Our story begins in fact from the moment the First World War ended. The French admirals were in deep thought, because if the French fleet did not signify participation in the war by trampling in a Mediterranean puddle, then one could say that France at sea and did not fight at all.
It so happened that there was nothing special to fight with and with no one.
The French fleet included 3 dreadnoughts, 20 battleships, 18 armored and 6 light cruisers, 98 destroyers, 38 submarines. In Paris, they decided to focus on the "Mediterranean Front", since the British agreed to defend the Atlantic coast of France. And in the Mediterranean there was no big threat - the Ottoman navy was very weak and tied by the Russian Black Sea fleet, Italy was neutral at first, and then went over to the side of the Entente, the Austro-Hungarian fleet chose a passive strategy - "defending the Adriatic", defending in the bases. In addition, there was a fairly strong British squadron in the Mediterranean.
So the main burden of the raid war would fall on the cruisers, if they were in the proper quantity and quality from France. But alas, the fossil armored cruisers of the Waldeck-Russo class, obsolete at the time they entered service, formed the basis of the cruising forces. That is, the French were faced precisely with the impossibility of carrying out full-fledged operations without cruisers. Fortunately, the opponents allowed nothing to be done. The French did nothing.
But after the victory in the war, the victory, which was actually won on land, in France they also thought about building ships.
In general, work on the light cruiser scout has been going on since 1909. A series of 10 ships with the lead "Lamotte-Piquet" was planned to be laid in November 1914.
The mission of these ships was long-range reconnaissance with line squadrons. A displacement of 4500/6000 tons, a speed of 29 knots and a main caliber of 8 138 mm guns - in general, the cruiser looked pretty decent.
But land battles forced the construction of a series of ships to be postponed and returned to cruisers only in 1919. By that time, the French already knew about the American "Omaha" and the British cruisers of the "E" series, so the project immediately began to radically modify in the "catch up and overtake" style.
The final project was ready in April 1921, but changes were made to the project during the construction of the ships, and even after.
This is how the first French light cruisers of the Duguet Truin class were born.
They say: what you call a yacht, so it will float. The French have tried their best in terms of names. The ships were named after the iconic French naval commanders.
René Duguet-Truin was a privateer. A pirate in the service of the king. He simply robbed and drowned everything that came under the Spanish and Portuguese flag, he met old age in the rank of admiral in the service of King Louis XIV.
Hervé de Portzmoger with the call sign “Primoge” lived 200 years before Duguet-Truin. He was a Breton, made a living by outright piracy, and tyrannized the British quite well. When he was simply tired of piracy, he went into the official service of France and died in the battle of Saint-Mathieu. Many bagpipes were torn in Britain when they found out.
Jean-Guillaume-Toussaint, Comte de La Motte-Piqué, somehow turned out to be a noble nobleman who rose to the rank of lieutenant general of the fleet. Exception…
A total of 3 units were built (Duguet Truin, Lamotte Piquet and Primoge).
These ships became the first light cruisers in the world with a linearly elevated placement of main battery artillery in closed installations (towers). They practically did not have serious armor protection. On tests, all confirmed the design speed at full displacement. They were distinguished by good seaworthiness, the disadvantages include a short cruising range, especially at high speeds.
The ships officially entered service in late 1926 - early 1927, but after that they repeatedly returned to the shipyards to install various equipment and became fully operational only by the end of 1929.
"Duguet Truin". Laid down on 4 August 1922 in Brest. Launched on August 14, 1923. Commissioned on September 10, 1926. Decommissioned on March 29, 1952 and sold for scrap.
"Lamotte-Piquet". Laid down on January 17, 1923 in Lorian. Launched on March 21, 1924. Commissioned on October 1, 1926. The entire service of the ship took place in French Indochina. Participated in the conflict with Thailand in January 1941. He played a major role in the defeat of the Thai fleet at Koh Chang on 1941-17-01. Sunk by American carrier-based aircraft at Cam Ranh on January 12, 1945.
Primoge. Laid down on August 16, 1923 in Brest. Launched on May 21, 1924. Commissioned on September 1, 1926. During the war, remained under the control of Vichy. On November 8, 1942, during the opposition to the Allied landing in North Africa, it was heavily damaged by shells and bombs in the Casablanca region, washed ashore and burned up.
