Tourville was the second ship of the cruisers of the French Navy. During the interwar period she served in the Mediterranean while taking periodic cruises to show the Flag. During the war she was on blockade duty in the mid Atlantic then the Mediterranean. She was interned for three years at Alexandria, rejoining the war effort in 1943. Again assigned to blockade duty in the Mid Atlantic at Dakar. Post war she aided in the restoration of French Colonial rule in French Indochina until placed in reserve in 1947. She remained in reserve until condemned for disposal in 1962. She was named to honour Anne-Hilarion de Costentien, comte de Tourville (1642 – 1701) who served with distinction under King Louis XIV. He fought against the British and Dutch at the battles of Beachy Head (French: Beveziers) and Barfluer. On the 27th of June 1693 defeated an English convoy commanded by George Rooke at Cape St Vincent and made Marshall of France. Design and description Under the 1924 program two 10,000 ton Treaty Cruisers were authorized, becoming the . The contract for the second new vessel was awarded to the Arsenal de Lorient with the order being placed on 1 July 1924. The Tourville was built at Lorient, the only Treaty Cruiser not built at Brest, due to a lack of infrastructure available at Brest. She was laid down as hull no 45 on 4 March 1925 at the Arsenal de Lorient then launched on 24 August 1926. She started her sea trials on 27 September 1927 and her acceptance trials on 4 February 1928. She was commissioned on 5 May 1928 but not completed until 1 December. Initially classed as a Light Cruiser she was reclassified on 1 July 1931 as a croiseur de 1ere classe (First class cruiser). The Marine Nationale did not have a vessel classification of heavy cruiser instead used croiseur cuirasse (armoured cruiser) and croiseurs legers (light cruiser) prior to the London Naval Treaty then croiseur de 1ere classe (First class cruiser) and croiseur de 2e classe (Second class cruiser) afterwards. Service history Pre-war Service She entered service on 12 March 1929 being assigned to the First Light Division at Brest. She departed on her shakedown cruise on 5 April by cruising around Africa returning to Lorient on 24 December. The First Light Division was transferred to Toulon in April 1930. In October 1934 Suffren, Duquesne