Alsace-class battleship

Illustration of the No. 3 variant
Class overview
Name	Alsace class
Preceded by	Richelieu class
Succeeded by	None
Planned	2
Completed	0
General characteristics (No. 1 design)
Type	Fast battleship
Displacement	Standard: 40,000 long tons (41,000 t) Normal: 44,800 long tons (45,500 t)
Length	252 m (827 ft)
Beam	35 m (114 ft 10 in)
Installed power	170,000 shp (130,000 kW)
Speed	31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Armament	3 × triple 380 mm (15 in) guns 3 × triple 152 mm (6 in) guns 8 × twin 100 mm (3.9 in) AA guns ?? × 37 mm (1.5 in) AA guns ?? x 25 mm (0.98 in) AA guns
Armor	Belt: 330 mm (13 in) Upper deck: 170 to 180 mm (6.7 to 7.1 in) Lower deck: 40 mm (1.6 in)
General characteristics (No. 2 design)
Displacement	Standard: 42,500 long tons (43,200 t) Normal: 47,000 long tons (47,800 t)
Length	256 m (840 ft)
Beam	35.5 m (116 ft 6 in)
Installed power	190,000 shp (140,000 kW)
Speed	31 knots
Armament	3 × triple 406 mm (16 in) guns 3 × triple 152 mm guns 8 × twin 100 mm AA guns ?? × 37 mm AA guns ?? x 25 mm AA guns
Armor	Belt: 330 mm Upper deck: 170–180 mm Deck: 40 mm
General characteristics (No. 3 design)
Displacement	Standard: 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) Normal: 50,700 long tons (51,500 t)
Length	265 m (869 ft)
Beam	35.5 m
Installed power	220,000 shp (160,000 kW)
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Armament	3 × quadruple 380 mm guns 3 × triple 152 mm guns 12 × twin 100 mm AA guns ?? × 37 mm AA guns ?? x 25 mm AA guns
Armor	Belt: 350 mm (13.8 in) Upper deck: 170–180 mm Deck: 40 mm

The Alsace class was a pair of fast battleships planned by the French Navy in the late 1930s in response to German plans to build two H-class battleships after the Second London Naval Treaty collapsed. The Alsace design was based on variants of the Richelieu class, and three proposals were submitted by the design staff. The proposed armament included nine or twelve 380 mm (15 in) guns or nine 406 mm (16 in) guns, but no choice was definitively made before the program ended in mid-1940. According to one pair of historians, logistical considerations—including the size of the 12-gun variant and the introduction of a new shell caliber for the 406 mm version—led the naval command to settle on the nine 380 mm design. But another pair of authors disagree, believing that the difficulty of designing and manufacturing a three-gun turret would have caused prohibitive delays during wartime, making the third, largest variant the most likely to have been built. The ships would have forced the French government to make significant improvements to its harbor and shipyard facilities, as the smaller Richelieus already stretched the limitations of existing shipyards. With construction of the first member of the class scheduled for 1941, the plan was terminated by the German victory in the Battle of France in May–June 1940.