What were the first-borns of cruiser construction, which later became classics?
The cruisers had a high-sided hull with a semi-turret design. This provided high seaworthiness on one side, but the ships were very vulnerable to crosswinds. The cruisers had two solid decks and one platform. The hull was divided into sections by 17 transverse bulkheads, had a double bottom, as well as a double side in the area of the engine-boiler rooms.
Of the armor, the Duge-Truin-class cruiser had only 20-mm upper and 10-mm lower decks. Cellars, where ammunition for the main caliber was stored, were protected by armor made of 20-mm sheets, which had the shape of a box.
The steering compartment was protected by a 14 mm beveled deck. The turrets of the main caliber and their barbets were covered with 30 mm armor. The conning tower also had 30 mm walls and a roof. The total weight of the armor was only 166 tons, or 2.2% of the standard displacement.
In general, more than modest. More precisely, not even in any way. The armor seemed to be there, but at real combat distances the cruiser could be hit anywhere, even by the destroyer's guns.
Displacement:
Standard - 7249 tons, full - 9350 tons.
Length 175, 3/181, 6 m. Width 17, 5 m. Draft 6, 3 m.
Engines. 4 TZA Rateau-Bretagne, 100,000 liters. with. Travel speed 33 knots. Cruising range 4500 nautical miles at 15 knots.
The crew is 578 people.
Reservation. Towers - 25-30 mm, cellars - 25-30 mm, deckhouse - 25-30 mm.
Armament.
Main caliber: 4 twin turrets with 155 mm guns. The vertical guidance angles ranged from −5 ° to + 40 °, the horizontal ones provided shelling within a radius of 140 ° on each side. The weight of the shells ranged from 56.5 kg to 59 kg. The initial speed of a semi-armor-piercing projectile weighing 56, 5 kg with a full charge was 850 m / s, the maximum firing range was 26 100 meters. The ballistic data of the gun was assessed as excellent, but the rate of fire was low. Formally, it was 6 rounds per minute, in fact it was half as much.
Anti-aircraft artillery: 4 guns 75 mm, 4 machine guns 13, 2 mm.
Mine-torpedo armament: 4 three-pipe 550-mm torpedo tubes, depth charges.
Aviation group: 1 catapult, 1-2 seaplanes GL-832 or Pote-452.
Of course, as soon as the ships entered service, they began their movement up the ladder of upgrades and improvements. And the war that began in 1939 generally made adjustments in batches.
In general, the ships were altered very seriously, and work was carried out after the war. But the efforts were not in vain, it is enough to look at the service life of "Duguet-Truin", 26 years is a lot. Especially considering the war and the transition to missile ships that began after it.
The change in priorities forced the cruiser to part with torpedo tubes and depth charges and focus on the modernization of air defense. Destroyers could quite normally fight submarines (bombs) and ships of all classes (torpedoes).
"Duguet-Truin" lost in the course of modernization all the mine and torpedo weapons, the catapult and the crane-beam, the mainmast. Were removed and 13, 2-mm machine guns "Hotchkiss", which proved to be completely incapable of anti-aircraft.
Instead, 6 Bofors 40 mm assault rifles, 20 Oerlikons (20 mm) and 8 Browning machine guns (13, 2 mm) were installed on the cruiser in several stages.
The standard cruiser began to look more like something that can fight aviation. When the SF-1 type radar was added to this in 1944, it became quite decent.
The last work on the "Duge-Truin" was carried out in Saigon. In 1948-1949. the ship was redesigned for slightly different tasks and carried 2 infantry landing boats of the LCVP type on board.
The ships had distinctive markings.
"Dughet-Truin":
- one white stripe on the bow tube (1928-07-21 - 1929-10-01);
- two white stripes on the stern tube (5.9 1931 - end of 1932);
- one white stripe on the stern tube (May 1935 - July 1936).
"Lamotte-Piquet":
- one white stripe on the aft pipe (5.9.1931 - 24.7.1932);
- one red stripe on the nose tube (May 1939 - June 1940).
