Volta (ship, 1936)

Volta

Great Destroyer Volta (X 62)

Ship data flag  France Vichy France   other ship names X 62 Ship type Large Destroyer class Mogador- class Shipyard Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne, Nantes Keel laying December 24, 1934 Launch November 26, 1936 Commissioning March 6, 1939 Whereabouts Sunk November 27, 1942

Ship dimensions and crew length 137.5 m ( Lüa ) width 12.57 m Draft Max. 4.74 m displacement Standard : 2,950 ts maximum: 3,220 ts   crew 226-238 men

Machine system machine 4 × Indret boiler 2 × geared turbine Rateau-Bretagne SR Machine performance 92,000 PS (67,666 kW) Top speed 39 kn (72 km / h) propeller 2

Armament 8 × Sk 13.8 cm L / 50 model 1934 (4 × 2) 2 × Flak 3.7 cm L / 60 model 1925 (2 × 1) 4 × Flak 13.2 mm model 1929 (2 × 2) 10 × torpedo tube ⌀ 55.0 cm (2 × 3) 32 depth charges , 2 launchers, 2 drop racks 40 sea ​​mines

The Volta was a Mogador- class destroyer of the French Navy . On November 27, 1942, the crew sank the Volta in the port of Toulon itself. It was named after the River Volta in West Africa .

Armament

The main artillery of the Volta consisted of eight 13.8 cm L / 50 cannons of the 1934 model in twin turrets. This cannon could fire five to nine rounds per minute. As anti-aircraft armament, the destroyer had two 3.7-cm anti-aircraft guns of the 1933 model in stand-alone installation and four 13-mm anti-aircraft guns as twin guns. As torpedo armament, the Volta had eight torpedo tubes (two groups of three and two groups of two) for the 23DT “Toulon” torpedo. For anti-submarine defense, the ship had two depth charges at the stern with a total of 32 depth charges. There were also rails for 40 mines at the stern.

Missions in World War II and whereabouts

On July 3, 1940, the Volta was in Mers-el-Kébir when the French ships were attacked in the port by the British Royal Navy . The Volta fired 88 times at British destroyers and escaped to Toulon with the battleship Strasbourg and other destroyers.

By November 1941, the air defense in Toulon was reinforced. Then a newer sonar device should be installed. This conversion was not yet complete when the Vichy fleet scuttled on November 27, 1942 . The ship was lifted by Italy on May 20, 1943, but not repaired. On November 24, 1943, the wreck was sunk again by bombs in an air raid. It was later lifted and finally scrapped in 1948.

literature

• John Jordan: The Contre-Torpilleurs of the Mogador Class . Conway, London 2007 ISBN 1-84486-041-8 .
• 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 : Volta  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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

Footnotes

1. ↑ 138 mm / 50 (5.46 ") Model 1934 gun data on navweaps.com. Accessed November 5, 2019. (English)
2. ↑ 23 DT, Toulon torpedo data on navweaps.com. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
3. ↑ Mine Mine data on navweaps.com. Retrieved November 5, 2019.