French aviso Bougainville

Bougainville was a Bougainville-class aviso of the French Navy launched on 25 April 1931 and commissioned on 15 February 1933.[1][2] The ship was designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa and initially stationed in the Indian Ocean.[2] In 1935 it was transferred for service in the eastern and southern Mediterranean, and in early 1939 to Djibouti, returning to Toulon escorting a group of submarines after the outbreak of World War II.[2]

Bougainville

History
France
Name:	Bougainville
Namesake:	Admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville
Laid down:	25 November 1929
Launched:	25 April 1931
Commissioned:	15 February 1933
Fate:	9 November 1940 sunk
General characteristics
Type:	Bougainville-class aviso
Displacement:	1,970 tonnes
Length:	103.7 m (340 ft)
Beam:	12.7 m (42 ft)
Draft:	4.5 m (15 ft)
Propulsion:	2 Diesel engines 3,200
Speed:	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Armament:	3 × 138mm guns model 1927 (single mountings) 4 × 37mm AA guns (single mountings) 6 × 13.2 mm machine guns capable of carrying 50 mines

It sided with Vichy France and was sunk by off Libreville by its sister ship Savorgnan de Brazza on 9 November 1940 in the Battle of Gabon. Although refloated in March 1941, Bougainville sank again and was finally broken up in 1952.[2]

References

1. "Bougainville". Netmarine.net. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
2. Roche, Jean-Michel (2013). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la Flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours: Tome II (in French). JMR. ISBN 978-2-9525917-3-7.