Shipbucket

The French fleet in Toulon was scuttled on 27 November 1942 to avoid capture by Nazi German forces.

The Seaplane Carrier Teste was sunk along with:

Battleships
Strasbourg (flagship), Dunkerque, Provence

Heavy cruisers
Dupleix, Foch, Algérie, Colbert

Light cruisers
Marseillaise, Jean de Vienne, La Galissonnière

Destroyers
Cassard, Aigle, Gerfaut, Lion, Lynx, L'Indomptable, Mogador, Panthère, Tigre, Kersaint, Tartu, Valmy, Vauban, Vauquelin, Vautour, Guépard, Le Hardi

Torpedo-boats
Casque, Bordelais, Bison, Bayonnaise, Foudroyant, Trombe, Siroco, Poursuivante, Mars, Palme, Cyclone, Mamelouk

Submarines
Redoutable, Eurydice, Diamant, Thétis, Sirène, Vénus, Vengeur, Naïade, Pascal, Espoir, Achéron, Fresnel, Caïman, Henri Poincaré, Galatée

Sloops
Épargne, D'Iberville, Chamois, Yser, Impétueuse, Curieuse, Granit, Dédaigneuse


What if Commandant Teste had escaped Toulon? Here are two What If scenarios for the Commandant Teste:

1) her aviation gear were removed and it was converted into a fast transport ship:



2) An early 1945 conversion into an Escort / Training Carrier:

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My Avatar is
French Vice-admiral Louis-René-Madeleine Le Vassor de La Touche, comte de Tréville
The original spelling of my last name is: LaTouche.

Well done David,

A nice way of introducing these two drawings.

Great work!
(How could I overlooked it before? )

Hello everybody

Very nice drawing!

It is interesting to note that it is not a total fiction.

While scuttled, the "Teste" was not in a bad shape when the french went back to Toulon in 1944. By miracle it escaped the large damages inflicted by USAF bombing.
In 1945, it was deciced that she and the Strasbourg would be converted to light carriers. If for the latter it was science-fictionnal regarding her condition, it was not the case for the former.

Lack of money and the questionnability of this project in a post WWII era made this project de facto cancelled, whithout any official notification. And the Teste ended his life with her superstructures removed, used as a floating depot fort spare parts for US-manufactured ships operated by the Marine Nationale.

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"I will fight in front of Paris; I will fight in Paris; l will fight behind Paris" Marshall Ferdinand Foch, 1917

"...we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight [...] in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender". Winston Churchill, 1940