ABSTRACT
He entered the Naval School in 1899; 1912, lieutenant de vaisseau; 1920, capitaine de frégate; 1926, capitaine de vaisseau; 1929, contre-amiral; 1932, vice-amiral; 1939, amiral de la flotte.
After initial service in the Far East, he qualified in gunnery, and in 1912, served in the Jeanne-d’Arc, the training cruiser (usually a sign that an officer was destined for higher rank). During WW1 he served on the Western Front, in command of a heavy artillery battery. His post-war promotion was swift: during the 1920s he commanded the Rhine Flotilla, the sloops Chamois and Ancre, the Navigation School, and the cruisers Jeanned’Arc and Edgar Quinet.
