Chacal-class destroyer | |
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![]() Chacal class destroyer | |
Class overview | |
Name: | Chacal or Jaguar |
Succeeded by: | Guépard class |
Completed: | 6 |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Destroyer |
Displacement: |
2,126 long tons (2,160 t) standard 3,098 long tons (3,148 t) full load |
Length: | 127 m (416 ft 8 in) |
Beam: | 11.2 m (36 ft 9 in) |
Draught: | 3.65 m (12 ft 0 in) |
Propulsion: | Geared turbines, 5 boilers, 55,000 shp (41,013 kW) |
Speed: | 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph) |
Complement: | 8 officers, 196 men |
Armament: |
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The Chacal class, sometimes known as the Jaguar class, were a group of six French Navy large destroyers (contre-torpilleur) built commencing 1923. Designed as larger, more capable counterparts to the Bourrasque class, they set a standard for French destroyer design until the mid-1930s. All were named for wild animals: Chacal means jackal, and the other five were named for big cats.
Ships[]
The class saw service in the Second World War.
Ship | Pennant Numbers | Builder | Commissioned | Fate |
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Chacal | 2; G2; 7; 9; -3; X23 | AT Ch de St Nazaire Panhoet | 12 June 1926 | Lost on 24 May 1940, being sunk off Boulogne-sur-Mer by German aircraft. The wreck lies in only 2 meters of water in position 50.47.58N, 01.35.44E |
Jaguar | -1; X21 | Arsenal de Lorient | 24 July 1926 | Sunk on 23 May 1940 after being torpedoed by two German torpedo boats near Dunkerque. 13 members of the crew went down with the ship, another 23 were injured. The wreck lies in 8 meters of water in position 51.03.26N, 02.22.12E. |
Léopard | 7; 2; -2; X22 | AT Ch de La Loire St Nazaire | 10 October 1927 | The ship was seized by the Royal Navy in Portsmouth on 3 July 1940, and was transferred to the Free French on 31 August. She was stranded and wrecked north of Benghazi on 27 May 1943. |
Lynx | 12, 15, X42 | AT Ch de La Loire St Nazaire | 10 October 1927 | see below |
Panthère | 1, 5, 8, 9, 12, 11, 13, 14, X23, X43 | Arsenal de Lorient | 10 October 1926 | see below |
Tigre | 3, G3, 6, 7, 11, 10, 13, X41 | AC de Bretagne Nantes | 1 February 1926 | see below |
- Lynx, Panthère and Tigre were scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942 to prevent them being requisitioned by the Germans. The Germans later raised them: Lynx was broken up for scrap metal. Panthère and Tigre were repaired and transferred to the Italian Navy. Panthère was then scuttled again at La Spezia on 9 September 1943. Tigre, the only ship of the class to survive the war, was transferred once more to the Free French on 29 October 1943, and she was decommissioned on 4 January 1954.
References[]
- M.J Whitley, Destroyers of World War 2, 1988 Cassell Publishing ISBN 1-85409-521-8
- Chacal class on uboat.net
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The original article can be found at Chacal-class destroyer and the edit history here.