The French navies first post-war cruiser class were the three ships of the Duguay Trouin Class and the half-sister Charlemagne. They were not essentially 'Treaty' cruisers but like the British E and F classes trials ships that could be built in a reasonable time to fill the gaping shortage of cruisers in the French Fleet. The original three ships were to be armed with a 155mm (6.1") gun developed from a French Army gun and the weapons on the captured ex German ships now in the French Navy. The last ship of the class was laid down three years after the last Trouin class was completed. It was to feature the weapons removed from the Ernest Renan class armoured cruisers. An armament of eight 7.6" would be put aboard. The 7.6" guns and turrets would be refurbished to allow the weapons to have a range of 24,000 yards and be as good as most cruiser weapons of the time.
The original ships did not include a catapult and aircraft. These were fitted to the ships in the late 1920's.
The fitting of the 7.6" meant a rejig of the middle of the ship to take the catapult and aircraft. One set of torpedoes was removed to allow the fitting of the large ships boats. All of the four ships received a major refit in 1937-38 to upgrade the AA capabilities of the ships.
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Further AA armaments would be added as the new twin 37mm Bofors mounting entered French service. The four ships were the 6th cruiser squadron in July 1940 with Admiral Godfroy's Battle Squadron at Alexandria. That French Fleet re-entered the war in December 1942 and became part of the Mediterranean Fleet (East). The ships assisted with the Italian landings and helped fight up the Italian mainland. It was during these actions that the Charlemagne was sunk after being hit by two Fritz-X glider bombs. One would probably have been enough, two, set off magazines, that virtually blew the ship apart. The Duguay Trouin was the last of the class to be in service in Indo-China helping the French fight and lose its preliminary war to Vietnam.
