French destroyer Mogador
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''Mogador'' was the lead ship of 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 ...
's of
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s (french: contre-torpilleur). Named after the Moroccan town, she was built before the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The ship was heavily damaged during the British
attack on Mers-el-Kébir The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir (Battle of Mers-el-Kébir) on 3 July 1940, during the Second World War, was a British naval attack on neutral French Navy ships at the naval base at Mers El Kébir, near Oran, on the coast of French Algeria. The atta ...
on 3 July 1940, but was later repaired and sailed to
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 ...
. She was scuttled in Toulon Harbor when the Germans tried to seize her, along with the rest of the fleet, on 27 November 1942. The ''Mogador'' and her sister ''Volta'' were the last ''contre-torpilleurs'' built by the French Navy, a not entirely successful attempt to build a ship capable of out-fighting every other ship below her tonnage. "In technological terms ''Mogador'' and ''Volta'' were ships with the armament of a light cruiser in the hull of destroyer; the ''contre-torpilleur'' as a type had been pushed past the limits of its capabilities."


Design and description

''Mogador'' 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 in ...
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 maximum draft of . She displaced at standard 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 ...
. The Rateau-Bretagne geared
steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s were designed to produce , which would propel the ship at . However, during
sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
s in March 1938, ''Mogador''s turbines provided and she reached for one hour. The ship carried of
fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
at normal load and an additional at deep load. ''Mogador'' carried eight Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1929 in four twin turrets, two each
superimposed Superimposition is the placement of one thing over another, typically so that both are still evident. Graphics In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to ...
, fore and aft. Her
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
armament consisted of two ''Mle 1933'' guns in a single mount positioned on the rear deck house forward of the rear turrets. She also mounted four ''Mle 1929'' heavy
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s in two twin mounts located between the forward superstructure and the forward guns. ''Mogador'' carried 10 above-water
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s: a pair of triple mounts between the funnels and a pair of double mounts aft of the rear funnel. A pair of
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
chutes were built into ''Mogador''s stern; these housed a total of 16 Guirard depth charges. Mine rails were fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 40 mines.


Service history

''Mogador'', with her sister , comprised the ''6th Large Destroyer Division (6e Division de contre-torpilleurs)'' and was assigned to the ''
Force de Raid The ''Force de Raid'' (Raiding Force) was a French naval squadron formed at Brest during naval mobilization for World War II. The squadron commanded by Vice Amiral d'Escadre Marcel Gensoul consisted of the most modern French capital ships ''Dun ...
'' based 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 *Brest, ...
when the war began. This group's purpose was to hunt German blockade runners and raiders and to escort convoys that might be in danger from the same. From 21–30 October 1939 the ''Force de Raid'' escorted the ''KJ.4'' convoy to protect it against the which had sortied into the North Atlantic before the war began. A sortie by and into the North Atlantic on 21 November prompted ''Force de Raid'' to sail from Brest to rendezvous with the British battlecruiser and patrol the area south of
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, but the German ships were able to return safely under the cover of heavy weather without being engaged. ''Mogador'' was refitted at Lorient between January and March 1940 and a number of minor changes were made. The necessary improvements identified for the main armament during her sea trials a year prior were finally implemented, the canvas cover for the back of the turrets was replaced by a rolling door, new radios were installed, and shields were fitted to the anti-aircraft machine guns and the searchlights. A ''SS-6''
sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
was fitted in June 1940, but proved to be ineffectual. ''Mogador'' was present during the British
attack on Mers-el-Kébir The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir (Battle of Mers-el-Kébir) on 3 July 1940, during the Second World War, was a British naval attack on neutral French Navy ships at the naval base at Mers El Kébir, near Oran, on the coast of French Algeria. The atta ...
on 3 July 1940 and was severely damaged by a hit from an armour-piercing shell in the rear hull that detonated her ready
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
s although it failed to detonate itself. The explosion destroyed her upper rear hull, but, miraculously, the rear magazines failed to explode. 38 men were killed, the port propeller shaft was damaged and a blade from the starboard propeller was shattered. She was towed to
Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
for repairs. She was dry docked on 17 July, the remains of her No. 4 turret were removed and the after bulkheads repaired and reinforced to make her seaworthy. She sailed for Toulon on 1 December where she was docked pending reconstruction. 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 ...
decided to reinforce her anti-aircraft armament in light of its wartime experience. Her no. 3 gun turret was to be moved to the No. 4 position, its magazine converted for extra fuel storage, and a new twin 37 mm ''Mle 1933'' mount would replace it on top of the rear deck house. Two more ''Mle 1933'' mounts were to fitted on each side of the rear deckhouse and a fourth mount was to replace the 13.2 Hotchkiss machine guns forward of the bridge. One 13.2 mm Browning machine gun was to planned to be mounted on each side of the forward twin 37 mm guns. This plan was later amended to add a degaussing cable, replacement of the ''SS-6'' sonar by a French copy of the British ASDIC and six of the new ''mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre-aéroplanes Modèle 1940'' anti-aircraft guns, plus two more 13.2 mm Brownings mounted on the forward corners of the center deck house. The rebuilding was slowed by material shortages and she wasn't taken into hand by the shipyard ''Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranée'' at La Seyne-sur-Mer until late February 1942. In October it was estimated that she wouldn't be completed until July 1943. She was scuttled in La Seyne-sur-Mer on 27 November 1942 to prevent her capture by the Germans. She was refloated by the Italians on 5 April 1943, but not repaired. ''Mogador'' was sunk by Allied bombers in late 1944, but was raised in 1949 and scrapped.Roche, p. 348


Notes


References

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External links


Plans de bateaux: MOGADOR 1937
plans and photos of ''Mogador''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mogador Mogador-class destroyers Ships built in France 1937 ships World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea World War II warships scuttled at Toulon Maritime incidents in July 1940 Maritime incidents in November 1942 Maritime incidents in November 1944 Destroyers sunk by aircraft