French destroyer Maillé Brézé (1931)
Sister ship Vauquelin, about 1934 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| France | |
| Name | Maillé Brézé |
| Namesake | Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé, Duc de Fronsac |
| Ordered | 1 February 1930 |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët, Saint-Nazaire |
| Laid down | 9 October 1930 |
| Launched | 9 November 1931 |
| Completed | 6 April 1933 |
| Commissioned | 31 December 1932 |
| In service | 23 April 1933 |
| Fate | Lost by accidental explosion, 30 April 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Vauquelin-class destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 129.3 m (424 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 11.8 m (38 ft 9 in) |
| Draft | 4.97 m (16 ft 4 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Crew | 12 officers, 220 crewmen (wartime) |
| Armament |
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Maillé Brézé was one of six Vauquelin-class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) during the 1930s. The ship entered service in 1933 and spent most of her career in the Mediterranean, sometimes as a flagship. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, she was one of the ships that helped to enforce the non-intervention agreement. When France declared war on Germany in September 1939, all of the Vauquelins were assigned to the High Sea Forces (Forces de haute mer (FHM)) which was tasked to escort French convoys and support the other commands as needed. Maillé Brézé accordingly spent most of the next six months on escort duties. She played a minor role in the Norwegian Campaign before she was lost in an accidental explosion in April 1940. Most of her crew survived the incident; her wreck was not salvaged until 1954 and was subsequently scrapped.