Dumont d'Urville was a Bougainville-class aviso of the French Navy, designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa. She was built by Ateliers et Chantiers Maritime Sud-Ouest of Bordeaux and launched on 21 March 1931.[1]
Service history
After the Fall of France Dumont d'Urville remained under Vichy French control and in September 1940 she was in New Caledonia as a part the Vichy government's attempt to gain control of the French colony. However, the Royal Australian Navy cruiser Adelaide arrived carrying a Free French temporary governor, Henri Sautot, which led the Vichy governor to depart aboard Dumont d'Urville on 25 September.[2][3]
On the night of 16–17 January 1941 Dumont d'Urville took part in the Battle of Koh Chang.[4]
In September 1942 Dumont d'Urville took part in rescuing survivors from RMS Laconia which the U-156 had torpedoed and sunk, known as the Laconia incident.
By 1944 Dumont d'Urville's armament had been augmented with the addition of four single-mounted 40 mm anti-aircraft (AA) guns, 11 single-mounted 20 mm AA guns, four anti-submarine mortars and two racks for 66 depth charges.[1]
Dumont d'Urville remained in French Navy service after the war until 26 March 1958 when she was scrapped.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Le Masson 1969, p. 12.
- ^ Cassells 2000, p. 7.
- ^ Fisher, Denise (2010). "Supporting the Free French in New Caledonia: First Steps in Australian Diplomacy" (PDF). Explorations: A Journal of French-Australian Connections. 49 (1): 18–37.
- ^ "La bataille de Koh Chang (janvier 1941)". Croiseur Lamotte-Picquet. Net-Marine.
Sources
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Cassells, Vic (2000). The Capital Ships: Their Battles and Their Badges. East Roseville, NSW: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7318-0941-6. OCLC 48761594.
- Jordan, John (2016). "The Colonial Sloops of the Bougainville Class". Warship 2016. London: Conway. pp. 8–29. ISBN 978-1-84486-326-6.
- Le Masson, Henri (1969). The French Navy. Navies of the Second World War. Vol. 2. London: MacDonald & Co. ISBN 0-356-02385-0.
- 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.
Recent Comments