Aigle-class destroyer
 Aigle-class destroyer
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Aigle class |
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Preceded by | Guépard class |
| Succeeded by | Vauquelin class |
| Subclasses | Épervier |
| Built | 1928–1934 |
| Completed | 6 |
| Scrapped | 1 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 128.5 m (421 ft 7 in) |
| Beam | 11.8 m (38 ft 9 in) |
| Draught | 4.97 m (16 ft 4 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range | 3,650 nmi (6,760 km; 4,200 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Crew | 10 officers, 217 crewmen (wartime) |
| Armament |
|
The Aigle-class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) were built for the French Navy during the 1930s.
Design and description
[edit]The Aigle-class ships were improved versions of the preceding Guépard class. They had an overall length of 129.3 meters (424 ft 3 in), a beam of 11.8 meters (38 ft 9 in),[1] and a draft of 4.97 meters (16 ft 4 in). The ships displaced 2,441 metric tons (2,402 long tons) at standard load[2] and 3,140 metric tons (3,090 long tons) at deep load. They had a metacentric height of 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in) and their hull was divided by a dozen transverse bulkheads into 13 watertight compartments. Their crew consisted of 10 officers and 198 crewmen in peacetime and 10 officers and 217 enlisted men in wartime.[3]
The ships were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four du Temple boilers that operated at a pressure of 20 kg/cm2 (1,961 kPa; 284 psi) and a temperature of 215 °C (419 °F). The turbines were designed to produce 64,000 metric horsepower (47,000 kW; 63,000 shp) which was intended give the ships a speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). They comfortably exceeded their designed speed; the fastest of the ships, Gerfaut, reached a speed of 41.46 knots (76.78 km/h; 47.71 mph) from 84,436 PS (62,103 kW; 83,281 shp) during her sea trials. The Aigle's carried 540 t (530 long tons) of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3,650 nautical miles (6,760 km; 4,200 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[4]
The main battery of the Aigle class consisted of five 138.6-millimeter (5.5 in) Modèle 1927 guns in single shielded mounts, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure and the fifth gun abaft the rear funnel. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of four 37-millimeter (1.5 in) Modèle 1927 guns in single mounts positioned [[amidships]. In addition Gerfaut and Albatros were initially fitted with a 75-millimeter (3 in) M1897-15 gun forward of the rear pair of funnels, but this was removed by the end of 1932. All the ships carried two rotating triple mounts for 550-millimeter (21.7 in) torpedo tubes, one mount between the two pairs of funnels as well as another aft of the rear funnel. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of sixteen 200-kilogram (440 lb) depth charges, with eight more in reserve. They were also fitted with four depth-charge throwers, two on each broadside abreast the forward pair of funnels, for which the ships carried a dozen 100-kilogram (220 lb) depth charges.[5]
Ships
[edit]
- Built by Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk
- Launched 19 February 1931
- Completed 10 October 1932
- Scuttled 27 November 1942
- Refloated 10 July 1943.
- Bombed and sunk 24 November 1943
- Broken up in situ 1952.
- Built by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne
- Launched 26 August 1930
- Completed 2 May 1932
- Scuttled 27 November 1942
- Refloated 17 January 1943
- Bombed and sunk 4 February 1944
- Broken up in situ 1951
- Albatros (3, 2, 5, 72, X73, X77, F762, D614)
- built by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes
- Launched 27 June 1930
- Completed 25 December 1931
- Decommissioned 9 September 1959
- Built by Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne, Nantes
- Launched 14 June 1930
- Completed 30 January 1932
- Scuttled 27 November 1942
- Refloated 1 June 1943.
- Partly scrapped June–September 1943
- Hulk bombed and sunk 7 March 1944
- Broken up in situ 1948
- Built by Arsenal de Lorient
- Launched 13 October 1931
- Completed 20 April 1934 -
- On 8 November 1942, off Casablanca, she was hit by 16-inch (400 mm) shells from the US fleet and had to be beached.
- Épervier (Sparrowhawk - 2, 5, X112)
- Built by Arsenal de Lorient,
- Launched 14 August 1931
- Completed 1 April 1934 -
- On 9 November 1942 she was sunk by HMS Aurora off Oran. She was raised, and eventually broken up in 1946.
Service history
[edit]Three of the ships (Albatros, Épervier and Milan) were stationed in Morocco as part of the Vichy French navy, and engaged Allied forces in the battle of Casablanca during Operation Torch. Along with the unfinished battleship Jean Bart, they engaged the Allied 'Covering Group', a taskforce based on the battleship USS Massachusetts. Milan and Épervier both ran aground after being damaged in the battle; Albatros was damaged but, after her capture, was repaired after the war and used as a gunnery training vessel. Aigle was scuttled at Toulon, France, on 27 November 1942. She was later refloated and sunk a second time by United States Army Air Forces bombers on 24 November 1943. Later she was salvaged and scrapped. Vautour and Gerfaut were also scuttled at Toulon, but Vautour was raised again and sunk during an air raid on 4 February 1944.
Citations
[edit]References
[edit]- Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2013). "Toulon: The Self-Destruction and Salvage of the French Fleet". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2013. London: Conway. pp. 134–148. ISBN 978-1-84486-205-4.
- Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
- Roberts, John (1980). "France". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 255–279. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.* Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
External links
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