Lion (ship, 1929)

Lion

Identical bison (ca.1932)

Ship data flag  France Italy   other ship names FRI 21 Ship type Large Destroyer class Guépard class Shipyard Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk Keel laying August 6, 1928 Launch August 5, 1929 Commissioning January 21, 1931 Whereabouts Sunk September 9, 1943

Ship dimensions and crew length 130.2 m ( Lüa ) 123.1 m ( Lpp ) width 11.76 m Draft Max. 4.68 m displacement Standard : 2,436 ts maximum: 3,220 ts   crew 224-236 men

Machine system machine 4 × Penhoët boiler, 2 × Parsons turbine, 2 × shaft Machine performance 73,738 hp (54,234 kW) Top speed 38.46 kn (71 km / h) propeller 2

Armament 5 × Sk 13.86 cm L / 40 model 1923 (5 × 1) 4 × Flak 3.7 cm L / 60 model 1925 (4 × 1) 6 × torpedo tube ⌀ 55.0 cm (2 × 3) 28 depth charges , 4 launchers, 2 dropping racks

The Lion was a major destroyer of Guépard class , which for the French navy was built. On September 9, 1943, the Italian crew sank the Lion in La Spezia itself.

Machine system

The Lion's propulsion system consisted of four Penhoët boilers and two Parsons turbines . These drove the two screws via two drive shafts. The machines made 73,738 WPS . This enabled a maximum speed of 38.46 kn (about 71 km / h) to be achieved with a displacement of 2,600 ts.

Armament

The main artillery of the Lion consisted of five 13.86 cm L / 40 cannons of the 1923 model in individual installation. This cannon could fire a 40.4 kilogram grenade over a maximum distance of 19,000 m. As anti-aircraft armament, the destroyer had four 3.7 cm anti-aircraft guns (L / 60) of the 1925 model in stand-alone installation when it was commissioned. These were located to the left and right of the aft chimney. As a torpedo armament, the Lion had six torpedo tubes in two groups of three for the torpedo 23DT, Toulon.

Operations in the other navy and whereabouts

After the defeat of France, the Lion remained in the service of the navy of the Vichy regime . During the occupation of the rest of France by the Third Reich, the crew sank the ship on November 27, 1942 in Toulon. Italy lifted the ship in 1943 and put it back into service as FR 21 in the Regia Marina . After Italy surrendered, the Italian crew sank the FR 21 on September 9, 1943 in the port of La Spezia . The wreck was demolished there.

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 : Guépard class  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information about the Lion at uboat.net (English).

Footnotes

1. ↑ 138.6 mm / 40 (5.46 ") Model 1923 gun data from navweaps.com. Accessed October 22, 2019. (English)
2. ↑ 23 DT, Toulon torpedo data on navweaps.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.