If one asked the Port-Louisiens who is this Admiral Ronarc’h who gave his name to a street in the Kerzo district, many would undoubtedly answer that they do not know.
Some would evoke the admiral who commanded the Fusiliers Marins on the “Dixmude” in 1914. But very few would give the correct answer, namely: Pierre Jean Ronarc’h, his nephew, first commander of the battleship “Jean Bart” and, as such, organizer and animator of the escape of the ship from Saint-Nazaire in June 1940.
Let us recall the facts: on December 12, 1936, the first rivet of the 35,000-ton battleship “Jean Bart” was placed in Saint-Nazaire. It must be built in the form-lock of the Penhoët shipyards, its dimensions prohibiting a traditional launch. The float, by filling of this form-lock takes place on March 6, 1940 and work is actively pushed on board to allow the exit of the ship on October 1, 1940. This exit requires dredging, between form-lock and open water , a 1000-meter-long trench allowing passage during a full spring tide of a building with a draft of 9 meters. The trench should be 70 meters wide.
The works were delayed, and, at the beginning of May, it is no longer allowed to
On May 10, 1940, the Germans launched their offensive and broke the French Front. Saint-Nazaire soon enters the range of enemy aviation and the “Jean Bart” is threatened. Air warnings mean further delays. However, it is absolutely necessary to move the ship away.
Captain Ronarc’h, captain of the “Jean Bart” in completion, aware of this necessity, after examining the various factors of the problem, came to the conclusion that the departure of the ship could not take place before the high tide of the second. fortnight of June. It is only possible if a minimal trench is dredged in good time between the lock form where the building is moored and the open water. He obtained the support of the Ponts et Chaussées de Nantes which, through hard work day and night, made available on June 19 at night a sufficiently deep channel – theoretically – but less wide than expected.
For their part, the Shipyards and the Navy actively pursued the armament work and the ship has a group of machines, a heating station, its steering gear and its dynamos. The 380 turret is finished; two double 90 anti-aircraft carriages are installed as well as some anti-aircraft weapons of lesser caliber.
Jean Bart under the German bombs – coll. go.
The outing was set at high tide for the night of June 18-19. Five tugs are to assist the “Jean Bart” in her evolutions.
The set-up and towing are done at night in excessively difficult conditions, some maneuvers are carried out by hand. The ship ran aground twice during this exit from the lock-form and only managed to free herself thanks to the tugs.
At 4:40 am, the German air force attacked several times and fortunately reached it without gravity. Finally, the battleship, joined by the torpedo boats “Hardi” and “Mameluck”, then by “l’Epée”, after some incidents of condenser and an oil refueling on the high seas, reached Casablanca by its own means on June 22, 1940 in the evening. The Germans enter Saint-Nazaire a few hours after leaving the building.
It is thanks to the obstinacy and energy of Captain Ronarc’h, helped by the staff of Ponts et Chaussées, the Penhoët shipyards and the ship’s equipment suppliers, as well as by his crew of the French Navy, that the battleship “Jean Bart” was able to escape from Saint-Nazaire, literally under the Germans’ beard, and take refuge in Morocco where it remains until the arrival of the Americans.
Captain Pierre Jean Ronarc’h was born on November 26, 1892, in Lorient where his father was a notary clerk. His maternal grandfather is Captain Martinie, assigned to Port Louis, and his mother Laurence Martinie is therefore of Port Louisian origin. He is the nephew of the
Entered the Naval School in 1910. Various assignments including the Marine Fusiliers Brigade; during his career, second in command of the “Strasbourg” in 1937 then in command of the “Montcalm” before taking command of the “Jean Bart” then under construction.
He was appointed Rear Admiral in 1941, in Casablanca, and commanded the Navy in Morocco in 1942 and 1943.
Vice-Admiral in 1944, he had under his orders the French Forces in the Mediterranean at the end of the war and was Commander of the Marine in Algeria from 1947.
Of Captain Ronarc’h, Commander of the “Montcalm”, Commander Blanchard, in his book on Jean l’Herminier who served on this cruiser, says:
“Tall, massive, austere air, trained in the oldest maritime traditions, he is an excellent sailor and an energetic leader. Both in his physical appearance and in his virtues, the Herminier and everyone after him is not. calls that “The Robust.” It’s a nickname that will stay with him. ”
His official funeral was celebrated at the Invalides on December 9, 1960 (he died in Val de Grâce) and he was buried in Port-Louis, his mother’s country, on December 10, 1960, in the presence of numerous patriotic associations and friends of ‘old sailors he commanded.
The simple slab of his burial bears the following simple mentions:
VICE-ADMIRAL OF SQUADRE RONARC’H
GRAND OFFICER OF THE LEGION OF HONOR – WAR CROSS
1914-1918 – 1939-1945
NOVEMBER 26, 1892 – DECEMBER 5, 1960
HE SAUVA LE JEAN BART – JUNE 19, 1940
What more beautiful epitaph could one give to this man. It was on July 21, 1967 that a City Council resolution gave its name to a street that goes from Avenue de Kerzo to the cemetery.