The class had been operating with Force X at Alexandria when France fell and Italy entered the war. Rather than immediately becoming combatants on opposite sides, the French ships remained interned there while their political status was unresolved. After Germany occupied Vichy France in late 1942, the Force X ships joined the Free French in 1943, then moved through Dakar and refit work as their anti-aircraft weakness became unmistakable. Duquesne later bombarded German resistance on France's Atlantic coast, and both cruisers supported the restoration of French colonial rule in Indochina after the war.
Chapter · 25:00-26:50
Force X, internment, and return to Allied service
Duquesne and Tourville spent three years interned at Alexandria with Force X before joining the Free French and returning to service.