Lynx (ship, 1925)

Lynx

The large destroyers Bison (left) and Lynx at anchor in Brest

Ship data flag  France Ship type Large Destroyer class Chacal class Shipyard At & Ch de St Nazaire Panhoet, Saint-Nazaire Keel laying January 14, 1923 Launch February 24, 1925 Commissioning October 10, 1927 Whereabouts Sunk on November 27, 1942

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 × MG 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 Lynx (German: Luchs ) was a large destroyer of the Chacal class for the French Navy . On November 27, 1942, the crew sank the Lynx in Toulon itself.

Machine system

The Lynx propulsion system 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 Lynx consisted of five artillery pieces 13.0 cm L / 40 Model 1919 in single installation. This cannon could fire a 34.85 kilogram shell over a maximum distance of 18,900 m.

As anti-aircraft armament, the Lynx 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.

As a torpedo armament, the Lynx 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

Map of the sunken ships in Toulon in 1942

On June 3, 1940, during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir as part of Operation Torch , the Lynx was in the port of Mers-el-Kébir. She escaped to Toulon undamaged . There she was transferred to the reserve because of her age. When the Vichy fleet sank on November 27, 1942, the ship sank in the port of Toulon. In 1944 the wreck was lifted and put on the beach in the adjacent port of Brégaillon. The wreck was demolished there in 1948.

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 class  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

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

Footnotes

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.