The history of this ship is very interesting, full of contradictions. "Emile Bertin" was planned as a cruiser-scout, leading destroyers, but in the course of development was redesigned and built as a minelayer cruiser.
The French command was initially preparing for a series of ships of 3-4 units, but then they decided to see how it would actually be, and only one ship was launched, and the hero of the next story, La Galissoniere, went into the series.
"Emile Bertin" fought the entire war, but was never used in its original capacity as a minelayer. But - went through the entire Second World War "from flasks to flasks."
Let's start with the history of creation. It started in 1925 and was very original.
In general, it all started with a minelayer project. In those years, France had two potential adversaries at sea: Italy in the Mediterranean and Germany in the north. True, after the defeat in the First World War, Germany could not be taken seriously, which is why the idea of a mine blockade with the help of high-speed mine blocks was born.
Based on the minimum length of one obstacle of 7.5 miles with a maximum mine interval of 40 m, such minelayers were supposed to carry about 350 minutes.
The French had a draft minelayer "Pluto", with a displacement of 5300 tons, capable of taking on board 250 mines. After analyzing the requirements, the French shipbuilders calculated that to transport 350 mines over a distance of 2,000 miles, the ship had to have a displacement of about 7,500 tons.
7,500 tons is a rather big ship, therefore it was decided to abandon the enlarged "Pluto" in particular and from the "Pluto" in general.
And the French decided to just cheat and take the number of ships. That is, to install mine rails on all ships under construction, starting in 1928. Cruisers, destroyer leaders / counter-destroyers, destroyers, colonial auxiliary cruisers - all had to carry mines. And if necessary …
That is, a squadron of 5-8 ships could throw as many mines into the sea as one specialized ship. In principle - quite an idea.
And then what happened? And then there was the Washington Agreement, which hit France and Italy very hard in terms of restrictions. Meanwhile, France had a very strong set of colonies that had to be controlled and protected. And the restrictions on tonnage did not make it possible to build the proper number of warships to solve such problems.
And as a result, a project was born for a minelayer cruiser with a displacement of 6,000 tons, capable of carrying up to 200 mines, minimally armored, but with a maximum speed, armed with 152-mm guns.
In general, this misunderstanding should have met all the requirements of international treaties.
Interesting alignment, isn't it? A mineline of 5300 tons and 7500 tons will not work, and a cruiser with a minelayer function of 6000 tons is just that!
The 1929 draft design had the following characteristics:
- standard displacement: 5980 "long" tons;
- normal displacement: 6530 metric tons;
- length: 177 m;
- power: 102,000 hp;
- speed at normal displacement: 34 knots;
- cruising range: 3000 miles 18-knot course.
On May 15, 1934, the cruiser was completed in construction and presented for testing. On the first test run on June 28, the cruiser developed 34.8 knots, which significantly exceeded the contractual 32 knots. Then there was an official test program, during which the ship showed 40.2 knots. The speed typical for destroyers (and even then not for all), but not for a cruiser.
After testing and eliminating deficiencies, in January 1935, "Emile Bertin" was enlisted in the fleet.
The hull of the Emile Bertin was typical of French ships of the interwar period - with a forecastle, a curved stem and a duck-tail type aft end. To ensure a high travel speed, the body was greatly narrowed - the ratio of length to width exceeded 10.5: 1. The speed was really impressive.
Much has been sacrificed for speed. In general, French shipbuilders tried to lighten the structure as much as possible. Only the elements of the power set were riveted, all other joints were welded. For superstructures and internal structures, duralumin was widely used, as a result, the weight of the hull with protection was 46% of the standard displacement.
About protection. There was no protection. 4.5% displacement or 123.8 tons. The conning tower was "armored" with 20 mm armor, the cellars were armored with two layers of sheet armor 15 mm thick each. Everything.
Elevators for projectiles, rangefinder posts, and even the main caliber turrets - everything was sacrificed for weight reduction. By the way, the GC tower on the "Emile Bertin" weighed 112 tons, and on the "La Galissoniere" - 172 tons. Feel the difference, as they say.
To provide at least some survivability, the ship inside was chopped into 14 compartments in total. Pretty advanced. Nine 30-ton pumps also had to fight for the survivability of the ship, five of which protected the compartments with boilers and turbines.
The fight against weight, however, resulted in the need to strengthen the towers. The cruiser could not fire a full salvo on the move, the weakness of the structure on the one hand and the obvious congestion of the bow on the other affected.
But seaworthiness and speed were really at their best. The turning radius of 800 meters was so-so, but not critical.
"Emile Bertin" became somewhat the first in the history of French shipbuilding. It was on this ship that the cruisers were led to a single caliber for light cruisers of 152 mm instead of 155 mm and quite exotic 164 mm.
And for the first time in the Navy, the main guns were placed in three-gun turrets. Two in the bow, one in the stern. The towers were rotated by electric drives 135 degrees on each side.
The fire control of the main battery was carried out from the KDP on the mast, which was connected to the central artillery post. The values of the angles of horizontal and vertical guidance were transmitted to the towers by the "Granat" system. In case of failure of the main command and rangefinder post, towers II and III were equipped with 8-meter OPL stereo range finders of the 1932 model.
