French aviso Savorgnan de Brazza

Savorgnan de Brazza was a Bougainville-class aviso of the French Navy. She was designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa, launched in June 1931, served in the Second World War and was scrapped in 1957.[1]

Savorgnan de Brazza
History
France
Name: Savorgnan de Brazza
Namesake: Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
Builder: At. & Ch. Maritime Sud-Ouest, Bordeaux[1]
Launched: 18 June 1931[1]
Fate: scrapped 20 March 1957[1]
General characteristics
Type: Bougainville-class aviso
Displacement: 1,969 tonnes[1]
Length: 103.7 metres (340 ft)[1]
Beam: 12.98 metres (42.6 ft)[1]
Draft: 4.8 metres (16 ft)[1]
Propulsion: 2 Sulzer marine diesel engines, 3,200 BHP[1]
Speed: 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h)[1]
Range: 7,600 nautical miles (14,100 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h)[1]
Complement: 139 peacetime; 183 wartime[1]
Armament:
  • 1931–40:[2]
  • 3 × 138mm guns model 1927 (single mountings)
  • 4 × 37mm AA guns (single mountings)
  • 6 × 13.2 mm machine guns
  • capacity to carry 50 mines
  • 1940:[2]
  • seaplane replaced by 2 × 37mm AA guns (single mountings)
  • by 1944:[1]
  • 3 × 138mm guns model 1927 (single mountings)
  • 8 × 37mm AA guns (2 × double & 4 × single mounting)
  • 3 × 25 mm AA guns (single mountings)
  • 2 × 20 mm AA (single mountings)
  • 4 × 13.2 mm machine guns
  • anti-submarine equipment
Armour: bullet-proof plating to control positions
Aircraft carried: one seaplane (1931–40)[2]

History

The ship was originally equipped with a seaplane. In 1940 this was removed and replaced with two additional 37 mm single-mounted anti-aircraft guns.[2]

After the Fall of France in June 1940, Savorgnan de Brazza joined the Free French Forces. She fought in the Battle of Gabon, in which on 9 November 1940 she engaged and sank a Vichy French aviso of the same class, her sister ship, Bougainville.[1][3]

On 12 August 1943 the German submarine U-181 torpedoed and sank the British Clan Line cargo ship Clan Macarthur in the Indian Ocean 350 nautical miles (650 km) east of Farafangana in Madagascar. 53 people were killed but Savorgnan de Brazza rescued 76 survivors and landed them at Port Louis, Mauritius.[4]

By 1944 Savorgnan de Brazza's anti-aircraft armament had been further increased. The number of 37mm AA guns had been increased to eight, three 25 mm and two 20 mm AA guns had been added and the number of 13.2 mm AA guns had been reduced to two.[1]

Savorgnan de Brazza survived the Second World War. She was scrapped in March 1957.[5]

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References
  1. Masson 1969, p. 12
  2. Masson 1969, p. 11
  3. Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2012). "FR Bougainville". Allied Warships. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  4. Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2013). "Clan Macarthur". Ships hit by U-boats. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  5. Masson 1969, p. 13.

Sources
  • Le Masson, Henri (1969). The French Navy. Navies of the Second World War. 2. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. pp. 11–13. ISBN 9780356023847.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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