French cruiser Lamotte-Picquet

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Lamotte-Picquet

Lamotte-Picquet at Shanghai in 1939
History
France
Name	Lamotte-Picquet
Namesake	Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient
Laid down	17 January 1923
Launched	21 March 1924
Commissioned	5 March 1927
Out of service	November 1941
Fate	Sunk during the South China Sea raid, 12 January 1945
General characteristics
Class and type	Duguay-Trouin-class cruiser
Displacement	7,249 tons (standard) 9350 tons (full load)
Length	181.30 m (594 ft 10 in) overall
Beam	17.50 m (57 ft 5 in)
Draught	6.14 m (20 ft 2 in), 6.30 m (20 ft 8 in) full load
Propulsion	4-shaft Parsons single-reduction geared turbines; 8 Guyot boilers; 102,000 shp (76,000 kW)
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h)
Range	3,000 nautical miles (6,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	27 officers, 551 sailors
Armament	8 × 155 mm (6.1 in)/50 guns (4 × 2) 4 × 75 mm (3 in) anti-aircraft guns (4 × 1) 12 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes (4 × 3)
Armour	Deck: 20 mm (0.79 in) Magazine box: 30 mm (1.2 in) Turrets and conning tower: 30 mm (1.2 in)
Aircraft carried	2 GL-832 1 catapult

Lamotte-Picquet was a French Duguay-Trouin-class light cruiser, launched in 1924, and named in honour of the 18th century admiral count Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte.

Design and description

The design of the Duguay-Trouin class was based on an improved version of a 1915 design, but was reworked with more speed and a more powerful armament to match the British

Completed in 1927, Lamotte-Picquet was based at Brest until 1933, serving with the 3rd Light Division, of which she was flagship. In 1935, she was sent to the Far East, where at the outbreak of war in 1939, she patrolled around French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies.

After the French surrender in Europe, tension developed along the border with Siam (now

The Thai squadron was defeated, with both torpedo boats sunk and the coastal defence ship run aground. The Lamotte-Picquet suffered insignificant damage during the engagement, and also retreated after her victory over the Thai Navy. There had been several minor contesting claims against the official report of no damage, including a reference book Janes Fighting Ships (1955 edition).

The victory was for naught, however, as the Japanese forced a settlement in the Franco-Thai War in favour of the Thais. Apart from a visit to

She was sunk in Đồng Nai River, on 12 January 1945, by U.S carrier based aircraft from Task Force 38 during the South China Sea raid. The remains of the hull were scrapped after the war.^[2]

Notes

Bibliography

• Guiglini, Jean & Moreau, Albert (2001). "French Light Cruisers: The First Light Cruisers of the 1922 Naval Program, Part 1". Warship International. XXXVIII (3): 269–299.
  ISSN 0043-0374
  .
• Guiglini, Jean & Moreau, Albert (2001). "French Light Cruisers: The First Light Cruisers of the 1922 Naval Program, Part 2". Warship International. XXXVIII (4): 355–390.
  ISSN 0043-0374
  .
• Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2013). French Cruisers 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.
  ISBN 978-1-84832-133-5
  .

• (in French) L'histoire du croiseur La Motte-Picquet, netmarine