French destroyer Somali

The French destroyer Somali was one of a dozen Arabe-class destroyers built for the French Navy in Japan during the First World War.

Sister ship Algérien in 1917
History
France
Name: Somali
Namesake: Somali people
Ordered: 1916
Builder: Kawasaki Dockyard Co., Kobe, Japan
Laid down: 1917
Launched: 21 July or 20 June 1917
Completed: 1917
In service: 8 November 1917
Stricken: 27 August 1935
Fate: Scrapped after 1935
General characteristics
Class and type: Arabe-class destroyer
Displacement: 685 t (674 long tons)
Length:
  • 82.26 m (269 ft 11 in) (o/a)
  • 79.4 m (260 ft 6 in) (p/p)
Beam: 7.33 m (24 ft 1 in)
Draft: 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 3 shafts; 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range: 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement: 109
Armament:

Design and description

The Arabe-class ships had an overall length of 82.26 meters (269 ft 11 in), a length between perpendiculars of 79.4 meters (260 ft 6 in) a beam of 7.33 meters (24 ft 1 in), and a draft of 2.39 meters (7 ft 10 in).[1] The ships displaced 865 metric tons (851 long tons) at normal load.[2] They were powered by three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four mixed-firing Kampon Yarrow-type boilers. The engines were designed to produce 10,000 metric horsepower (7,400 kW; 9,900 shp), which would propel the ships at 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). During their sea trials, the Arabe class reached 29.16–30.44 knots (54.00–56.37 km/h; 33.56–35.03 mph).[3] The ships carried enough coal and fuel oil which gave them a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).[4] Their crew consisted of 5 officers and 104 crewmen.[5]

The main armament of the Arabe-class ships was a single Type 41 12-centimeter (4.7 in) gun, mounted before the bridge on the forecastle. Their secondary armament consisted of four Type 41 76-millimeter (3 in) guns in single mounts; two of these were positioned abreast the middle funnel and the others were on the centerline further aft. One of these latter guns was on a high-angle mount and served as an anti-aircraft gun. The ships carried two above-water twin mounts for 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. In 1917–18, a rack for eight 75-kilogram (165 lb) depth charges was added.[6]

Construction and career

Somali was ordered from Kawasaki Dockyard Co. and was laid down in its Kobe shipyard in 1917.[4] The ship was launched on 21 July and completed on 8 November of that year. She was stricken on 27 August 1935 and subsequently broken up for scrap.[7]

Citations

  1. Garier, p. 33
  2. Gardiner & Gray, p. 205
  3. Garier, pp. 34, 36
  4. Couhat, p. 118
  5. Garier, p. 37
  6. Garier, pp. 36–37
  7. Garier, p. 34

References

  • Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
  • Garier, Gérard (March 2001). "Les torpilleurs d'escadre français de construction japonaise: Le type 'Algérien' (1917 / 1936)". Navires & Historie. Lela Presse. 06: 33–51. ISSN 1280-4290.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). "Classement par types". Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 2, 1870 - 2006. Toulon: Roche. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
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