FRENCH BATTLESHIP PARIS

The 'French battleship ''Paris''' was a ''Courbet''-class dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. The ''Courbet'' class were designed by M. Lyasse. Paris was built as part of the 1910 naval building programme.
''Paris'' was the only of the ''Courbet'' class to be built by the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée firm in La Seyne Arsenal. She and her sister ship, ''France'', were sent to St. Petersburg, Russia as part of French President Raymond Poincare's official visit. Both ships were en route home through the Baltic Sea when the First World War broke out in August 1914. At the time, ''France'' was not fully armed and had no ammunition aboard. ''Paris'' would have had to defend both of them if an enemy ship were sighted, but they managed to escape the German High Seas Fleet.
Along with her three sister ships, ''Paris'' served in the Mediterranean Sea during the War against Austro-Hungarian and Turkish Naval forces.
During the Second World War, on June 11, 1940 she was damaged by German bombing at le Havre, France, and was towed to Brest for repairs. Before France surrendered, she sailed to Plymouth, England.
In the wake of the Armistice, she was docked at Portsmouth; on the 3 July 1940, as part of "Operation Catapult", she was forcibly boarded by British forces, along with the destroyers ''Le Triomphant'' and the ''Léopard'', her sister-ship ''Courbet'', 8 torpedo boats, 5 submarines and a number of other ships of lesser importance. The British used her as an accommodation ship for Polish Naval personnel.
On August 21, 1945, after the war had ended, she was towed to Brest. She was never used again, and was sold for scrap on December 21, 1955.

'''Courbet'' class battleship'

''Courbet'' | ''Jean Bart'' | ''Paris'' | ''France''

'List of battleships of France'