The Jeanne d'Arc was a school 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...

, the second ship to bear the name.

She was built in Saint-Nazaire

Saint-Nazaire

Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...

 in only two years, on plans by engineer Antoine. She was designed both as a school ship, and a fully capable warship.

In 1931, she departed for her first cruise under capitaine de vaisseau André Marquis

André Marquis

André Marquis was a French Vichyst admiral, famous for the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon.Marquis was préfet maritime of Toulon, and as such, responsible for the administration of the city...

. As a prestige ship, she toured countries of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 where France wanted to increase her influence. The cruiser visited some of the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 states in 1932.

During the Second World War, the Jeanne d'Arc was affected to the West Atlantic Naval Division, taking part in blockading German cargo ships in neutral harbours. In late May 1940, along with the Émile-Bertin

French cruiser Émile Bertin

The Émile Bertin was a French fast light cruiser named after Louis-Émile Bertin, a 19th century naval architect. She was designed to operate both as a minelayer and as a destroyer flotilla leader. The design was the basis for later light and heavy French cruisers, particularly the slightly larger...

, she departed from 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...

 for Canada with a cargo of gold from the Bank of France, under the command of Rear Admiral Rouyer. After an Atlantic rendezvous with the aircraft carrier Béarn

French aircraft carrier Béarn

Béarn was a unique aircraft carrier which served with the Marine nationale in World War II and beyond.Béarn was commissioned in 1927 and was the only aircraft carrier produced by France until after World War II. She was to be an experimental ship and should have been replaced in the 1930s by two...

, the flotilla reached Halifax safely
. The Jeanne d'Arc then went to the French West Indies, to stay harboured in the Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

 until July 1943.

In 1943, the Jeanne d'Arc joined the Free French. In December, she took part in operations in Corsica

Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

 and in Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...

. She was mentioned in despatches at the order of the Army for services rendered during the war.

She later resumed her service as school cruiser with 27 cruises around the world, before being decommissioned in 1964.