French destroyer Léopard

The French destroyer ''Léopard'' was a built for the French Navy during the 1920s. She became a training ship in the mid-1930s before serving as a convoy escort during World War II before the Germans invaded France in May 1940. After that time, she bombarded advancing German forces near the northern French coast and took part in the Dunkirk evacuation. After the surrender of France, she was seized by the British in July and turned over to the Free French.

''Léopard'' escorted convoys in the Western Approaches in 1940–41 before beginning a year-long conversion into an escort destroyer. She helped to sink a German submarine before liberating the island of La Réunion in late 1942. She ran aground near Benghazi just a few weeks after being transferred to the Mediterranean in mid-1943. Salvage attempts failed and her wreck was abandoned after it broke in half.

Design and description

The ''Chacal''-class ships were designed to counter the large Italian s. They had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of . The ships displaced at standard and at deep load. They were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by five du Temple boilers. The turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ship at . During her sea trials on 12 May 1927, ''Léopard'' reached for a single hour. The ships carried of fuel oil which gave them a range of at . Their crew consisted of 10 officers and 187 crewmen in peacetime and 12 officers and 209 enlisted men in wartime.

The main armament of the ''Chacal''-class ships consisted of five Canon de 130 mm Modèle 1919 guns in single mounts, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure and the fifth gun abaft the aft funnel. The guns were numbered '1' to '5' from front to rear. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of two Canon de 75 mm modèle 1924 guns in single mounts positioned amidships. The ships carried two above-water triple sets of torpedo tubes. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of twenty depth charges. They were also fitted with four depth-charge throwers for which they carried a dozen depth charges.

Construction and career

''Léopard'', named after the eponymous feline, was ordered on 26 February 1923 from the ''Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire''. She was laid down on 14 August 1923 at their shipyard at Saint-Nazaire, launched on 29 September 1924, commissioned on 15 June 1927, completed on 13 October and entered service on 15 November. Completion was delayed by problems with her propulsion machinery and late deliveries by sub-contractors. ''Léopard'' was assigned to the 4th Light Division (''Division légère'') (DL) of the Second Squadron (''2ème Escadre'') based at Brest upon completion, together with her sister ships and . The four depth charge throwers were removed in 1932. The next year, the ship was present when the fleet was reviewed by the President of France, Albert Lebrun, in Cherbourg on 20 July 1933. About a year later, the 75-millimeter guns were replaced by four twin mounts for anti-aircraft machineguns. On 15 July 1935, ''Léopard'' and her sister of the 8th DL were assigned to the Naval School (''Ecole Navale'') at Brest. On 12 April 1937, the 8th DL was redesignated as the 2nd Large Destroyer Division (''2ème division de contre-torpeilleurs'') (DCT); their sister ''Jaguar'' joined them in September.

World War II

By 7 September 1939, ''Léopard'' was no longer a part of the 2nd DCT and was assigned to the Western Command (''Forces maritimes de l'Ouest'') for convoy escort duties from October to May 1940 where she guarded convoys traveling between Gibraltar and Brest as well as Casablanca, French Morocco, and Le Verdon-sur-Mer. In early 1940, the ship had a British Type 123 ASDIC installed; in addition two depth-charge throwers were reinstalled, No. 3 gun removed, and her depth charge stowage reduced to a dozen 200 kg and eight 100 kg depth charges to improve her stability.

By 22 May ''Léopard'' was reassigned to the 2nd DCT when the unit was tasked to carry demolition teams to the northernmost French ports; the ship arrived at Boulogne-sur-Mer that evening. Together with ''Chacal'' and eight smaller destroyers, ''Léopard'' bombarded advancing German troops as they approached the defenses of Boulogne-sur-Mer, firing the last shots of the battle at midday on 24 May. On 28 May, a special flotilla was constituted under the command of Admiral , with his flag on the ''aviso'' , with these ships and a number of smaller units to support the ongoing evacuation of Dunkirk. On 3 June, the contre-torpilleur rescued 19 British soldiers from a boat and delivered them to England.

