''Duguay-Trouin'' was the lead ship of her

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of French light cruisers, launched in the early 1920s. She was named after

René Duguay-Trouin René Trouin, Sieur du Gué, also known as René Duguay-Trouin, (10 June 1673 – 1736) was a French naval officer, nobleman, slave trader, and privateer best known for his career during the War of the Spanish Succession. He had a brilliant ...

. She patrolled the Mediterranean during the Spanish Civil War, and after the outbreak of the Second World War, she hunted Nazi

pocket battleships The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...

before being interned after the Fall of France and until 1943. She then took part in Allied operations in the Mediterranean, supporting the Provence Landings and shelling Nazi and Fascist troops on the coasts of Italy until the end of the war. ''Duguay-Trouin'' then took part in the decolonisation wars in Algeria, and in Indochina.

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 and the American light cruisers. The ships had an overall length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , and a draft of . They displaced at standard load and at deep load. Their crew consisted of 591 men when serving as flagships.

Construction and career

Pre-war

Started on 4 August 1922, ''Duguay-Trouin'' was the first large unit put on keel in France after the First World War. Launched on 14 August 1923, she was one of the longest light cruisers of the era, which made her a fast ship, capable of sustaining 30 knots for an entire day during trials. She entered active service on 2 November 1926. After completion, she was assigned to the 2nd Squadron and based at Brest. In 1929, she became flagship of the 3rd Light Division in the Mediterranean and, in 1931, she undertook an extended cruise to Indo-China, then a French colony. ''Duguay-Trouin'' returned to the 2nd Squadron at Brest in 1932, this time as flagship, remaining there until 1935. In 1936, she took part in the international effort to safeguard shipping in the Mediterranean on the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. For the occasion, the top of her upper turrets was painted in Blue-White-Red colours, to make identification easier and avoid attacks by belligerents. In 1936, she became a gunnery training ship. The following year, she was modernised, notably fitting a reinforced anti-air artillery. In 1938, she was under the command of Captain de Prévaux. In June 1939, she joined the 6th Cruiser Division.

World War II

France declared war on 3 September 1939 as ''Duguay-Trouin'' was in Dakar. Along with other French and British ships, she commenced Atlantic patrols to intercept German

. On 16 October 1939 ''Duguay-Trouin'' intercepted the German merchant ship ''Halle'' south-west of Dakar. ''Halle'' was scuttled to prevent its capture. In early May, 1940, she was transferred to the eastern Mediterranean, based at Beirut, for operations in the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

and

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

. In July 1940, after the French surrender, she joined Admiral

René-Émile Godfroy René-Émile Godfroy (10 January 1885 – 16 January 1981) was a French admiral, commander of the Force X at the outbreak of the Second World War. He was interned with his command at Alexandria until 1943, and then retired on suspicion of favour ...

's Force X at Alexandria, Egypt; there, she was disarmed by agreement between the British and French admirals during Operation Catapult and interned by the British from 22 June 1940. Axis forces occupying the so-called Free Zone in November 1942 made Armistice terms between France and the Third Reich moot, and ''Duguay-Trouin'' rejoined the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

on 30 May 1943. She was re-armed in July, and after modernisation in Casablanca and Oran, she returned to active service in September 1943. During her refit, ''Duguay-Trouin'' had her torpedo tubes and aircraft removed, and instead gained 4 75-millimetre AA guns, 15 20-millimetre guns and 10 13.2-millimetre machine guns. In March 1944, she ferried troops between Algiers, Ajaccio, Oran and Napoli. She supported the landings in southern France in August 1944 and subsequently undertook bombardments along the Italian coast with the Flank Force until April 1945.

Post-war

On 10 and 11 May 1945, ''Duguay-Trouin'' bombarded villages in Algeria during the Sétif and Guelma massacre, opening fire in ten instances. On 28 May 1947, with the outbreak of the Indochina War, ''Duguay-Trouin'' departed Toulon, bound for the Far East by way of Diego-Suarez in Madagascar, arriving at

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on 13 November 1947. She remained in the region until September 1951 as flagship of the Far East Division, supporting landing parties with land bombardment from 1948 to October 1951. ''Duguay-Trouin'' was eventually decommissioned on 19 March 1952, and sold for scrap in 1953, having served one of the longest careers of the warships of her time.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duguay-Trouin (1923) Duguay-Trouin-class cruisers Ships built in France 1923 ships World War II cruisers of France