Milan at anchor
History
France
NameMilan
BuilderArsenal de Lorient
Launched13 October 1931
Completed20 April 1934
FateRun aground after being struck by multiple USN cruiser fire and bomb damage from USS Ranger air wing. Wreck scrapped post-war.
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeAigle-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 2,441 t (2,402 long tons) (standard)
  • 3,140 t (3,090 long tons) (full load)
Length128.5 m (421 ft 7 in)
Beam11.8 m (38 ft 9 in)
Draught4.4 m (14 ft 5 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range3,650 nmi (6,760 km; 4,200 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Crew10 officers, 217 crewmen (wartime)
Armament

The French destroyer Milan was one of six Aigle-class destroyer (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy in the interwar period.

Service

Following the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, Milan escorted two convoys carrying French troops of the Chasseurs Alpins to Namsos and Harstad between 18 April and 27 April.[1] On 3–4 May 1940, Milan, together with the French destroyers Chevalier Paul and Tartu and the British destroyers Sikh and Tartar, made a sweep into the Skagerrak, but encountered no German shipping.[2]

On 15 June she carried General de Gaulle from Brest to Plymouth on the first stage of his journey to London for talks with the British government.[3]

After France surrendered to Germany, Milan served with the naval forces of Vichy France. She was at Casablanca in French Morocco when Allied forces invaded French North Africa in Operation Torch on 8 November 1942. She was in action against United States Navy TF 34 during the Naval Battle of Casablanca and was beached after sustaining damage from US warships and aircraft. Older work on the subject have errantly attributed Milan’s crippling to shell hits from the destroyer Wilkes, which had broken off action against Milan at least 25 minutes prior to the French ship being knocked out of the fight (which occurred shortly before 10:00). French reports list a 406mm (16”) shell among the damage Milan incurred, in addition to two more shells, probably 8”, that struck her immediately thereafter. However, the damage sustained by Milan attributed to a 406mm (16") shell is most likely to have been caused by a bomb from aircraft from the USS Ranger, as a 406mm (16") shell would have passed through the thinly armoured destroyer without exploding. It is noteworthy that the US Navy, who were able to examine her wreck after the action, did not identify that damage as being consistent with one of their own 406mm (16") shells, and have never claimed that the USS Massachusetts struck Milan.

Notes

  1. ↑ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 17–18
  2. ↑ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 19
  3. ↑ Montagnon, Pierre (2009). La France dans la guerre de 39-45. Paris: Pygmalion. ISBN 978-2-7564-0044-0.

References

  • Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2013). "Toulon: The Self-Destruction and Salvage of the French Fleet". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2013. London: Conway. pp. 134–148. ISBN 978-1-84486-205-4.
  • Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-117-7.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
  • O'Hara, Vincent (2015). Torch: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-61251-823-0
  • Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
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