The French destroyer Albatros was one of six Aigle-class destroyer (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy in the interwar period.
Albatros beached off Casablanca, 16 November 1942
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History | |
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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 (as built) | |
Class and type | Aigle-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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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 |
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Propulsion |
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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 |
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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 to prevent her from sinking. After World War II, she was repaired and returned to service.[1]