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French cruiser Marseillaise (1935)
France light cruiser
France light cruiser
| Field | Value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| section1 | {{Infobox ship/image | |||||
| image | Croiseur Marseillaise.jpg | |||||
| section2 | {{Infobox ship/career | |||||
| country | France | |||||
| flag | ||||||
| name | Marseillaise | |||||
| namesake | La Marseillaise | |||||
| builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes | |||||
| laid_down | 23 October 1933 | |||||
| launched | 17 July 1935 | |||||
| commissioned | 10 October 1937 | |||||
| fate | Scuttled 1942, Scrapped 1946-1947 | |||||
| section3 | {{Infobox ship/characteristics | |||||
| class | ||||||
| displacement | *7,600 tons (standard) | |||||
| length | 179 m | |||||
| beam | 17.5 m | |||||
| draught | 5.35 m | |||||
| propulsion | *2-shaft Parsons single reduction geared turbines | |||||
| *{{convert | 84,000 | shp | kW | abbr | on}} | |
| speed | 31 kn | |||||
| range | *7,000 nmi at 12 kn | |||||
| complement | 540 | |||||
| armament | *9 × 152 mm/55 guns (3 × 3) | |||||
| *8 × [[Canon de 90 mm Modèle 1926 | {{convert | 90 | mm | in | abbr | on}} AA]] (4 × 2) |
| *8 × [[Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925 | {{convert | 37 | mm | abbr | on}} light AA]] (4 × 2) | |
| *12 × [[Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun | {{convert | 13.2 | mm | abbr | on}} light AA]] (4 × 3) | |
| *4 × {{convert | 550 | mm | in | abbr | on}} torpedo tubes (2 × 2) | |
| armour | *Main belt: 105 mm | |||||
| *End bulkheads: {{convert | 30 | mm | in | abbr | on}} | |
| *Sides: {{convert | 120 | mm | in | abbr | on}} | |
| *Deck: {{convert | 38 | mm | in | abbr | on}} | |
| *Turrets: {{convert | 100 | mm | in | abbr | on}} | |
| *Conning tower: {{convert | 95 | mm | in | abbr | on}} | |
| aircraft | *up to 4 GL-832, later 2 Loire 130 flying boats |
- 9120 tons (full load)
- 4 Indret boilers
- 84,000 shp
- 6,800 at 14 knots
- 5,500 at 18 knots
- 1,650 at 34 knots
- 8 × 90 mm AA (4 × 2)
- 8 × 37 mm light AA (4 × 2)
- 12 × 13.2 mm light AA (4 × 3)
- 4 × 550 mm torpedo tubes (2 × 2)
- End bulkheads: 30 mm
- Sides: 120 mm
- Deck: 38 mm
- Turrets: 100 mm
- Conning tower: 95 mm
- 1 catapult
Marseillaise was a French light cruiser of the . During the Second World War, she remained with Vichy France.
Design and description
The La Galissonnière class was designed as an enlarged and improved version of the preceding . The ships had an overall length of 179.5 m, a beam of 17.48 m, and a draft of 5.28 m. They displaced 7600 LT at standard load and 9460 t at deep load. Their crew consisted of 557 men in peacetime and 612 in wartime.
Construction and career
When commissioned, Marseillaise joined the French Mediterranean Squadron and became the flagship of Contre-Amiral Decoux in 1938. In January 1939 she joined the 3rd Cruiser Division at Casablanca, and she was at Toulon when war was declared, as flagship of the 4th Squadron, part of Force Z.
Marseillaise participated in the transport of gold to Canada in April 1940.
Concerns regarding Italian intentions prompted reorganisation of French naval forces. The 3rd Cruiser Division was sent to Bizerte as part of the Force de Raid, to protect French interests in North Africa, should Italy enter the war.
After the French surrender, on 4 July 1940, she returned to Toulon. As a result of the British attack on Mers-el-Kebir, the Germans suspended the disarming of the French fleet and Marseillaise became part of the newly formed High Seas force.
In the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon, the ship was sabotaged by her crew and set on fire. The captain of Marseillaise was anxious that the Germans should not capture the ship. He ordered scuttling charges to be set and the sea valves opened only on one side, ignoring orders to sink his ship on an even keel. German commandos arrived at the gangplank but were refused permission to go aboard. They did not force the issue and stood on the dock and watched the ship slowly capsize. The last officers abandoned ship as explosions ripped the vessel apart and fires took hold. The ship's officers were taken prisoner, and the ship burned for seven days.
The burnt-out hulk of Marseillaise was scrapped in 1946–1947.
Citations
Bibliography
References
- Jordan & Moulin, p. 124
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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