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Ateliers et Chantiers de France

1987 disestablishments in FranceFrench companies established in 1898Military history of DunkirkShipyards of France
Vauquelin, French Destroyer, 1931, sliding down the ways
Vauquelin, French Destroyer, 1931, sliding down the ways

The Ateliers et Chantiers de France (ACF, Workshops and Shipyards of France) was a major shipyard that was established in Dunkirk, France, in 1898. The shipyard boomed in the period before World War I (1914–18), but struggled in the inter-war period. It was badly damaged during World War II (1939–45). In the first thirty years after the war the shipyard again experienced a boom and employed up to 3,000 workers making oil tankers, and then liquid natural gas tankers. Demand dropped off in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1972 the shipyard became Chantiers de France-Dunkerque, and in 1983 merged with others yards to become part of Chantiers du Nord et de la Mediterranee, or Normed. The shipyard closed in 1987.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ateliers et Chantiers de France (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Ateliers et Chantiers de France
Rue Albert Brenet, Dunkirk

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N 51.047762 ° E 2.375219 °
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Rue Albert Brenet

Rue Albert Brenet
59140 Dunkirk (Dunkerque)
Hauts-de-France, France
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Vauquelin, French Destroyer, 1931, sliding down the ways
Vauquelin, French Destroyer, 1931, sliding down the ways
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Nieuwpoort–Dunkirk Canal
Nieuwpoort–Dunkirk Canal

The Nieuwpoort–Dunkirk Canal (Dutch Kanaal Nieuwpoort–Duinkerke, French Canal Nieuport–Dunkerque) is a canal which links the Belgian coastal town of Nieuwpoort with the French port Dunkirk. The Nieuwpoort–Dunkirk Canal forms an extension of the Plassendale–Nieuwpoort Canal, and runs for 32 kilometres (20 mi) pretty much parallel to the coast line, within two to four kilometers from the sea. The canal starts at the so-called Ganzepoot lock complex at the mouth of the Yser in Nieuwpoort, where it connects the Yser, the North Sea and the Plassendale–Nieuwpoort Canal. The canal first circles around the old city center and then turns eastward, past the village of Wulpen in the municipality of Koksijde. Then the canal turns inland towards the city of Veurne, where it connects with the Lovaart Canal. The canal goes around Veurne, and then bends back towards the shoreline by Adinkerke. After almost 19 kilometres (12 mi) in Belgium, the canal continues into France, passing the communes of Bray-Dunes and Zuydcoote. In Dunkirk it connects again to the North Sea where the Nieuwpoort–Dunkirk Canal finally ends in linkups with the Bourbourg and Bergues canals. The Plassendale–Nieuwpoort–Veurne–Dunkirk Canal was built around 1630; it connects with other canals built in that period, the Ghent–Bruges Canal (1613), and Bruges–Oostend Canal (1618). The Canal de Furnes is the French name for the portion of the Nieuwpoort–Dunkirk Canal running in France, from Dunkirk to the Belgian border town of Veurne (Fr. Furnes). The Belgian border is at PK13.

Battle of Dunkirk
Battle of Dunkirk

The Battle of Dunkirk (French: Bataille de Dunkerque) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and other Allied forces to Britain from 26 May to 4 June 1940. After the Phoney War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May 1940. To the east, the German Army Group B invaded the Netherlands and advanced westward. In response, the Supreme Allied Commander, French General Maurice Gamelin, initiated "Plan D" and British and French troops entered Belgium to engage the Germans in the Netherlands. French planning for war relied on the Maginot Line fortifications along the German–French border protecting the region of Lorraine but the line did not cover the Belgian border. German forces had already crossed most of the Netherlands before the French forces had arrived. Gamelin instead committed the forces under his command – three mechanised forces, the French First and Seventh Armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) – to the River Dyle. On 14 May, German Army Group A burst through the Ardennes and advanced rapidly westward toward Sedan, turning northward to the English Channel, using Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein's plan Sichelschnitt (under the German strategy Fall Gelb), effectively flanking the Allied forces. A series of Allied counter-attacks, including the Battle of Arras, failed to sever the German spearhead, which reached the coast on 20 May, separating the BEF near Armentières, the French First Army, and the Belgian Army further to the north from the majority of French troops south of the German penetration. After reaching the Channel, the German forces swung north along the coast, threatening to capture the ports and trap the British and French forces. In one of the most debated decisions of the war, the Germans halted their advance on Dunkirk. What became known as the "Halt Order" did not originate with Adolf Hitler. Generaloberste (Colonel-Generals) Gerd von Rundstedt and Günther von Kluge suggested that the German forces around the Dunkirk pocket should cease their advance on the port and consolidate to avoid an Allied breakout. Hitler sanctioned the order on 24 May with the support of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German high command). The army was to halt for three days, which gave the Allies sufficient time to organise the Dunkirk evacuation and build a defensive line. While more than 330,000 Allied troops were rescued, the British and French sustained heavy casualties and were forced to abandon nearly all their equipment; around 16,000 French and 1,000 British soldiers died during the evacuation. The British Expeditionary Force alone lost some 68,000 soldiers during the French campaign.