to join the Allies in the Free French Naval Forces, and so Lorraine was placed back into service. On 3 July 1943, the ship left Suez and sailed around Africa to Dakar, stopping in Cape Town on the way. After arriving on 12 October, she was used briefly as a training ship; on 2 December, Lorraine was sent to Oran for refitting. The work included removing the aircraft facilities and installing a large number of anti-aircraft guns, including eight guns, fourteen guns, and twenty-five guns. Radar equipment was also installed on the ship. The overhaul readied Lorraine to participate in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France in August 1944. On 15 August, Lorraine joined the bombardment force, Task Force 86, that supported landings. She and the American battleship hammered German defenses in and around Toulon, including 340 mm coastal guns that had been removed from Provence. The bombardment lasted until 21 August. Over the course of 1–13 September, Lorraine, four cruisers, and two destroyers shelled German defenses throughout the French Riviera. Among the targets Lorraine attacked were fortresses at Sospel and Castillon, along with Axis positions around Carqueiranne and Saint-Tropez. Lorraine left the bombardment area on 17 September, but remained in the western Mediterranean until she was sent to Portsmouth for a brief refit toward the end of the year. She was then sent to Cherbourg in December. In late March 1945, Lorraine left Cherbourg to participate in her final wartime operations, codenamed Vénérable and Vermeille. In the operations, which took place in April, the French Navy focused on eliminating a pocket of German resistance in Gironde. On 14–20 April, Lorraine and several cruisers and destroyers bombarded the German "Girond-Nord" fortress in Royan in support of an attack by the French 10th Division and American 66th Division; the German defenders surrendered on the 20th. After completing the operation, Lorraine returned to Brest before being sent to Toulon. Starting in February 1947, she was used as a stationary gunnery training ship. Later, she was used as a barracks ship, until she was stricken from the naval register on 17 February 1953. She was sold on 18 December, to a French shipbreaking company, and towed to Brégaillon outside Toulon in January 1954 and broken up for scrap. Footnotes References Further reading Bretagne-class battleships World War I battleships of France World War II battleships of France Ships built in France 1913