Primoge:
- one white stripe on the aft pipe (1.1.1928 - end of 1928);
- two red stripes on the nose tube (May - August 1939).
Service ships and destinies turned out to be different and ambiguous.
"Dughet-Truin" after entering service was included in the 3rd light division of the 1st squadron, based at Brest. In general, his career in the early years was spent in ordinary campaigns and maneuvers in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
The outbreak of the war found the ship on the way from Casablanca to Dakar. Until January 1940, the cruiser operated in the waters of the Central Atlantic, participating in escorting convoys and searching for German merchant ships and raiders. His only success was the interception on October 16 of the German steamship Halle (5889 brt).
On May 1, 1940, after refurbishment, the Duguet-Truin was assigned to the Levant Division and at the end of the month became part of Vice Admiral Godefroy's Formation X, created for operations in the Eastern Mediterranean in conjunction with the British fleet. On June 11, he participated in a raid on the Dodecanese Islands, and on June 21-22, in a similar operation against Tobruk.
On July 3, when the British carried out Operation Catapult (the capture of the French ships at their bases), Duguet-Truin together with the battleship Lorraine and the heavy cruisers Duquesne, Tourville, Suffren was in Alexandria, where On July 5, he was disarmed and remained there until May 17, 1943, when Admiral Godefroy decided to join the Allies.
On July 4, 1943, the Suffren and Dughet-Truin left Alexandria and arrived in Dakar on September 3.
Until the end of the year, "Dughet-Truin" underwent modernization, after which, during the first half of 1944, it was used as a high-speed military transport in the Mediterranean Sea.
In August, together with "Emile Bertin" and "Jeanne d'Arc", he formed the 3rd cruiser division and on August 15-17 provided fire support for the landing in southern France (Operation Dragoon), after which he was again engaged in troop transport, and in April 1945 participated in the shelling of German positions in the Genoa region. Until the end of 1945, the ship was engaged in the transport of troops and civilians between French, Algerian and Moroccan ports, having covered more than 20 thousand miles during this period.
In general, not a very cruising fate, but here it is worth remembering that France as a state by that time had long ceased to exist.
After the end of the "victorious" war for France, "Duguet-Truin" in the spring of 1947 was sent to the Far East. Through Madagascar, where anti-French unrest flared up. The main service for the next four years was in Indochina.
On June 5, 1948, the Duuge-Truin went down in history, as an agreement on the unification and guarantees of the future independence of Vietnam was signed on board.
In general, after the war, the cruiser was very actively involved in regional conflicts. In total, from August 1949 to May 1951, the ship traveled more than 25 thousand miles and conducted 18 combat firing, using up 631 155-mm projectiles - more than in the entire Second World War.
Actions against the rebels on about. Phu Quoc (January 1948 and January 1949), shelling of Natrang and Fife (February-March 1949), landing in the Gulf of Tonkin (October 1949), landing at Tam Tam (May 1949). In April 1951, the cruiser's guns stopped the Viet Ming offensive against Haiphong.
In general, the old cruiser fought the rebels quite successfully.
The end of history came on September 22, 1951, the Dughet-Truin left Saigon and exactly one month later was in Toulon. On December 1, 1951, the cruiser was put into reserve category "B". On March 29, 1952, it was excluded from the lists of the fleet and on March 27, 1953, it was sold for scrap.
At the beginning of her career, the Lamotte-Piquet conducted routine crew training, which was disrupted by the 1927 expedition to South America.
Having undergone major renovations in 1933-1935, on November 2, 1935, the Lamotte-Piquet sailed to Indochina to replace the Premoge stationed there. Arriving in Saigon on December 30, he was based at this port until the end of his career, and until the end of 1940 all French naval commanders in the Far East held their flag on it.
With the outbreak of World War II, "Lamotte-Piquet" operated in the Far Eastern waters, patrolling and searching for German ships. The news of the truce found him in Saigon. However, the increasing tension in relations with Thailand since November 1940 led to the outbreak of a conflict, in which the French naval forces took an active part.
