The ships were armed with eight 380 mm/45 Modèle (Mle) 1935 guns arranged in two quadruple gun turrets, which were placed in a superfiring pair forward of the superstructure. The guns were supplied with a total of 832 armor-piercing shells, which weighed and had a muzzle velocity of . Saint Chamond designed the turrets using the "Dunkerque" turret, which the company had also developed. The turrets were divided into two separate gun houses by a bulkhead to reduce the risk of the entire turret being disabled by a single hit. The turrets allowed elevation to 35 degrees, which provided a maximum range of ; the guns could depress to -5 degrees. Loading could be accomplished at any angle, and owing to the heavy propellant charges, the rate of fire was relatively slow, at 1.3 shot per minute.