French destroyer Albatros

The French destroyer Albatros was one of six Aigle-class destroyer (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1930s.

Albatros beached off Casablanca, 16 November 1942
History
France
Name	Albatros
Namesake	Albatross
Builder	Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes
Launched	27 June 1930
Completed	25 December 1931
Fate	Scrapped, 9 September 1959
General characteristics
Class and type	Aigle-class destroyer
Displacement	2,441 t (2,402 long tons) (standard)
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	4 du Temple boilers 64,000 PS (47,000 kW; 63,000 shp)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
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	5 × single 138.6 mm (5.5 in) guns 4 × single 37 mm (1.5 in) AA guns 2 × triple 550 mm (21.7 in) torpedo tubes 2 chutes, 4 throwers for 44 depth charges

During World War II, on 14 June 1940 she participated in Operation Vado, a raid of French cruisers and destroyers from Toulon to bombard Italian targets at Genoa and Savona; the coastal battery "Mameli" struck her with one 152 mm (6 in) round, which penetrated her fire-room and killed twelve sailors. After France surrendered to Germany, Albatros 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 in November 1942. Resisting the invasion, she was badly damaged off Casablanca on 8 November 1942 in action with United States Navy forces during the Naval Battle of Casablanca when she came under fire from the heavy cruisers USS Augusta, USS Wichita, and USS Tuscaloosa and then was bombed by aircraft from the escort carrier USS Suwanee. Badly damaged, she was beached in a sinking condition. After World War II, she was repaired and returned to service.

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.
• O'Hara, Vincent P. (2015). Torch: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-61251-922-7.
• 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.