French destroyer Tartu

''Tartu'' was one of six s () built for the French Navy during the 1930s. The ship entered service in 1933 and spent most of her career in the Mediterranean. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, she was one of the ships that helped to enforce the non-intervention agreement. When France declared war on Germany in September 1939, all of the ''Vauquelin''s were assigned to the High Sea Forces ( (FHM)) which was tasked to escort French convoys and support the other commands as needed. ''Tartu'' was briefly deployed to Scotland in early 1940 to support the Allied forces in the Norwegian Campaign, but returned to the Mediterranean in time to participate in Operation Vado, a bombardment of Italian coastal facilities after Italy entered the war in June.

The Vichy French reformed the FHM after the French surrender in June. The ship was scuttled in Toulon when the Germans occupied Vichy France in November 1942. She was not significantly salvaged during the war and her wreck was broken up in 1956.

Design and description

The ''Vauquelin''-class ships were designed as improved versions of the preceding 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 Zoelly steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four du Temple boilers. The turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ships at . During her sea trials on 24 August 1932, ''Tartu''s turbines provided and she reached for a single hour. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at . Their crew consisted of 10 officers and 201 crewmen in peacetime and 12 officers and 220 enlisted men in wartime.

The main armament of the ''Vauquelin''-class ships consisted of five Modèle 1927 guns in single shielded mounts, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure and the fifth gun abaft the aft funnel. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of four Modèle 1927 guns in single mounts positioned amidships and two twin mounts for Hotchkiss Modèle 1929 anti-aircraft machineguns on the forecastle deck abreast the bridge. The ships carried two above-water twin mounts for torpedo tubes, one pair on each broadside between each pair of funnels as well as one triple mount aft of the rear pair of funnels able to traverse to both sides. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of sixteen depth charges, with eight more in reserve. They were also fitted with a pair of depth-charge throwers, one on each broadside abreast the aft funnels, for which they carried a dozen depth charges. The ships could be fitted with rails to drop 40 Breguet B4 mines.

Modifications

The depth-charge throwers were removed in 1936 and more 200-kilogram depth charges were carried in their place. The Navy reconsidered its anti-submarine warfare tactics after the war began in September and intended to reinstate the depth-charge throwers, although these were an older model than the one previously installed; ''Tartu'' had not received her as of early 1942. As an interim measure, a pair of rails were installed on the stern for depth charges. Each rail could accommodate three depth charges and ten more were stored in the magazine. During the ship's mid-1941 anti-aircraft refit, the mainmast was replaced by a platform for a single 37-millimeter twin-gun mount and two of her single 37-millimeter mounts were transferred to the platform while the other two single mounts were removed. The Hotchkiss machineguns were on new platforms between the funnels and a pair of Browning 13.2-millimeter AA machineguns were installed in front of the bridge. ''Tartu'' received a British Alpha 128 ASDIC system in October 1941 that had been taken from another ship.

Construction and career

''Tartu'', named after Jean-François Tartu, was ordered on 1 February 1930 from Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire as part of the 1929 Naval Program. She was laid down at their Saint-Nazaire shipyard on 14 September 1930, launched on 7 December 1931, commissioned on 1 October 1932 and entered service on 8 February 1933. She was the only ship of her class to be completed on schedule.

When the ''Vauquelin''s entered service they were assigned to the 5th and the newly formed 6th Light Divisions ( (DL)) which were later redesignated as scout divisions (). ''Tartu'' and her sister ships and were assigned to the 5th DL of the group of large destroyers ( (GCT) of the 3rd Squadron (), based in Toulon. ''Tartu'' served as the flagship of the GCT, which reverted to its previous designation of the 3rd Light Squadron on 15 September 1936, until relieved by her sister on 12 October 1938. On 27 June 1935, all of the ''Vauquelin''s, except ''Cassard'', participated in a naval review conducted by the Navy Minister () François Piétri in the Baie de Douarnenez after combined maneuvers by the 1st and 2nd Squadrons.

