The Aigle-class destroyers () were built for the French Navy during the 1930s.
Design and description The Aigle-class ships were improved versions of the preceding . They had an overall length of , a beam of ,Jordan & Moulin, p. 112 and a draft of . The ships displaced at standard loadRoberts, p. 268 and at deep load. They had a metacentric height of and their hull was divided by a dozen transverse bulkheads into 13 watertight compartments. Their crew consisted of 10 officers and 198 crewmen in peacetime and 10 officers and 217 enlisted men in wartime.Jordan & Moulin, pp. 94–97
The ships were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four du Temple boilers that operated at a pressure of and a temperature of . The turbines were designed to produce which was intended give the ships a speed of . They comfortably exceeded their designed speed; the fastest of the ships, , reached a speed of from during her sea trials. The Aigles carried of fuel oil which gave them a range of at .Jordan & Moulin, pp. 112, 116–117
The main battery of the Aigle class consisted of five Modèle 1927 guns in single shielded mounts, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure and the fifth gun abaft the rear funnel. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of four Modèle 1927 guns in single mounts positioned amidships. In addition Gerfaut and were initially fitted with a M1897-15 gun forward of the rear pair of funnels, but this was removed by the end of 1932. All the ships carried two rotating triple mounts for torpedo tubes, one mount between the two pairs of funnels as well as another aft of the rear funnel. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of sixteen depth charges, with eight more in reserve. They were also fitted with four depth-charge throwers, two on each broadside abreast the forward pair of funnels, for which the ships carried a dozen depth charges.Jordan & Moulin, pp. 94, 97–101
Ships
Aigle (Eagle; pennant numbers 5, 6 and X13) Built by Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk Launched 19 February 1931 Completed 10 October 1932 Scuttled 27 November 1942 Refloated 10 July 1943. Bombed and sunk 24 November 1943 Broken up in situ 1952. Vautour (Vulture; pennant numbers 6, 5, 73, X71) Built by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne Launched 26 August 1930 Completed 2 May 1932 Scuttled 27 November 1942 Refloated 17 January 1943 Bombed and sunk 4 February 1944 Broken up in situ 1951 Albatros (3, 2, 5, 72, X73, X77, F762, D614) built by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes Launched 27 June 1930 Completed 25 December 1931 Decommissioned 9 September 1959 Gerfaut (Gyrfalcon - 4, 71, X72) Built by Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne, Nantes Launched 14 June 1930 Completed 30 January 1932 Scuttled 27 November 1942 Refloated 1 June 1943. Partly scrapped June–September 1943 Hulk bombed and sunk 7 March 1944 Broken up in situ 1948 Milan (Kite - 1, 4, X113, X111) Built by Arsenal de Lorient Launched 13 October 1931 Completed 20 April 1934 - On 8 November 1942, off Casablanca, she was hit by shells from the US fleet and had to be beached. Épervier (Sparrowhawk - 2, 5, X112) Built by Arsenal de Lorient, Launched 14 August 1931 Completed 1 April 1934 - On 9 November 1942 she was sunk by off Oran. She was raised, and eventually broken up in 1946.
Service history Three of the ships (Albatros, Épervier and Milan) were stationed in Morocco as part of the Vichy French navy, and engaged Allied forces in the battle of Casablanca during Operation Torch. Along with the unfinished battleship , they engaged the Allied 'Covering Group', a taskforce based on the battleship . Milan and Épervier both ran aground after being damaged in the battle; Albatros was damaged but, after her capture, was repaired after the war and used as a gunnery training vessel. Aigle was scuttled at Toulon, France, on 27 November 1942. She was later refloated and sunk a second time by United States Army Air Forces bombers on 24 November 1943. Later she was salvaged and scrapped. Vautour and Gerfaut were also scuttled at Toulon, but Vautour was raised again and sunk during an air raid on 4 February 1944.
Citations
References
External links
Aigle-class at uboat.net