The French battleship Provence was a Bretagne-class dreadnought laid down in 1912 and commissioned in 1916, serving in the Mediterranean during WWI and WWII. Armed with ten 340mm guns, she participated in non-intervention patrols before being damaged during the 1940 British attack at Mers-el-Kébir. Key History of Provence (1910s–1940s) Construction & Design: Laid down in May 1912 at Lorient Arsenal and launched in April 1913, she was designed to bolster the French fleet with 340 mm (13 in) guns.