French destroyer Mogador

''Mogador'' was the lead ship of the French Navy's of destroyers (french: contre-torpilleur). Named after the Moroccan town, she was built before the outbreak of World War II. The ship was heavily damaged during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July 1940, but was later repaired and sailed to Toulon. 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 of , a beam of , and a maximum draft of . She displaced at standard load and at deep load. The Rateau-Bretagne geared steam turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ship at . However, during sea trials in March 1938, ''Mogador''s turbines provided and she reached for one hour. The ship carried of fuel oil 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, fore and aft. Her anti-aircraft 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 guns in two twin mounts located between the forward superstructure and the forward guns. ''Mogador'' carried 10 above-water torpedo tubes: a pair of triple mounts between the funnels and a pair of double mounts aft of the rear funnel. A pair of depth charge 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 (6^e Division de contre-torpilleurs)'' and was assigned to the ''Force de Raid'' based at 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, 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 was fitted in June 1940, but proved to be ineffectual.

''Mogador'' was present during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir 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 charges 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 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 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