French destroyer Milan

The French destroyer Milan was one of six Aigle-class destroyer (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy in the interwar period.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Milan.
Milan at anchor
History
France
Name: Milan
Builder: Arsenal de Lorient
Launched: 13 October 1931
Completed: 20 April 1934
Fate: Lost 8 November 1942
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type: Aigle-class destroyer
Displacement:
  • 2,441 t (2,402 long tons) (standard)
  • 3,140 t (3,090 long tons) (full load)
Length: 128.5 m (421 ft 7 in)
Beam: 11.8 m (38 ft 9 in)
Draught: 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range: 3,650 nmi (6,760 km; 4,200 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Crew: 10 officers, 217 crewmen (wartime)
Armament:

Service

Following the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, Milan escorted two convoys carrying French troops of the Chasseurs Alpins to Namsos and Harstad between 18 April and 27 April.[1] On 3–4 May 1940, Milan, together with the French destroyers Chevalier Paul and Tartu and the British destroyers Sikh and Tartar, made a sweep into the Skagerrak, but encountered no German shipping.[2]

On 15 June she carried General de Gaulle from Brest to Plymouth on the first stage of his journey to London for talks with the British government.[3]

After France surrendered to Germany, Milan served with the naval forces of Vichy France. She was at Casablanca in French Morocco when Allied forces invaded French North Africa in Operation Torch on 8 November 1942. She was in action against United States Navy TF 34 during the Naval Battle of Casablanca and was beached after sustaining shell hits from the destroyer Wilkes.[4][5]

Notes
  1. Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 17–18
  2. Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 19
  3. Montagnon, Pierre (2009). La France dans la guerre de 39-45. Paris: Pygmalion. ISBN 978-2-7564-0044-0.
  4. Le Masson, Henri (1969). Navies of the Second World War The French Navy Volume 1. London: Macdonald. p. 113. ISBN 0356023842.
  5. Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 175

References
  • Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2013). "Toulon: The Self-Destruction and Salvage of the French Fleet". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2013. London: Conway. pp. 134–148. ISBN 978-1-84486-205-4.
  • Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-117-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
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