French cruiser Foch

She entered service on 20 December 1931 being assigned to the First Light Division at Toulon.[6][7] On 19 October 1934 the First Light was reduced in size by the formation of the Third Light Division with Foch, Duquesne and Tourville.[8] On 1 March 1936 she was replaced by Suffren in the 3rd Division then assigned to the First Light Division.[9] She was in attendance for a Fleet Inspection in the Bay of Douranenez on 27 June 1935.[10] On 12 April 1937 the First Light Division was renamed as the First Cruiser Division and consisted of Colbert, Foch, Dupleix and Algérie.[11]

Foch was at Toulon on the outbreak of War in September 1939. She sailed for Dakar, Senegal in November arriving on 16 November becoming a member of Force X. On 7 December she sailed with the cruiser Dupleix, the British cruiser Neptune, the British carrier Hermes and two contre torpilleurs, Milan and Cassard. The ships were informed of the engagement off the River Plate when they were 850 nm from Pernambuco. They returned to Dakar to refuel so they could better place themselves if Admiral Graf Spee escaped to the sea. Force X again sortied from Dakar on 30 December returning on 5 January 1940. She departed Dakar for the last time on 23 January with the cruiser Dupleix to escort a convoy from Bermuda to Morocco. Both ships then returned to Toulon.[12]

On the night of 13/14 June she participated in Operation Vado, the bombardment of Genoa and Vado, Italy by the Third Squadron. The Vado Group included the cruisers Foch and Algérie and the Genoa Group included the cruisers Dupleix and Colbert.The bombardment cause little damage as Group Genoa fired at the wrong target and half of Group Vado shells fell into the sea. The squadron returned to Toulon by mid-day on 14 June. Foch suffered a steering malfunction but returned safely.[13] On 25 June the Franco-German Armistice took effect and La Marine National ceased all offensive operations. On 3 July with the ill-conceived British attack on Mers-el-Kébir, the battleship Strasbourg had escaped undamaged, the Fourth Cruiser Division had sailed from Algiers to Oran. The Fourth failed to link up with Strasbourg so they sailed for Toulon. Algérie, Foch and Colbert with twelve contre-torpilleurs sailed from Toulon to rendezvous with the French forces sailing north to France. They linked up with the Fourth in the early morning of 4 July and returned to Toulon. Strasbourg arrived later that evening.[14] With continued British action around Dakar, the Vichy French had scheduled for 22 September 1940 to send the cruisers Algérie, Foch, Dupleix, Marseillaise and La Galissonnière plus three contre torpilleurs and two fleet torpedo boats to Dakar as reinforcements. The plan was vetoed by the Germans on 20 September.

On 11 November 1942 the Germans started their occupation of Vichy France. The FHM was ready to sail to North Africa to defend it from the Torch landings but was denied permission to sail. By 27 November the Germans had reached Toulon and entered the base. The Germans were delayed from entering the naval dockyard giving the French sailors time to scuttle the fleet. Foch was in a deactivated state at Castigneau, Toulon. Her guns were spiked with 35 kg charges that were detonated destroying the guns and the sea cocks and condensers were opened and the ship settled to the bottom. She was raised by the Italians who scrapped her between 1943 and 1944.[15][16]