French cruiser Primauguet (1924)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2013) |
 Primauguet
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Primauguet |
| Namesake | Hervé de Portzmoguer |
| Builder | Arsenal de Brest |
| Laid down | 16 August 1923 |
| Launched | 21 May 1924 |
| Commissioned | 1 April 1927 |
| Fate | Destroyed in harbour, 8 November 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Duguay-Trouin-class cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| 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; 38 mph) |
| Range | 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 27 officers, 551 sailors |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
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| Aircraft carried |
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Primauguet was a French
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
Service
Primauguet was commissioned in April 1927 and immediately commenced a seven-month world cruise, returning in mid-December. The pattern of extended cruises was maintained until April 1932, when she was stationed in the Far East until a refit in January 1936. The Far East posting was resumed in November 1937 until she was relieved by the cruiser Suffren and returned to France.
The first months of World War II were spent on Atlantic patrols, convoy escort and surveillance of Axis shipping. On 1 April 1940, she sailed for Fort-de-France in the West Indies, to replace the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc. She operated in Dutch West Indies waters, intercepting merchant ships. On 6 May 1940, Primauguet, under the command of Vessel Captain Pierre Goybet, relieved the British sloop Dundee off Aruba and, at the Dutch surrender, she landed forces to secure the oil installations. Primauguet returned to Dakar on 12 June 1940, after the French surrender.
Primauguet remained with the
She was sent to escort an
On 8 November 1941, she began a refit in Casablanca and was not fully operational when the
Massively outmatched by the opposing firepower, she was badly damaged and suffered many casualties. To allow the crew to be evacuated, the ship ran in close to the shore and dropped anchor in shallow water, where she burnt out overnight. Although sources regularly state that she was run aground, photographs taken after the battle show her lying at anchor, inoperable but apparently still afloat.[5]
The wreck of Primauguet was sold in 1951, and broken up for scrap.[3]
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.
- O'Hara, Vincent P. (2015). Torch: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-61251922-7.
- Shores, Christopher; Massimello, Giovanni; with Russell Guest, Frank Olynyk and Winfried Bock (2016). A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945. Volume Three: Tunisia and the End in Africa, November 1942 - May 1943. Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 9781910690000.
- ISBN 1-86019-874-0.
