between Italy and the Allies in September 1943 stopped these activities and the ship was then seized by the Germans. On 1 April 1944 they handed her back to the Vichy French authorities. Her wreck was then towed to the Bay of Lazaret, where she was placed in a "state of conservation". She was heavily bombed and sunk by US forces—including the battleship on 18 August, three days after Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. She was raised for the second time on 1 October 1944 but found to be beyond repair, and used as a testbed for underwater explosions until condemned and renamed Q45 on 22 March 1955, to be sold for scrapping on 27 May that year. Footnotes Notes Citations References External links Maritimequest Strasbourg Photo Gallery Dunkerque-class battleships World War II battleships of France Ships built in France Battleships sunk by aircraft Shipwrecks of France World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea 1936 ships World War II warships scuttled at Toulon Ships sunk by US aircraft Maritime incidents in November 1942 Maritime incidents in August 1944