During the only major naval battle at Koh Chang in the Gulf of Thailand on January 17, 1941, a detachment of "Lamotte Piquet" and advice notes "Admiral Charnier", "Dumont d'Urville", "Tayur" and "Marne" inflicted a serious defeat by sinking the coastal defense battleship "Tonburi" and the destroyers "Chonburi" and "Songkla" without losses on their side. During the battle, the cruiser fired over 450 shells and 6 torpedoes.
In the future, the operations of the French naval forces in the Far East were reduced to several insignificant exits, in addition, the situation was aggravated by the deplorable state of the cruiser's mechanisms.
On January 1, 1944, the cruiser was put into reserve and used as a stationary training ship. On January 12, 1945, the ship was sunk by carrier-based aircraft of the American task force TF.38.
Primoge began service with a circumnavigation of the world: on April 20, 1927, she left Brest and returned on December 20, leaving 30 thousand miles aft in 100 sailing days. Since 1928, the cruiser was assigned to the 3rd division. Over the next few years, he spent several months annually on long voyages, visiting Halifax and the Azores (1929), the Caribbean (1930), Senegal, Cameroon and Gabon (1931).
A significant part of Primoge's career was spent in the Far East. He first departed there on April 15, 1932 and remained until January 10, 1936, visiting Japan, China, the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. Returning to France, the cruiser underwent extensive repairs, after which she again received an order to move to Indochina.
The beginning of the war "Primoge" met in Takoradi. Taking part in escorting several convoys, on October 25 he came to Lorian for repairs. Since March 1940, the cruiser was based in Oran and performed a number of missions, including the inspection of the Canary Islands to obstruct enemy shipping.
On April 1, 1940, the Primoget arrived at Fort-de-France in Martinique, where it replaced the Jeanne d'Arc. In April, the cruiser monitored navigation in the waters of the West Indies, inspecting about 20 vessels.
On May 6, together with the British sloop Dundee, he landed troops to protect the oil fields in the region of Aruba, where on May 10 he sank the German transport Antila (4363 brt).
On June 19 "Primoge" returned to Brest, from where on the 25th it moved to Casablanca with a cargo of banknotes and gold from the reserves of the Bank of France, and on July 9 - to Dakar. On September 4, the cruiser was sent to Lieberville (Equatorial Africa) as an escort for the tanker Tarn, intended to support the 4th division of cruisers. In the Gulf of Benin, the French force was intercepted by the British cruisers Cornwall and Delhi, after which Admiral Burraguet (flag on the Georges Leig cruiser) ordered Primoga to return to Casablanca to avoid incidents.
During 1941-1942. the ship only occasionally went out to sea for training. In April 1942 Primoge became the flagship of the 2nd Light Squadron, which included the 11th Leadership Division, 1st, 2nd and 5th Destroyer Divisions.
On November 8, they were the only force that resisted the Allied landing (Operation Torch).
At this time, the cruiser was under repair, but, despite this, together with 5 destroyers went to sea to counter the Allied fleet, which consisted of American ships in this area.
In general, it did not work out very well to resist. More precisely, it did not work out at all. The French sailors were unable to inflict any damage on the American ships. But the American cruisers were able to withdraw the French ships very quickly and completely without losses.
"Primoge" received several hits of 152-mm shells from the cruiser "Brooklyn", after which it was finally finished off by dive bombs from the aircraft carrier "Ranger" and threw itself ashore, where it burned all night. The ship was decided not to be restored, and after the war, it was dismantled for metal.
What can you say in the end?
As a result, we have quite innovative ships that have determined the vector of development of light cruisers around the world for several decades. These cruisers became the first light cruisers in the world to have all their main battery artillery placed in a linearly elevated position in turret mounts.
All other ships of this class will come later.
As for the fighting qualities, here it is definitely "everything is ambiguous", and even in full.
The advantages are high firepower, powerful torpedo armament, high travel speed and excellent seaworthiness.
The cons - conditional booking and short range. The sailing range can be considered sufficient only for limited theaters such as the Mediterranean Sea or skiing around Thailand or Vietnam.
In general, as the main merit of the cruisers of the Duge-Truin class, we can say that these ships became the starting point in the development of the class of light cruisers. So French ships rightfully occupy a place in history. And the fact that followers have become faster, more powerful and stronger is quite normal. The first is always difficult.
