Repair work proceeded slowly, owing to a shortage of material and labor.
After the Wehrmacht occupied the Zone libre in retaliation for the successful Allied landings in North Africa, the Germans attempted to seize the French warships remaining under Vichy control on 27 November.
To prevent them from seizing the ships, their crews scuttled the fleet in Toulon, including Dunkerque, which still lay incomplete in the Vauban drydock.
Demolition charges were placed on the ship and she was set on fire.
Her commanding officer, Capitaine de vaisseau (Captain) Amiel, initially refused to sink his ship without written orders, but was finally convinced to do so by the commanding officer of the nearby light cruiser La Galissonnière.
Since she was still in the dry dock, the locks had to be opened to flood the ship, which would have taken two to three hours.
Since she was in the far side of the dockyard, it took the Germans over an hour to reach the vessel, and in the confusion, they made no attempt to close the locks.

Italy received control of most of the wrecks, and they decided to repair as many ships as possible for service with the Italian fleet, but to scrap those that were too badly damaged to quickly return to service.
The Italians deemed Dunkerque to be a total loss, and so began to dismantle in situ.
As part of this process, the ship was deliberately damaged to prevent the French from being able to repair her if she was recaptured; the Italians cut down the main battery guns to render them unusable.
The partially scrapped hulk was in turn seized by the Germans when Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943.
In 1944, the Germans removed the ship's bow to float her out of the drydock to free up the dock and continue the scrapping process.
While in Axis possession, she was bombed several times by Allied aircraft.
The hulk was condemned on 15 September 1955 and renamed Q56.
Her remains, which amounted to not more than 15,000 tonnes (15,000 long tons; 17,000 short tons), were sold for final demolition on 30 September 1958 for 226,117,000 francs.
Repair work proceeded slowly, owing to a shortage of material and labor. After the Wehrmacht occupied the Zone libre in retaliation for the successful Allied landings in North Africa, the Germans attempted to seize the French warships remaining under Vichy control on 27 November. To prevent them from seizing the ships, their crews scuttled the fleet in Toulon, including Dunkerque, which still lay incomplete in the Vauban drydock. Demolition charges were placed on the ship and she was set on fire. Her commanding officer, Capitaine de vaisseau (Captain) Amiel, initially refused to sink his ship without written orders, but was finally convinced to do so by the commanding officer of the nearby light cruiser La Galissonnière. Since she was still in the dry dock, the locks had to be opened to flood the ship, which would have taken two to three hours. Since she was in the far side of the dockyard, it took the Germans over an hour to reach the vessel, and in the confusion, they made no attempt to close the locks.
Italy received control of most of the wrecks, and they decided to repair as many ships as possible for service with the Italian fleet, but to scrap those that were too badly damaged to quickly return to service. The Italians deemed Dunkerque to be a total loss, and so began to dismantle in situ. As part of this process, the ship was deliberately damaged to prevent the French from being able to repair her if she was recaptured; the Italians cut down the main battery guns to render them unusable. The partially scrapped hulk was in turn seized by the Germans when Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943. In 1944, the Germans removed the ship's bow to float her out of the drydock to free up the dock and continue the scrapping process. While in Axis possession, she was bombed several times by Allied aircraft. The hulk was condemned on 15 September 1955 and renamed Q56. Her remains, which amounted to not more than 15,000 tonnes (15,000 long tons; 17,000 short tons), were sold for final demolition on 30 September 1958 for 226,117,000 francs.
French battleship Dunkerque