''La Galissonnière'' was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of her class of six

light cruisers A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

built for the (

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

) during the 1930s. She was named in honour of

Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière, Marquis de La Galissonière, sometimes spelled Galissonnière (; 10 November 1693 – 6 October 1756), was the French governor of New France from 1747 to 1749 and the victor in the Battle of Minorca ...

. During World War II, she served with

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

Design and description

The ''La Galissonnière'' class was designed as an enlarged and improved version of the preceding . The ships had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a beam of , and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . They displaced at

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

load and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. Their crew consisted of 557 men in peacetime and 612 in wartime.

History

''La Galissonnière'' was at first assigned to the 2nd Light Squadron in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

until October 1937, when she formed the 3rd Cruiser Division at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, together with her sister ships ''Jean de Vienne'' and ''Marseillaise''. At the outbreak of World War II, ''La Galissonnière'' carried out patrol duties off the

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n coast until mid-November 1939, when she started a major refit at

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

until the end of February 1940. She then was based at Toulon until the French surrender in June. From January 1941, she was part of the Vichy "High Seas Force" at Toulon. Two of the three cruisers from the 3rd Cruisers Division – she and ''Marseillaise'' – never went to high sea due to lack of fuel, except in November 1940, to cover the return to Toulon of the battleship ''Provence'', severely damaged by British gunfire in July 1940 during

Operation Catapult Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. However, ''La Galissonnière'' was effectively disarmed and inactive. When the Germans occupied Vichy France, she was scuttled on 27 November 1942 to prevent her capture by the Germans and Italians. The cruiser shared the

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

with ''Dunkerque'', and her captain moved her forward and opened the sea valves so that she would sink and block the gates.

Italian ''FR 12''

Battleship Strasbourg after bomb attack, 1944

Allocated to the Kingdom of Italy after some political delays, she was subsequently raised by the ''

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...

'' (Italian Royal Navy) on 3 March 1943, repaired and renamed ''FR 12''. Italy got a good deal of French ships in November 1942 besides the ''La Galissonnière'': two light cruisers, 11 destroyers, 11 escort ships, nine submarines, and 10 minesweepers.Foreign-built ships of Regia Marina
/ref> A refit began, but this had not finished at time of the

Italian armistice The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

(nearly 60% of the ship was rebuilt). The intention to incorporate the former French ship into the ''Regia Marina'' was, however, undermined by Italy's chronic oil fuel shortages. While in German hands, she was damaged by U.S. bombers on 24 November 1943, after the

. ''La Galissonière'' eventually sank on 18 August 1944 in an air raid by B-25 Mitchells of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

′

321st Bombardment Group The 321st Air Expeditionary Wing was a United States Air Force unit assigned United States Air Forces Central, the USAF component command of United States Central Command. The unit was reestablished on 1 November 2008 and was a nexus of all Coal ...

. The hulk was raised and finally scrapped in 1952.

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

La Galissoniere ラ･ガリソニエール
Photographs

* ttps://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/EFGHI/fr12.aspx FR.12Marina Militare website {{DEFAULTSORT:La Galissonniere La Galissonnière-class cruisers World War II cruisers of France Naval ships of France captured by Italy during World War II Cruisers sunk by aircraft 1933 ships World War II warships scuttled at Toulon Ships sunk by US aircraft Maritime incidents in November 1942 Maritime incidents in August 1944