Maillé Brézé (ship, 1931)

Maillé Brézé

Identical Vauquelin

Ship data flag  France Ship type Large Destroyer class Vauquelin- class Shipyard Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire Keel laying October 9, 1930 Launch November 9, 1931 Commissioning April 6, 1933 Whereabouts Sunk on April 30, 1940 after an accident

Ship dimensions and crew length 129.3 m ( Lüa ) width 11.8 m Draft Max. 4.97 m displacement Standard : 2,441 ts maximum: 3,120 ts   crew 236 men

Machine system machine 4 × Penhoët boiler, 2 × Parsons turbine Machine performance 64,000 PS (47,072 kW) Top speed 36 kn (67 km / h) propeller 2

Armament 5 × Sk 13.86 cm L / 40 model 1927 (5 × 1) 4 × Flak 3.7 cm L / 60 model 1925 (4 × 1) 4 × MG 13.2 mm / 76 Hotchkiss M1929 (2 × 2) 7 × torpedo tube ⌀ 55.0 cm (2 × 2), (1 × 3) 36 depth charges , 2 launchers, 2 dropping racks 40 sea ​​mines

The Maillé Brézé (named after Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé ) was a large destroyer ( French Contre-Torpilleurs) of the Vauquelin class of the French Navy . On April 30, 1940 there was an accident in the port with its own torpedoes, which severely damaged the ship and it sank in the port.

Machine system

The drive system of the Maillé Brézé consisted of four Penhoët boilers and two Parsons turbines . These drove the two screws via two drive shafts. The machines performed 64,000 WPS . This enabled a speed of 36 kn (about 67 km / h) to be achieved.

Armament

The main artillery of the Maillé Brézé consisted of five 13.86 cm L / 40 guns of the 1927 model in a stand-alone configuration. This cannon could fire a 40.4 kilogram grenade over a maximum distance of 19,000 m. As anti-aircraft armament, the Maillé Brézé had four 3.7 cm anti-aircraft guns (L / 60) of the 1925 model in single installation and four machine guns 13.2 mm / 76 Hotchkiss M1929 in double installation. As torpedo armament, the destroyers had seven torpedo tubes in a group of three and two groups of two for the torpedo 23DT Toulon . For submarine hunting , the Maillé Brézé had two depth charges at the stern with a total of 36 depth charges and it was possible to take up to 40 sea mines.

Accident on April 30, 1940

The Burning Maillé Brézé (April 30, 1940)

On April 30, 1940 at 2:15 p.m. the Maillé Brézé was in the port of Greenock in Scotland . For an unexplained cause, two of its own torpedoes exploded on the port side of the ship. These explosions caused severe structural damage and a major fire on board. The fire hit the front oil tanks and the front ammunition magazine, which, however, did not explode. At 3:15 p.m. the crew left the ship, which was still burning, with the exception of a number of sailors who were stranded in the ship's mess. Around 4:30 p.m., part of the crew returned on board to flood the rear magazines. It was only around 7:30 p.m. that the Greenock fire department had the fire under control. At this point the Maillé Brézé was already so deep in the water that it could no longer be prevented from sinking completely. The ship sank without the trapped crew could be rescued. A total of 27 seafarers were killed in the accident and 47 were injured, some seriously. Since the ship was off the fairway, it was not lifted for the time being.

Whereabouts of the wreck

1953 instructed the Ministry of Transport (Eng. Ministry of Transport) the Board of Admiralty to investigate the salvage of the wreck. The reason was the danger of leaking oil and the unclear situation about remaining ammunition on board. After a large part of the superstructure had been removed, it was possible to float the mud-filled ship on the night of August 3rd to 4th, 1954. The oil bunkers on the nearby beach were then emptied, over 41 tons of ammunition recovered and another 508 tons of other material removed from the wreck. On August 15, the rest of the Maillé Brézé was towed to Port Glasgow and demolished there.

Memorials

"Free French Memorial" on Lyle Hill in Greenock

In Greenock on Lyle Hill , the "Free French Memorial" was erected in memory of the deceased French. This is a peculiarity because at the time of the accident France had not yet surrendered. The Maillé Brézé drove at this time under the banner of regular French Navy. There is also a memorial at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey , England . There is a simple white cross on a marble slab. Thereupon the misfortune is described in short words and all dead and injured are named.

literature

• Roger Chesneau: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 . Conway Maritime Press, Greenwich 1980, ISBN 0-85177-146-7 .
• Vincent P. O'Hara: Struggle for the Middle Sea . Institute Press, New York 2013. ISBN 9781612514086 .
• 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 : Vauquelin class  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Information about the Maillé Brézé at uboat.net (English).

Footnotes

1. ↑ 138.6 mm / 40 (5.46 ") Model 1927 gun data from navweaps.com. Accessed October 22, 2019. (English)
2. ↑ 23 DT, Toulon torpedo data on navweaps.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
3. ↑ Free French Navy in Inverclyde Article in the archives of BBC Scotland. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
4. ↑ Meille Breze Memorial picture with description on wyrdlight.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.