More Strasbourgs or the Richelieu class

Would France have been better off building more Strasbourg-type ships instead of pursuing the Richelieu class?

Possibly, because simpler ships might have entered service sooner, though they would have been less capable and less suited to France's full strategic requirements.

Building more Strasbourgs would trade individual capability for earlier hulls in the water, and the approach might have worked. The Richelieu class had an unusual history: Jean Bart did not commission until 1955 and served only briefly afterward. A sophisticated response can lose military value when industrial disruption delays it for years. France still needed ships able to operate beyond the Mediterranean, which makes the simpler alternative an imperfect one.