 An unknownL'Adroit-class destroyer off Toulon,c. late 1930s | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Fougueux |
| Ordered | 3 May 1927 |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne Nantes |
| Laid down | 21 September 1927 |
| Launched | 4 August 1928 |
| Completed | 15 June 1930 |
| Fate | Sunk byUSS Massachusetts during theNaval Battle of Casablanca |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | L'Adroit-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,380 t (1,360long tons) (standard) |
| Length | 107.2 m (351 ft 8 in) |
| Beam | 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Range | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Crew | 9 officers, 153 crewmen (wartime) |
| Armament |
|
TheFrench destroyerFougueux was one of 14L'Adroit-classdestroyers built for theFrench Navy during the 1920s. Completed in 1930, the ship was initially assigned to the 1st Squadron (1e Escadre) in theMediterranean. Five years later she was transferred to the 2nd Squadron (2e Escadre) in the Atlantic. During theSpanish Civil War of 1936–1939,Fougueux was one of the ships that helped to enforce thenon-intervention agreement.
When France declared war on Germany in September 1939, the ship spent most of the next year escortingconvoys. She bombarded German troopsin the Netherlands and providednaval gunfire support to French troops during theBattle of France in May 1940.Fougueux helped to escort an incomplete battleship away fromMetropolitan France to prevent its capture by the Germans the following month. The ship took refuge inCasablanca,French Morocco before theArmistice with Germany later in June. She spent most of the next two years on escort duties betweenFrench North Africa and Metropolitan France.Fougueux was sunk during theNaval Battle of Casablanca in November 1942 as theAllies invaded French North Africa duringOperation Torch.
TheL'Adroit class was a slightly enlarged and improved version of the precedingBourrasque class. The ships had anoverall length of 107.2 meters (351 ft 8 in), abeam of 9.9 meters (32 ft 6 in), and adraft of 3.5 meters (11 ft 6 in). The ships displaced 1,380metric tons (1,360long tons) at standard load and 2,000 metric tons (2,000 long tons) atdeep load.Fougueux was powered by twoZoelly-Schneider gearedsteam turbines, each driving onepropeller shaft using steam provided by threedu Temple boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 31,000metric horsepower (22,800 kW; 30,576 shp), which would propel the ships at 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). The ships carried 386 metric tons (380 long tons) offuel oil which gave them a range of 3,000nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The crew numbered 8 officers and 134 crewmen in peacetime and 9 officers and 153 crewmen during wartime.[1]
The main armament of theL'Adroit-class ships consisted of fourCanon de 130 mm (5.1 in) mm Modèle 1924 guns in single mounts, onesuperfiring pair each fore and aft of thesuperstructure. Theiranti-aircraft armament consisted of a pair ofCanon de 37 mm (1.5 in) mm Modèle 1925 guns, one mount on eachbroadside abreast the rear superstructure. For defense againststrafing aircraft the ships were equipped with a pair of mounts for two or four 8-millimeter (0.315 in)Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine guns abreast thebridge. The ships carried two above-water triple sets of 550-millimeter (21.7 in)torpedo tubes. A pair ofdepth charge chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of sixteen 200-kilogram (440 lb) depth charges. In addition twoThornycroft depth-charge throwers were fitted at the end of theforecastle for which six 100-kilogram (220 lb) depth charges were carried.[2]
The French Navy decided to convert some of theL'Adroit-class ships to fastfleet minesweepers to clear the path of the main battlefleet in 1933 and twoparavanes were installed aboardFougueux in 1934. A high-angle 1-meter (39 in)stereoscopic rangefinder for theanti-aircraft (AA) guns was added on the rear superstructure sometime after October 1933. The original 3-meter (9 ft 10 in)coincidence rangefinder for themain battery was replaced by a 5-meter (16 ft 5 in) model in April 1937. It was enclosed in a lightweight turret before September 1939.[3]
The Navy belatedly began to realize the value of underwater detection systems foranti-submarine warfare in the late 1930s. The Multispothydrophone system was installed in all the ships of the class by the end of February 1939. A French-builtsonar system designated SS1 was installed in three of theL'Adroits that year and the Navy ordered 16 Type 123 ASDIC systems on 10 May 1939 from the British with a follow-on order for 25 more Type 123s and 25 of the more advanced Type 128s in October. Deliveries did not begin until August and only two systems per month were received;Fougueux received her Type 123 installation inLorient in March 1940.[4]
Beginning in March 1939 twin-gun mounts for the 13.2-millimeter (0.52 in)Hotchkiss Modèle 1929 machine gun began to replace the mounts for the 8 mm weapons. To compensate for the weight high in the ship of all these changes, initially one torpedo, but later two were removed from theL'Adroits. While under repair in June 1940,Fougueux had a single 25-millimeter (1 in)Hotchkiss Modèle 1939 AA gun installed on the rear superstructure and themainmast was removed to clear the weapon's firing arc and reduce top weight. After the French armistice with Germany, the paravanes were removed and the two depth charge throwers were repositioned to the stern and another pair was added. The number of depth charges was increased to fifteen 200 kg weapons and thirty-two 100 kg weapons. The ship also received two single mounts for 13.2 mmBrowning machine guns on the stern and the Hotchkiss 13.2 mm guns were provided withgun shields.[5]
