And the other anti-air cruiser: De Grasse.
As finished, she had the same armament as the later, slightly smaller Colbert: 16 127mm DP guns and 20 57mm AA guns. She bore no resemblance anymore to her original 1938 design; in a somewhat anachronistic move, the transom stern was remodeled to a rounded configuration. In the guise shown below, she was commissioned just in time for the Suez campaign of 1956.
Apparently the design was top heavy, because four 57mm twins and the lateral main battery directors were removed in 1961. Also, the air/surface search radar was replaced by a second air surveillance set of a different type, and the commo array was augmented.
After less than ten years of active service as a cruiser, she was partly disarmed to serve as flagship of France's nuclear test project in the Pacific from 1966.
She was scrapped in 1974.
Cheers
GD
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