French destroyer Tornade

Tornade was a Bourrasque-class destroyer (torpilleur d'escadre) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.

Sister ship Ouragan underway before 1942
History
France
Name: Tornade
Namesake: Tornado
Ordered: 5 March 1923
Builder: Dyle et Bacalan
Laid down: 25 April 1923
Launched: 12 March 1925
Completed: 10 May 1928
Commissioned: 1 October 1927
In service: 21 May 1928
General characteristics
Class and type: Bourrasque-class destroyer
Displacement:
  • 1,320 t (1,300 long tons) (standard)
  • 1,825 t (1,796 long tons) (full load)
Length: 105.6 m (346 ft 5.5 in)
Beam: 9.7 m (31 ft 9.9 in)
Draft: 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range: 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Crew: 9 officers, 153 crewmen (wartime)
Armament:

After France surrendered to Germany in June 1940 during World War II, Tornade served with the navy of Vichy France. She was at Oran, French Algeria, when the Allies invaded French North Africa in Operation Torch in November 1942. Resisting the invasion, she was badly damaged off Oran on 8 November 1942 by gunfire by the Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Aurora and destroyer HMS Calpe and was beached to avoid sinking.[1]

Design and description

The Bourrasque class had an overall length of 105.6 meters (346 ft 5 in), a beam of 9.7 meters (31 ft 10 in), and a draft of 3.5 meters (11 ft 6 in). The ships displaced 1,320 metric tons (1,300 long tons) at (standard) load and 1,825 metric tons (1,796 long tons) at deep load. They were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three du Temple boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 31,000 metric horsepower (22,800 kW; 30,576 shp), which would propel the ship at 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[2]

The main armament of the Bourrasque-class ships consisted of four Canon de 130 mm (5.1 in) Modèle 1919 guns in shielded single mounts, one superfiring pair each fore and aft of the superstructure. Their anti-aircraft (AA) armament consisted of a single Canon de 75 mm (3 in) Modèle 1924 gun. The ships carried two triple mounts of 550-millimeter (21.7 in) torpedo tubes amidships. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern that housed a total of sixteen 200-kilogram (440 lb) depth charges.[2]

Notes
  1. "FR Tornade of the French Navy". Uboat. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  2. Jordan & Moulin, p. 41

References
  • 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 (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.
  • 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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