Fougueux was ordered on 3 May 1927 as part of the 1926 Naval Program[6] andlaid down on 21 September byAteliers et Chantiers de Bretagne at itsshipyard inNantes. The ship waslaunched on 4 August 1928 and completed on 15 June 1930.[7] She was based atToulon and assigned to the 11th Torpedo Division (11e Division de torpilleurs) of the Torpedo Flotilla (Flotille de torpilleurs) of the 1st Squadron as of 1 October.Fougueux was transferred to the 2nd Squadron based atBrest on 27 July 1935 and assigned to the newly formed 2nd Torpedo Division on 1 October. The ship was detached to French Morocco in late 1935.Albert Lebrun,President of France, inaugurated the new building of the Naval Academy (École Navale) in Brest and reviewed the 2nd Squadron on 30 May 1936, includingFougueux and five of hersister ships. The 2nd Squadron was renamed as the Atlantic Squadron on 15 August and the ship remained assigned to the 2nd Torpedo Division.Fougueux and her sisterFrondeur were enforcing the non-intervention agreement during the Spanish Civil War on 9 August 1938 when they were attacked by fourbombers of theSpanish Republican Air Force, but the bombs fell wide of the ships.[8]
Fougueux and most of the other destroyers were assigned convoy escort missions when the war began in September 1939. Most of them were uneventful, but the ship dropped depth charges on a periscope sighting without result on 14 January 1940. She made an unsuccessful attack on theGerman submarine U-44 after the submarine had sunk thefreighterSS Alsacien on 24 January. On 29 March 1940, the ship's ASDIC set detected a submarine andFougueux attacked the contact with depth charges, but it was almost certainly a sunken wreck.[9]Fougueux and three other destroyers bombarded German troops aroundWalcheren andZuid-Beveland in theNetherlands on 16–17 May. The ship supported French troops defendingBoulogne-sur-Mer against German troops as they approached the port on 23–24 May.[10] She was hit by a bomb on the morning of 24 May and had to withdraw toCherbourg for repairs.Fougueux andFrondeur escorted the incompletebattleshipRichelieu from Brest to Casablanca, French Morocco, from 18 to 20 June.[11]
The ship was still in Casablanca whenArmistice with Germany went into effect on 25 June. Convoys between Casablanca andMetropolitan France began in August andFougueux was one of the ships tasked with escorting them. After the British attack on Dakar in September,Fougueux andFrondeur, together with the destroyersÉpée andFleuret were ordered to attack British shipping in theStrait of Gibraltar in retaliation as theVichy French government began a policy of limited cooperation with theAxis powers. They encountered only an unidentified British destroyer and all ofÉpée's guns malfunctioned after firing a total of only 14rounds whileFleuret'sfire-control director broke down entirely. The ships continued onward toOran,French Algeria.Fougueux was refitted inAlgiers, French Algeria, from 23 November to 18 March 1941. On 8 AprilFougueux responded to a distress call broadcast by thebanana boatSS Fort de France as she was being boarded by sailors from the Britisharmed merchant cruiserHMS Bulolo.Fort de France was retaken four days later.[12][13] On 6 February 1942,Fougueux was transferred to Oran, and then helped to escort the damaged battleshipDunkerque fromMers el-Kebir, French Algeria, to Toulon on 19–20 February.[14] The destroyer returned to Oran afterward and began a major refit there. Still assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Division, the destroyers at Casablanca were placed under the newly formed 2nd Light Squadron (2e escadre légère) on 18 April.Fougueux arrived back at Casablanca on 21 August.[15]
As Operation Torch began before dawn on 8 November, the Americans launched anamphibious landing east ofFedala, French Morocco. The 2nd Light Squadron was ordered to raise steam and attack the enemy off Fedala at 0630. Visibility was poor as the early morning haze blanketed the area and it decreased over the course of the day as smoke from burning oil storage tanks andsmoke screens laid by French ships worsened. The squadron had exited the harbor by 0815 and was steaming for Fedala at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).Fougueux andFrondeur were in the rear of the formation.Rear AdmiralGervais de Lafond was commanding the squadron and he ordered it to reverse course around 0840, upon spotting theheavy cruiserAugusta, and hoping to lure it within range of the immobile battleshipJean Bart andcoast-defense guns.Fougueux missed the signal and continued to leadFrondeur towards Fedala.Augusta opened fire atFougueux at a range of 19,000 yards (17,000 m) at 0843. Around 0848 the destroyer was strafed byGrumman F4F Wildcatfighters, killing one of thenavigators, thehelmsman and severalsignalmen. One shell fromAugusta near missed the ship at 0850, its splinters causing minor flooding damage.Commander Louis Sticca,Fougueux'scaptain, realized that his division was alone and he reversed course at 0852, not realizing that his ships were the furthest west and closest to the American ships.[16]
Task Group 34.1, consisting of the battleshipMassachusetts and her consorts, the heavy cruisersTuscaloosa andWichita, had finally been alerted to the Frenchsortie and were rapidly approaching the 2nd Destroyer Division by 0900. The battleship spotted the French destroyers at 0916 and opened fire at a range of 19,400 yards (17,700 m). The French replied two minutes later, but neither side scored any hits before the American ships reversed course at 0935. Five minutes later a shell struckFougueux'sbow, crushing it up to thequarterdeck and setting the ship on fire. The ship had fired only 120 main-gun rounds thus far. Heavy flooding prompted Sticca to quickly order his crew to abandon ship.Frondeur attempted to go to her sister's aid, but she was hit by an 8-inch (203 mm) shell fromTuscaloosa at 0946. Informed thatFougueux did not need assistance,Frondeur sheered off and steamed to rendezvous with the ships of the 5th Destroyer Division.[17]
Fougueux blew up and sank at 1000;[18] a total of 14 men had been killed.[19] TheavisoLa Grandière exited the harbor at 1006 and attempted to rescueFougueux's survivors, but she was engaged byTuscaloosa as soon as she was spotted by the American heavy cruiser. ThesloopLa Gracieuse managed to do so around 1200.La Grandière made another attempt around 1330, but exchanged shots withAugusta around that time.[20]
