Suffren was a heavy cruiser in the French Navy and the lead ship of her class. The Suffren class was designed in response to the Italian Trento class of cruisers. Suffren was laid down on April 17, 1926; launched on May 3, 1927; and commissioned on January 1, 1930.

After joining the fleet, the cruiser participated in a round-the-world cruise with the First Light Division. She then returned to Toulon. From 1933 to 1934, the cruiser underwent extensive modernization and repairs. However, several problems were discovered during trials, so the repairs lasted until 1936. The Third Light Division welcomed Suffren back on May 1, 1936. Then, in 1939, when it was renamed the Second Division, she became its flagship, patrolling the waters of French Indochina. Following the outbreak of World War II, she escorted convoys in the South China Sea and subsequently transferred to Alexandria. In the Mediterranean, the cruiser participated in the hunt for Italian ships but did not achieve any successes. Following the peace agreement between Germany and France, the French ships were blockaded in Alexandria harbor. On July 3, Vice-Admiral Andrew Cunningham, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, and Vice-Admiral René-Émile Godfroy, commander of the French force, signed an agreement stipulating that the French ships would be demilitarized. On May 17, 1943, Suffren joined the Free French forces.

From August to September of 1943, the cruiser underwent repairs in Dakar before going to sea on patrol. In April 1944, she underwent another modernization and transferred to Toulon. In June, she was transferred to Madagascar. By the end of the war, the Suffren had returned to French Indochina. She subsequently participated in the evacuation of French troops from Indochina. On October 1, 1947, the cruiser was decommissioned and used as a training ship for gunners.

Starting in 1961, she was used as a training base for sonar operators. On January 1, 1963, she was renamed Océan to make way for new ships. On March 24, 1972, the ship was stricken from the naval list. On March 22, 1976, her hull was sold for scrap.

Suffren was introduced in Update 2.53 "Line of Contact", in her 1945 configuration. The cruiser has decent armor and a fairly powerful anti-aircraft battery. However, her main battery is weak; it lacks armor-piercing shells and reloads slowly. Her secondary battery is also poor; the 75mm guns are too weak to repel destroyers and will only be effective against boats, although even that will require several shots.