after the start of the spanish civil war in july 1936, the and destroyers in the mediterranean were assigned to assist french citizens in spain and to patrol the surveillance zones assigned to france on a monthly rotation beginning on 24 september as part of the non-intervention agreement. as of 1 october "tartu" was the flagship of rear admiral () emmanuel ollive while still assigned to the 5th light division together with her sisters "le chevalier paul" and . her other sisters , "maillé brézé" and "cassard" belonged to the 9th light division, both of which were assigned to the mediterranean squadron. in may–june 1938 the mediterranean squadron cruised the eastern mediterranean; the squadron was redesignated at the mediterranean fleet () on 1 july 1939.