During World War I, she was stationed at Corfu to prevent the Austro-Hungarian fleet from leaving the Adriatic Sea, but she saw no action.

She was modernized significantly in the 1920s and 1930s, and conducted normal peacetime cruises and training maneuvers in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean.

In the early days of World War II, Provence conducted patrols and sweeps into the Atlantic to search for German surface raiders.

In late November 1942, the Germans occupied Toulon and, to prevent them from seizing the fleet, the French scuttled their ships, including Provence.

She was raised in July 1943, and some of her guns were used for coastal defense in the area; the Germans scuttled her a second time in Toulon as a blockship in 1944.

The ships were powered by two license-built Parsons steam turbine sets, each driving two propeller shafts.

They carried enough coal and fuel oil to give them a range of 4,700 nautical miles (8,700 km; 5,400 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[3] The Bretagne class's main battery consisted of ten Canon de 34 cm (13.4 in) modèle 1912 guns mounted in five twin-gun turrets, numbered one to five from front to rear.

The secondary armament consisted of twenty-two Canon de 138 mm (5.4 in) modèle 1910 guns in casemates along the length of the hull.

[5] They spent the majority of their time at Corfu to prevent the Austro-Hungarian fleet from attempting to break out of the Adriatic.

A heavy tripod mast with a fire control station and a rangefinder for the ship's anti-aircraft guns were also added.

The elevation of the main battery guns was again increased, the bow section of the belt armor was removed, and half of her boilers were converted to oil-firing models.

[10] Two days later, Provence and Bretagne, along with numerous cruisers and destroyers, sortied from Dakar to cover French merchant shipping off West Africa and the Azores.

While en route, she intercepted the Italian passenger ship Oceania; Provence dispatched her to Marseilles so she could be inspected for contraband.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill therefore ordered Vice Admiral James Somerville, the commander of Force H, to neutralize the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir.

Provence was also hit several times and badly damaged;[15] the shells set her on fire and caused her to settle to the bottom of the harbor, but she did not explode like her sister ship.

On 27 November, the German Army occupied Toulon, and to prevent them from seizing the fleet there, including Provence, the French scuttled their ships.