Model Trumpeter 05311 French battleship Richelieu 1:350

French battleship *Richelieu* in 1/350 scale.

Trumpeter 05311 – 1:350 scale.

Model of the French WWII battleship *Richelieu*.

Plastic model kit requiring assembly and painting.

Glue and paint must be purchased separately.

Model dimensions: length 707.3 mm, width 95 mm.
Some historical facts about the battleship *Richelieu*:

The French battleship *Richelieu* was one of two completed *Richelieu*-class battleships; the other was the *Jean Bart* (a third ship, the *Clemenceau*, was under construction in Brest but was sunk during a port bombardment in August 1944, while a fourth, the *Gascogne*, was ordered but never begun). Her keel was laid on October 22, 1935, the hull was launched on January 17, 1939, and she was finally completed in July 1940 in Dakar. During the 1940 French campaign, the ship—not yet fully fitted out—was relocated to Dakar, where she remained until 1943. She took part in repelling British fleet attacks on the port between September 23 and 25, 1940. She sustained damage several times from British ships and aircraft, including a torpedo hit on July 8, 1940, from a British plane launched from the aircraft carrier HMS *Hermes* (Operation Catapult). On September 25, 1940, she scored a 380 mm shell hit on the British battleship HMS *Barham*, causing damage.

Following the Allied invasion of North Africa, she was transferred to the British Home Fleet in January 1943. It underwent a refit that same year. In March 1944, it was incorporated into the British Pacific Fleet. On August 25, 1944, it was returned to the French Navy. It took part in operations in the Pacific.

It returned to France in March 1946, subsequently participating in the Indochina War and, in 1956, in operations in the Mediterranean during the Suez Canal crisis.

In 1956, it was converted into an accommodation hulk at the port of Brest, and in 1958, it was placed in reserve. On September 30, 1967, it was struck from the French Navy's list of ships, and subsequently scrapped at La Spezia in 1968.

A 1/350 scale model of the *Richelieu*.