Sister shipLe Hardi at anchor
History
France
Name	Le Corsaire
Namesake	Corsair
Ordered	24 May 1937
Builder	Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée,La Seyne-sur-Mer
Laid down	31 March 1937
Launched	14 November 1939
In service	1 July 1941
Renamed	Siroco, 1 April 1941
Captured	27 November 1942
Fate	Scuttled, 27 November 1942
General characteristics
Class & type	Le Hardi-classdestroyer
Displacement	1,800 t (1,772long tons) (standard ) 2,577 t (2,536 long tons) (deep load)
Length	117.2 m (384 ft 6 in) (o/a)
Beam	11.1 m (36 ft 5 in)
Draft	3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Installed power	4forced-circulation boilers 58,000 PS (42,659 kW; 57,207 shp)
Propulsion	2 × shafts 2 × gearedsteam turbines
Speed	37knots (69 km/h; 43 mph)
Range	3,100nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	187 officers and enlisted men
Armament	3 × twin130 mm (5.1 in) guns 1 × twin37 mm (1.5 in)AA guns 2 × twin13.2 mm (0.5 in)anti-aircraft machineguns 1 × triple + 2 × twin 550 mm (21.7 in)torpedo tubes 2 × chutes; 12 ×depth charges

Siroco was one of a dozenLe Hardi-classdestroyers built for theFrench Navy during the late 1930s under the nameLe Corsaire. Although she was still under construction during theBattle of France, the ship sailed toFrench Algeria to avoid capture by the Germans. She was renamedSiroco in early 1941 while still under construction and was completed later that year and immediately placed inreserve. The destroyer was one of theships scuttled to prevent their capture in November 1942 when theGermans occupied Vichy France.Siroco wassalvaged by theRegia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) and towed to Italy in 1943. Captured by the Germans after theItalian armistice in September, the ship wasscuttled by the Germans in late 1944 and laterscrapped.

TheLe Hardi class was designed to escort the fastbattleships of theDunkerque class and to counter the large destroyers of theItalianNavigatori andJapaneseFubuki classes.^[1] The ships had anoverall length of 117.2 meters (384 ft 6 in), abeam of 11.1 meters (36 ft 5 in),^[2] and adraft of 3.8 meters (12 ft 6 in). The ships displaced 1,800metric tons (1,772long tons) atstandard and 2,577 t (2,536 long tons) atdeep load. They were powered by two gearedsteam turbines, each driving onepropeller shaft, using steam provided by fourSural-Penhöetforced-circulation boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 58,000metric horsepower (42,659 kW; 57,207 shp), which was intended to give the ships a maximum speed of 37knots (69 km/h; 43 mph).Le Hardi, the only ship of the class to runsea trials, comfortably exceeded that speed during her trials on 6 November 1939, reaching a maximum speed of 39.1 knots (72.4 km/h; 45.0 mph) from 60,450 metric horsepower (44,461 kW; 59,623 shp). The ships carried 470 metric tons (463 long tons) offuel oil which gave them a range of 3,100nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The crew consisted of 10 officers and 177 enlisted men.^[3]

The main armament of theLe Hardi-class ships consisted of sixCanon de 130 mm (5.1 in) Modèle 1932 guns in three twin mounts, one forward and asuperfiring pair aft of thesuperstructure. Theiranti-aircraft (AA) armament consisted of one twin mount forCanon de 37 mm (1.5 in) Modèle 1925 guns on the aft superstructure and two twinHotchkissMitrailleuse de 13.2 mm (0.52 in) CA Modèle 1929 AAmachine gun mounts on the roof of the shell hoists for the forward 130 mm mount. The ships carried one triple and two twin sets of 550-millimeter (21.7 in)torpedo tubes; the aft mount couldtraverse to both sides, but the forward mounts were positioned one on eachbroadside. A pair of chutes were built into the stern that housed a dozen 200-kilogram (440 lb)depth charges.^[4]

Ordered on 24 May 1937,Le Corsaire was built byForges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée at theirshipyard inLa Seyne-sur-Mer. She waslaid down on 31 March 1938 andlaunched on 14 November 1939. The ship was 82% complete and without her guns whenthe French surrendered on 22 June. Nonetheless,Le Corsaire joined a convoy bound forOran,French Algeria, that day. After theBritish attacked French Navy ships in nearby Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July,Le Corsaire joined up with hersister shipCasque and they reachedToulon on 7 July.^[5]

On 1 April 1941,Le Corsaire was renamedSiroco to commemorate thedestroyer of that name that was sunk during theDunkirk evacuation in 1940 and entered service on 1 July, although she was placed in reserve. When the Germans occupied Vichy France on 27 November 1942,Sciroco was scuttled by her crew. The Italians refloated her on 16 April 1943 and redesignated her asFR32. The ship was towed toGenoa, Italy, on 10 June where she was captured by the Germans in September; she was scuttled there on 20 October 1944 as ablockship and later scrapped.^[6]

• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015).French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988).Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

• Le Hardi-class destroyers
• Naval ships of France captured by Italy during World War II
• 1939 ships
• World War II warships scuttled at Toulon
• Maritime incidents in November 1942

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Good articles
• Articles containing Italian-language text