 Sister shipLe Hardi at anchor | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Mameluk |
| Namesake | Mameluk |
| Ordered | 4 May 1936 |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire,Nantes |
| Laid down | 1 January 1937 |
| Launched | 18 February 1939 |
| In service | 17 June 1940 |
| Captured | 27 November 1942 |
| Fate | Scuttled, 27 November 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Le Hardi-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | |
| 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 |
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| Propulsion |
|
| 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 |
|
Mameluk was one of a dozenLe Hardi-classdestroyers built for theFrench Navy during the late 1930s. The ship was completed during theBattle of France in mid-1940 and her first mission was to help escort an incompletebattleship toFrench Morocco only days before the French signed an armistice with theGermans in June. She then helped to escort one of the battleships damaged by the British during their Julyattack on Mers-el-Kébir,French Algeria, back to France in November.Mameluk returned to Morocco in early 1941 forconvoy-escort duties and then was transferred back to France in late 1941.
When theGermans occupied Vichy France after theAllies landed in French North Africa in November 1942 and tried to seize the French fleet intact, the destroyer was one of theships scuttled to prevent their capture. TheRegia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) unsuccessfully attempted tosalvage her in 1943. The ship was refloated in 1947 and subsequentlyscrapped.
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 twinHotchkiss 13.2 mm (0.5 in) 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]
By April 1941Mameluk had received a pair of single mounts forBrowning 13.2-millimeter AA machine guns on thequarterdeck. Later that year or in early 1942 the Brownings were repositioned on platforms on the sides of the superfiring turret aft, the twin Hotchkiss machine guns were transferred to the quarterdeck, and a pair of single mounts for25 mm (1 in) Hotchkiss AA guns were installed in the former location of the Hotchkiss guns in front of thebridge.[5]
Ordered on 4 May 1936,Mameluk waslaid down byAteliers et Chantiers de la Loire at theirshipyard inNantes on 1 January 1937. She waslaunched on 18 February 1939 and entered service on 17 June 1940. Two days later the ship, together with her sistersLe Hardi andÉpée, helped to escort the incomplete battleshipJean Bart fromSaint-Nazaire toCasablanca,French Morocco, where they arrived three days later. The following months saw five of theLe Hardi-class ships ordered to Oran to escort the battleshipProvence;Mameluk arrived there on 5 November. Departing that day, they arrived at Toulon three days later after which she was placed in reserve.[6]
The ship was transferred to Morocco for convoy escort duties on 8 May 1941 and returned to Toulon on 23 October. On 1 November the 10th DT (division de torpilleurs), consisting ofMameluk,L'Adroit (the renamedÉpée) andLe Hardi, was assigned to theForces de haute mer (High Seas Forces). When the Germans attempted to capture the French ships in Toulon on 27 November 1942,Mameluk was scuttled by her crew. The Italians attempted to salvage her, but the ship was damaged by a bomb during the Allied bombing raid on 4 February 1944; sunk on 6 August 1944 by theUSAAF 47th Bomb Wing.[7] She was finally refloated in 1947 and scrapped.[8]
 French Navy | |
|---|---|
 Kriegsmarine | |
 Regia Marina | |
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