Chacal (ship, 1924)

**Chacal**
	The Chacal during a turning maneuver
Ship data
flag	France
Ship type	Large Destroyer
class	Chacal class
Shipyard	At & Ch de St Nazaire Panhoet, Saint-Nazaire
Keel laying	August 16, 1923
Launch	September 24, 1924
Commissioning	June 12, 1926
Whereabouts	Wrecked by German planes and artillery on May 24, 1940 off Boulogne-sur-Mer and declared a total loss
Ship dimensions and crew
length	127 m ( Lüa )
width	11.2 m
Draft	Max. 3.65 m
displacement	Standard : 2,126 ts; maximum: 3,098 ts
crew	204 men
Machine system
machine	5 steam boilers; 2 × steam turbines
Machine ; performance	55,000 PS (40,452 kW)
Top ; speed	35.5 kn (66 km / h)
propeller	2
Armament
	5 × Sk 13.0 cm L / 40 Model 1919 (5 × 1); 2 × Flak 7.5 cm Model 1924 (2 × 1); 4 × 13.2 mm / 76 Hotchkiss M1929 (2 × 2); 6 × torpedo tube ⌀ 55.0 cm (2 × 3); 44 depth charges , ; 6 launchers, 3 drop racks;

The Chacal (German: Jackal ) was a major destroyer of the Chacal class for the French Navy . Although the ship was neither launched nor put into service for the first time, she is considered the type ship of her class. The Chacal was wrecked on May 24, 1940 off Boulogne-sur-Mer by German Heinkel He 111 bombers and artillery and declared a total loss.

Machine system

The drive system of the Chacal consisted of five steam boilers and two steam turbines . These drove the two screws via two drive shafts. The machines performed 55,000 WPS . This enabled a speed of 35.5 kn (about 66 km / h) to be achieved.

Armament

The main artillery of the Chacal consisted of five cannons 13.0 cm L / 40 Model 1919 in single installation. This cannon could fire a 34.85 kilogram grenade over a maximum distance of 18,900 m.

As anti-aircraft armament, the Chacal had four 7.5 cm anti-aircraft guns of the 1924 model in individual installation when it was commissioned. These were located on the left and right amidships. Since the Chacal class top-heavy was, in 1932, both guns were against machine guns of the type mm 13.2 / 76 Hotchkiss M1929 replaced. These were mounted in two twin mounts. For 1939 it was planned to expand the flak with 3.7 cm L / 60 model 1925 guns. This conversion was no longer implemented on the Chacal .

As a torpedo armament, the Chacal had six torpedo tubes in two groups of three for the torpedo Mle 1919D. In addition, the ship had two water bombers at the tail for 20 Guiraud-Mle-1922-200 kg depth charges and amidships left and right two each depth charge launchers for 12-Guiraud Mle-1922-100 kg depth charges. The launchers on the left and right were removed in 1932 due to their unfavorable positioning. The space was supposed to be used for Ginocchio towed torpedoes. The project was discontinued in 1938.

Whereabouts

Cenotaph for the seamen who died in the Battle of Boulogne-sur-Mer

On May 22, 1940, the Chacal was again subject to the 2nd Great Destroyer Division (French 2ème division de contre-torpeilleurs) (DCT). It was used to bring demolition squads to French ports in order not to let the advancing Wehrmacht fall into the hands of intact facilities. Together with her sister ship Léopard and eight smaller destroyers, the Chacal intervened with her artillery in the ground fighting near Boulogne-sur-Mer. German Heinkel He 111 bombers and artillery damaged the ship so badly that it threatened to sink and ran aground on the beach between Ambleteuse and Wimereux . The commander of the Chacal , Capitaine De Fregate Jean Emile Noel Estienne, was seriously wounded. The wreck was declared a total loss and was not lifted by the Germans either. It is still at position 50 ° 47 ′ 58 ″ N , 1 ° 35 ′ 44 ″ E just two meters below the surface . 50.799444444444 1.5955555555556

literature

Jean Moulin: Les contre-torpilleurs type Guépard 1928–1942 . Marines Éditions 2010, ISBN 2-357-43049-4 .
Mike J. Whitley: Destroyer in World War II. Technology, classes, types . Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-613-01426-2 .
John Jordan, Jean Moulin: French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956 . Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4 .

Web links

Commons : Chacal - collection of images, videos and audio files

Information about the Chacal at uboat.net (English).

Footnotes

↑ 130 mm / 40 (5.1 ") Model 1919 gun data on navweaps.com. Accessed October 22, 2019. (English)
↑ French torpedoes torpedo data on navweaps.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.

[1] 130 mm / 40 (5.1 ") Model 1919 gun data on navweaps.com. Accessed October 22, 2019. (English)

[2] French torpedoes torpedo data on navweaps.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.