manpower is one issue, politics another. The french government can't allow to stand down the Navy, at least not before the French Army would be back in Continental France...

Ok, here is the result of our work on possible production in French colonies.
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Naval construction in French North and Western Africa


        The French government launched by July 1940, as elsewhere described, a large and ambitious industrial programme to allow France to lessen its dependence on the British and US industry. Naval constructions were of course and important part of such a programme. There was, by 1940, several small shipyards in French North Africa and one in Western Africa (Dakar). Other small shipyards existed in Lebanon (Beyrouth, Tyr) and French Indochina in Haphong, Sagon and one riverine in Phnom-Penh (Cambodia).
Three factors however conspired to reduce the scope of the military naval construction programme. The first one was the necessity to allocate what skilled labour force was available to naval shipyards to maintain and repair the French Fleet. The second one was the lack of local engine production but for a handful of semi-artisan engine builders (for small fishing drifters). The third one was the necessity to develop the fishing fleet, now operating in Western Mediterranean and off Western Africa coasts.

        These limits were acknowledged by September 1940 and the initial programme curtailed. However, procuring naval engines from the US industry was possible and French naval engineers succeeded in putting in production no less than five different types of coastal boats.
The loss of French Indochina prevented naval construction to be developed, but for some riverine crafts. Small workshops and shipyards in Beyrouth and Tyr were included in the naval construction programme, but lack of local real industrial base prevented them to assume a really important role. French naval constructions were then mostly concentrated in North and Western Africa. By comparison to what has been achieved in Great-Britain (not to mention of course United States) this programme looks Lilliputian. Still, it gave the Allies a number of patrol and landing crafts, enabling to develop amphibious warfare in the Mediterranean.
The fact that local shipyards were able to support a large fishing fleet was probably more significant from a strategic point of view than the building of patrol and landing crafts. But, before US-built crafts would become available in huge numbers, the French production filled an important gap.

I. Patrol boats and sub-chasers.

CH-50-class
This boat was a coastal sub-chaser, closely patterned on the CH-41 type, but powered by two US-built 400hp diesel engines (the same used in PCS/YMS) and armed with 1 x 40-mm Bofors, 1 x 20mm and DCs. This boat was produced from June 1941 to June 1942, supplementing British Fairmile B boats, till US SC 110-ft boats were available in numbers.
Production began by October 1940 and the first boat was commissioned by June 21st, 1941. No less than 42 boats were built (the last being commissioned by July 4th, 1942) and they were numbered CH-50 to CH-91. They allowed the Marine Nationale to release some of its Fairmile B boats to the Greek Navy and to give 10 boats to the Royal Yugoslav Navy.

Dimensions: Length x bean x draft: 37.40 x 5.53 x 4.40m. Displacement: 128t standard, 160t full load. Propulsion: two shaft diesel, 800 hp, speed 14.75 kts. Oil: 5.5-t
Crew: 27

Quite similar to the CH-50 the D-100 class was a coastal (inshore) minesweeper, armed with just one 20mm Oerlikon gun. Forty-six were commissioned from July 1941 to October 1942 of which 10 were released to the RHN and 4 to the RYN.

VP-1 class.
This wooden round bilge boat was closely patterned on the RN HDML but was patterned with the same 225hp US built diesel used in the Higgins Industries designed LCVP. Armament was two single 20mm and 8 DCs. Speed was 11-kts. The VP-1 class (VP standing for Vedette de Patrouille) was actually the first boat to be produced, the first one being commissioned in December 1940, with 2 shipyards in North Africa, one in Dakar and one in Beyrouth included in the programme.
Seventy-two boats were built from December 1940 to July 1943, of which 32 were transformed into special sub-hunters against Italian SLCs and Midget submarines, 14 were given to the RYN, and 12 used by the newly created Syrian/Lebanon navy from 1943 on.

II. Landing Crafts:

Difficulties encountered during 1940 landings in Sardinia, Rhodes and Dodecanese Islands led to a great emphasis on landing crafts. The French Admiralty bought several designs developed by the Higgins Industries Co. (Eureka boats from New-Orleans) and put them into production.

BDI-3 class.
This actually was a Higgins-designed LVCP, of which the first two were built by Higgins (BDI-1 and 2), and one hundred and seventy-eight others in North Africa from March 1941 to November 1942. These boats had a large bow ramp and could carry 36 men or a small truck (6,000-lb).

BDIC-class (Barge de Dbarquement Infanterie-Char).
This boat was a larger one able to carry a 25-tons tank (either a SAV-41, a SAV-42, a Valentine or a M3F). It was too designed by Higgins industries with the help of French naval engineers. The prototype, built in New Orleans was sold to the USN and used as a basis for the LCM.
No less than two hundred and seventy four boats were built from May 1941 to October 1943.

CDIC-Class (Chaland de Dbarquement Infanterie-Char)
The CDIC was actually the RN LCT-1 and was the most ambitious of all boats locally-produced, with its steel-cellular construction. The boat was powered by two 400-hp US built diesel engines and was armed with 1 x 40-mm Bofors and 2 x 20mm Oerlikon guns. It was designed to carry either 6 light tanks or 3 40-t ones.
Displacement: 372t loaded
Dimensions: 46.33 x 8.84 x 1,33 m.
Crew: 12.
Twenty four CDIC were built, the first being delivered early October 1941 and the last early November 1942. By Fall 1942, US-built LCTs and LSMs were becoming available. It was then decided to stop the building of landing crafts, but to use the building capacity to produce support crafts using the same hull. The CDIC design gave then birth to two specialised designs, built by the same yard.
CDAA: this was a CDIC hull, converted as an AA craft armed with three twin-Bofors and four 20mm guns.
CDAF: Landings in the Peloponnesus had rammed home the necessity for more close-support crafts and especially ones able to directly support troops on the beach, in addition to light monitors already built in British shipyards. As both Lorraine and Provence old BBs had landed eight of their remaining 14 5.5-in guns (they had been built with 22 such guns but 8 had already been landed during their pre-war modernisation), the MN staff decided to order eigh CDAF each armed with two 5.5-in guns in addition to the single Bofors and two 20mm Oerlikon.

Eight CDAA and eight CDAF were then built, the first being delivered in November 1942 and the last in June 1943.