La Galissonnière class cruiser

La Galissonnière class cruiser

The La Galissonnière cruiser class was a group of six warships admitted in active service in the French Navy in the 1930s. They were the last French cruisers completed after 1935, until the completion of De Grasse in 1956. They are considered as fast, reliable and successful ships...

s , notably with an improved anti-aircraft equipment. The other two ships Chateaurenault and Guichen were cancelled.

Specifications (1938 design)

• Displacement: 8000 tons standard, 11,431 tons full load
• Dimensions: Length 180.4 m, beam 18.6 m, draught 5.5 m
• Machinery: two-shaft steam turbine, 4 boilers, 110000 hp
• Speed: 33 knots (64.7 km/h)
• Armament:
  • 9 × 152 mm guns (3 turrets)
  • 6 × 100 mm guns (3 twin turrets)
  • 8 × 37 mm guns
  • 8 × 13.2 mm machine guns
  • 6 × 550 mm torpedo tubes
• Armour
  • Belt: 100 mm
  • Deck: 38 mm
  • Turrets: 100 mm
  • Conning tower: 95 mm
• Aircraft: 2 catapults, 2 seaplanes
• Crew: 691

The unfinished ship (some 28% ready only) was captured in June 1940 by the invading Germans during the Second World War. In April 1942 the Germans began planning to convert De Grasse to an light aircraft carrier

Light aircraft carrier

A light aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only ½ to ⅔ the size of a full-sized or "fleet" carrier.-History:In World War II, the...

. On 3 December 1942 Hitler ordered that De Grasse has to be built as an aircraft carrier for Germany but the work was stopped in February 1943 because of an order of him to stop work on all big ships of the Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 because he thought now the big warships as useless for his war efforts.

Post-war

After the war the hull was eventually launched in 1946. The construction was halted again between 1946 and 1951, when she was towed to the Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

 Navy yard to be completed, to a significantly modified design as an anti-aircraft cruiser.

• Armament:
  • 16 × 127 mm guns (8 twin turrets)
  • 20 × 57 mm guns (10 twin turrets)
  • No more aircraft and no more torpedo

The trials began on 17 August 1954 and she was commissioned on 10 September 1956.

Nuclear testing Flagship

She was used as an anti-aircraft cruiser and flagship within the Mediterranean squadron, until she was selected to join the Pacific Experimentation Centre to participate in the first nuclear tests in French Polynesia

French Polynesia

French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...

. She undertook some modification in from May 1964 until February 1966, with the bridge being doubled, a 50 meters high quadripod mast mounted on the aft roof and half the armament removed. The ship was also made gas-tight and fitted with washdown facilities. The equipment was modernised and the crew was downsized to 560 men, to make accommodation available for 160 engineers and technicians.

The ship was used for six testing campaigns between 1966 and 1972. She was decommissioned in 1973 and was sold for scrap on 25 January 1974. Scrapping took place in La Spezzia (Italy) in 1975.