In mid-June, ''Léopard'' defended the approaches to Cherbourg and sailed to Portsmouth on 19 June, after the port surrendered to the Germans. The ship was still there when Operation Catapult, a British operation to capture or disable the ships of the French Navy lest the Germans seize them and use them against the British, began on 3 July. She was handed over to the Free French Naval Forces on 31 August. Command of ''Léopard'' was given to Lieutenant ('' Lieutenant de vaisseau'') , who went by the nom de guerre of "Jacques Richard".

Service with the Free French

''Léopard'' was commissioned by the Free French on 3 September although she was under repair until November as the British dockyards were very congested. During this time, the British took the opportunity to improve her anti-aircraft suite. A QF Mk V AA gun replaced the two 13.2 mm machinegun mounts on the platform abaft the rear funnel, the 13.2 mm guns on the forecastle were moved to positions abreast the fore funnel, and a pair of 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk II "pom-pom" light AA guns were added on platforms on the side of the forward superstructure. Upon the completion of this refit, she was assigned to convoy escort duties in the Western Approaches. On 24 February 1941, ''Léopard'' rescued 39 survivors of a British cargo ship.

On 8 May 1941, she began a lengthy conversion into an escort destroyer at Kingston upon Hull. Her forward boiler and its funnel were removed and replaced by additional oil storage and additional accommodation for her ratings. They reduced her maximum speed to , but increased her fuel storage to which raised her range to , and her crew to 234 ratings. Her troublesome depth charge chutes were sealed off and their machinery was removed; her stern had to be rebuilt to accommodate two rails at the stern, each with a dozen Mk VIIH heavy depth charges, plus an additional four stored below decks. Her two existing depth charge throwers were replaced by four improved Thornycroft Mk IV throwers. The ship carried a total of twenty-four Mk VII light depth charges for the throwers. To compensate for the weight of the additional depth charges, her aft torpedo tubes were removed. The 4-inch gun was replaced by a single Oerlikon light AA gun and two others replaced the "pom-pom"s. These were moved to positions on the upper deck that had formerly been occupied by the 75 mm guns and another gun was added on top of the aft superstructure. A pair of quadruple mounts for Vickers AA machineguns were added on the forward superstructure. A Type 291 search radar was also added.Jordan & Moulin, pp. 251–52

While escorting Convoy OS33 on 11 July 1942, the frigate spotted the on the surface and made multiple attacks after the U-boat dived. ''Léopard'' joined her, as did the sloop and they sank the submarine at coordinates . The next day ''Léopard'' collided with the sloop and had her bow stove in by the British ship. She was repaired in South Africa in September–October.Jordan & Moulin, p. 250

Liberation of La Réunion

''Léopard'' had been selected to convince the Vichy government of La Réunion to join the Free French in June, but the collision and her consequent repairs delayed her mission. On the night of 27/28 November, she arrived off the island with 80 troops aboard. They were landed successfully and seized control of Saint-Denis, Réunion, the island's capital, although the governor fled into the interior. A coast-defense battery engaged the contre-torpilleur and she fired back, with men killed on both sides. The Vichy hold-outs surrendered on the 30th and ''Léopard'' remained in the Indian Ocean escorting convoys until March 1943.Bertrand, p. 159

She was briefly refitted at Diégo-Suarez, Madagascar from 13 March to mid-April when she was transferred to the Mediterranean. ''Léopard'' arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, on 12 May and screened a convoy to Malta shortly afterwards. She departed on 24 May with a convoy returning to Alexandria and accidentally ran aground near Benghazi three days later after aerial attacks disrupted the convoy. The Allies attempted to refloat her by sealing damaged areas between her bilges with cement and dredging a channel back to the sea.Keeble, Chapter VI “The Fight for ‘Leopard’” pp. 86-101 The weather soured and the wreck broke in two in a gale on 19 June and was declared a total loss on 1 July.

Notes

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopard
Chacal-class destroyers
Ships built in France
World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
1924 ships
Maritime incidents in July 1940
Maritime incidents in May 1943
Destroyers of the Free French Naval Forces
Recipients of the Resistance Medal