After the start of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, the and destroyers in the Mediterranean were assigned to assist French citizens in Spain and to patrol the surveillance zones assigned to France on a monthly rotation beginning on 24 September as part of the non-intervention agreement. As of 1 October ''Tartu'' was the flagship of Rear Admiral () Emmanuel Ollive while still assigned to the 5th Light Division together with her sisters ''Chevalier Paul'' and . Her other sisters , ''Maillé Brézé'' and ''Cassard'' belonged to the 9th Light Division, both of which were assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron. In May–June 1938 the Mediterranean Squadron cruised the Eastern Mediterranean; the squadron was redesignated at the Mediterranean Fleet () on 1 July 1939.

World War II

On 27 August 1939, in anticipation of war with Nazi Germany, the French Navy planned to reorganize the Mediterranean Squadron into the FHM of three squadrons. When France declared war on 3 September, the reorganization was ordered and the 3rd Light Squadron, which included the 5th and 9th Scout Divisions with all of the ''Vauquelin''-class ships, was assigned to the 3rd Squadron which was transferred to Oran, French Algeria, on 3 September. On 5 April 1940, the 5th Scout Division with ''Chevalier Paul'', ''Tartu'' and ''Maillé Brézé'' was assigned to Force Z in anticipation of an Allied invasion of Norway; their mission was to escort convoys between Scotland and Norway. The German invasion on 9 April preempted the Allies and ''Tartu'' did not begin her escort duties until mid-April when she covered Convoy FP-1 transporting the 5th Demi-Brigade of Mountain Infantry () to participate in the Namsos Campaign on 19 April. On 24–27 April, the ship escorted Convoy FP-2 conveying the 27th Demi-Brigade of Mountain Infantry to Harstad, Norway, to join the Battle of Narvik. On 3–4 May she joined ''Chevalier Paul'', the destroyer and the British destroyers and in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept a German convoy. The 5th Scout Division returned to Toulon on 27 May as the Mediterranean Fleet was developing plans to attack the Italians in case they decided to join the war. After the Italians declared war on 10 June, the fleet planned to bombard installations on the Italian coast. ''Tartu'' and the rest of the 5th Scout Division were among the ships ordered to attack targets in Vado Ligure. The destroyer was tasked to bombard the Nafta oil tanks. Two Italian MAS boats on patrol attempted to attack the French ships, but only one was able to launch a torpedo before they were driven off with light damage by the French defensive fire. Damage assessments afterward revealed that little damage had been inflicted despite expending over 1,600 rounds of all calibers during the bombardment.

After the French surrender on 22 June, the Royal Navy attacked the ships in Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, on 3 July to prevent them from being turned over to the Germans. To avoid an attack on the ships based nearby in Oran, they steamed for Toulon and ''Tartu'' was one of the ships that rendezvoused with them en route and escorted them to Toulon. The Vichy French reformed the FHM on 25 September after it negotiated rules limiting the force's activities and numbers with the Italian and German Armistice Commissions. ''Tartu'' was in reserve until she was assigned to it on 15 November. After the Allies invaded French Lebanon and Syria in June 1941, ''Tartu'', ''Cassard'' and the heavy cruiser transported a battalion of infantry from Algiers, French Algeria, to Marseilles that was intended to reinforce the Levant between 30 June and 1 July. Shortly afterwards, ''Tartu'' began a refit that lasted from 4 July to 4 August. The ship was transferred to Algiers, French Algeria, in early December to prepare to escort the damaged battleship back to Toulon in February 1942. After the Allies invaded French North Africa on 8 November, the Germans attempted to capture the French ships in Toulon intact on 27 November, but the ship was scuttled by her crew. ''Tartu'' settled to the harbor bottom and took on a list; salvage attempts were abandoned on 11 December 1943. Her wreck was struck by bombs during three Allied air raids in March–April 1944 during the war and her wreck was broken up in 1956.Jordan & Moulin, pp. 236–237, 247

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tartu
World War II warships scuttled at Toulon
Maritime incidents in November 1942
Vauquelin-class destroyers
1931 ships
Ships built in France