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French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc (1930)

One-off light cruiser of the French Navy


Summary

One-off light cruiser of the French Navy

FieldValue
section1{{Infobox ship/image
image3Fi019-009 - NAVIRES DE GUERRE - CROISEUR-ECOLE "JEANNE D'ARC" (cropped).jpg
image_captionPostcard of Jeanne d'Arc in Brest, 1940
section2{{Infobox ship/class overview
operators
class_before
class_after
built_range1928–1931
in_commission_range1931–1964
total_ships_completed1
total_ships_retired1
section3{{Infobox ship/career
countryFrance
flag
nameJeanne d'Arc
namesakeJoan of Arc
builderSaint-Nazaire
laid_downSeptember 1928
launched1930
christened14 February 1930
commissionedOctober 1931
decommissioned1964
homeportToulon
nickname"La Jeanne"
fateScrapped
section4{{Infobox ship/characteristics
typeTraining cruiser
displacement6500 t
length170 m
beam17.7 m
draught6.5 m
power*boilers
*{{cvt32500shplkon}}
propulsion2 shafts; 2 steam turbines
speed25 kn (27.8 on trials)
range5000 mi at 14.5 kn
complement*28 officers
armament*Initial
* 8 × [[Canon de 155 mm Modèle 1920{{convert155mminabbron}}/50 guns]] in 4 double turrets (2 bow, 2 aft)
* 4 × [[Canon de 75 mm modèle 1924{{convert75mminabbron0}} anti-aircraft guns]] (4 × 1)
* 4 × [[Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925{{convert37mminabbron}}]] light AA guns (2 × 2)
* 12 × [[Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun{{convert13.2mminabbron}}]] AA machine guns (4 × 3)
* 2 × {{convert550mminabbron0}} torpedo tubes (2 × 1)
* 8 × {{convert155mminabbron}}/50 guns in 4 double turrets (2 bow, 2 aft)
* 4 × {{convert75mminabbron0}} anti-aircraft guns (4 × 1)
* 6 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60{{convert40mminabbron}}]] anti-aircraft guns (6 × 1)
* 20 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon{{convert20mminabbron}}]] anti-aircraft guns (20 × 1)
armour* Magazine box: 20 mm
* Turrets and conning tower: {{convert30mminabbron}}
aircraft2 CAMS reconnaissance airplanes (removed in 1943 refit)
  • 32500 shp
  • 120 petty officers
  • 424 quarter-masters and sailors
  • 156 student officers
  • 8 × 155 mm/50 guns in 4 double turrets (2 bow, 2 aft)
  • 4 × 75 mm anti-aircraft guns (4 × 1)
  • 4 × 37 mm light AA guns (2 × 2)
  • 12 × 13.2 mm AA machine guns (4 × 3)
  • 2 × 550 mm torpedo tubes (2 × 1)
  • Refit 1943
  • 8 × 155 mm/50 guns in 4 double turrets (2 bow, 2 aft)
  • 4 × 75 mm anti-aircraft guns (4 × 1)
  • 6 × 40 mm anti-aircraft guns (6 × 1)
  • 20 × 20 mm anti-aircraft guns (20 × 1)
  • Turrets and conning tower: 30 mm

Jeanne d'Arc () was a training cruiser built for the Marine Nationale (French Navy) during the late 1920s. She was designed both as a school ship and a fully capable warship. She saw service through the Second World War, escaping to Halifax after the fall of France and eventually joining the Free French forces before the end of the war. Post war, the cruiser resumed her duties as a training ship, being retired in 1964.

Design and description

Jeanne d'Arc was designed specifically to serve as a cadet training ship. The ship had an overall length of 170 m, a beam of 17.5 m, and a draft of 5.7 m. She displaced 6496 LT at standard load and 8928 t at deep load. The hull was divided by 16 bulkheads into 17 watertight compartments. Her crew consisted of 482 and 156 officer cadets.

Service history

In 1931, Jeanne d'Arc departed for her first cruise under Capitaine de vaisseau André Marquis. As a prestige ship, she toured countries of South America where France wanted to increase her influence. The cruiser visited some of the Black Sea states in 1932.

A log of the ship and the nautical calculation notebook from 1937 can both be found at the "Mircea cel Batran" Naval Academy Museum in Constanța, Romania. During that time, the ship undertook a training voyage around the Earth, and the lieutenant kept a very rich log, illustrated with photographs.

During the Second World War, Jeanne d'Arc was assigned to the West Atlantic Naval Division, taking part in blockading German cargo ships in neutral harbours. In late May 1940, along with , she departed from Brest for Canada with a cargo of gold from the Bank of France, under the command of Rear Admiral Rouyer. After an Atlantic rendezvous with the aircraft carrier , the flotilla reached Halifax safely. Jeanne d'Arc then went to the French West Indies, where she remained in Martinique until July 1943.

In June 1943, Jeanne d'Arc joined the Free French, and left Fort-de-France for Puerto Rico in July. The United States refused to modernize the ship, so it continued on to Casablanca and arrived in Algiers on September 17, 1943. There the ship's anti-aircraft was modernized by the USS Vulcan (AR-5), with the 75mm guns and 13.2mm guns replaced by six 40mm L60 Bofors cannons and twenty 20mm L70 Oerlikons. Jeanne next took part in operations in Corsica and in Operation Dragoon, staying at Corsica until the summer of 1944 (and having two additional 20mm Oerlikons and four single barrel 40mm Bofors installed in May). In August 1944 she was stationed at Malta where an armored belt was installed.

The ship was appointed by Rear Admiral André Lemonnier to transport part of the Provisional Government to Normandy. She left from Algiers on 28 August, 1944 for Cherbourg, then returned to North Africa on 24 September, 1944. Jeanne was incorporated into Task Force 86 (later named Flank Force) from 25 October, 1944 until March of 1945, carrying out various objectives in Italy. The ship entered drydock in Toulon for maintenance, staying there until the war ended, after which she resumed service as a school cruiser, carrying out 27 cruises until being decommissioned in favor of her namesake, the French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc (R97), on 16 July, 1964.

References

Bibliography

References

  1. Whitley, p. 34
  2. Whitley, p. 35
  3. Jordan & Moulin, pp. 92–93
  4. Чонев, Чони. Корабите, том V, София 1997, с. 152 (Chonev, Choni. ''The ships,'' vol. 5, Sofia 1997, p. 152)
  5. "Museum".
  6. Fish, pp. 174–178
  7. https://naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/france/jeanne-darc.php
  8. https://naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/france/jeanne-darc.php
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This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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