Everything was very modern for the 30s, but there were also negative aspects. Since the KDP was alone, it was unrealistic to fire at two targets. And the second point: the KDP was rotating very slowly! The KDP made a revolution around its axis in 70 seconds, which was slightly faster than the turrets rotated.
And if in battle the ship began to vigorously maneuver, then there was a temporary misalignment of the central aiming, and the towers had to switch to independent fire control.
Two points, but they could very seriously complicate the life of the ship in battle.
Medium-caliber universal artillery was such. It consisted of very good 90-mm guns and could both repel attacks from destroyers and fire at air targets. The guns were very fast-firing, up to 15 rounds per minute, but when firing at aircraft with an elevation angle of more than 60 degrees, the rate of fire dropped due to the inconvenience of loading.
What the French didn't have was decent air defense. With this they are similar to Soviet ships. And therefore, "Emile Bertin" was no exception. Since everything was sad with machine guns, the cruiser received only 4 semi-automatic 37-mm cannons and 8 Hotchkiss 13, 2-mm machine guns. The guns, in principle, were good in projectile and ballistics, but the rate of fire of about 20 rounds per minute was not enough for air defense. The machine gun was also not bad, but the store food (magazine for 30 rounds) nullified all the positive qualities of the weapon.
Torpedo armament "Emile Bertin" consisted of two three-pipe 550-mm apparatus model 1928T, located on the upper deck side by side between the pipes. The shot was fired with compressed air, reloading at sea was not provided, because there were no spare torpedoes.
At the stern of the cruiser, two removable bomb releasers were installed for 52-kg depth charges of the "Giraud" type. The ammunition capacity included 21 depth charges, of which 6 were on bomb releasers and 15 on a rack in the immediate vicinity. Bombing manually calculated the bomb release.
Well, the mines. The mine tracks were removable, 50 meters long. They could be installed if necessary, and in the stowed position they were stored under the upper deck. To install mines on the rails, two crane-beams served, and the calculation manually set the mines.
Emile Bertin could take 84 Breguet B4 mines. The mine was small (530 kg total weight) and was designed for use on destroyers and counter-destroyers. In general, compared to the 250 mines of the original project, 84 - no matter how weighty it looked.
But it is also worth noting that during his entire career, "Emile Bertin" delivered only 8 minutes. It was on trial.
There were also aircraft weapons. "Emile Bertin" was equipped with a 20-meter rotary pneumatic catapult "Foam". To lift the seaplanes from the water, there were two cranes with a lifting capacity of 2 tons, in the area of the stern tube. The cruiser had a repair shop and storage tanks for 2.5 tons of aviation fuel.
Throughout the state, the cruiser carried two seaplanes, one was constantly on the catapult cart, and the second, reserve, disassembled in a special hangar.
In fact, the only type that could be used from the Bertin was the GL-832 double float monoplane Gurdu-Lesser, which had very modest flight characteristics.
The ship's command rated the capabilities of the seaplane very low, and therefore, after numerous reports, the aviation equipment was completely dismantled in 1942.
The propulsion system consisted of six thin-tube boilers of the "Foam" system with superheaters. Turbo gear units from Parsons, four propellers from Brand.
The rated power was declared at 102,000 hp, but on tests "Emile Bertin" showed much more. On tests on August 8, 1934, "Emile Bertin" developed 39, 67 knots with a power of 107,908 hp. and 344 rpm.
In real service, the cruiser regularly developed 33-knot speed, the cruising range with a normal supply of fuel was 6,000 miles at 15-knots, 2,800 miles at a speed of 20 knots or 1,100 miles at a speed of 31 knots under the main turbines.
The high speed caused constant problems with propellers, which were prone to cavitation corrosion. The screws had to be changed frequently until, finally, other, more modern designs were developed.
According to the peacetime staff, the crew of "Emile Bertin" consisted of 22 officers, 9 chief petty officers, 84 petty officers and 427 sailors. A total of 542 people. If the cruiser acted as the flagship of the destroyer formation (for example), it was planned to accommodate the formation commander and his headquarters on board - up to 25 people.
Naturally, in the course of service, the cruiser underwent upgrades. In the case of Emile Bertin, these were numerous upgrades, so I will focus on those that affected the ship's combat capability.
During the pre-war period, the 37-mm anti-aircraft guns of the 1925 model were replaced by four paired 37-mm installations of the 1933, equipped with an automatic target designation system.
In August-September 1941, when Emile Bertin was in Martinique, 17 Colt machine guns 12, 7-mm, taken from the Curtis N-75 fighters purchased in the USA, were installed on it (2 on the roof of tower II, 2 on the sides of the conning tower, 2 on the stern superstructure in front of the chimney, 1 each in front and behind the 90-mm anti-aircraft guns on the first deck, 3 on the roof of tower III, 4 on the poop).
In addition, American VHF radio stations removed from the same fighters were installed on board seaplanes. The planes themselves were transferred to the 17S squadron in Fort-de-France in September 1942, and the epic with the aviation component was over.
On the site of the hangar and the catapult in 1943 in Philadelphia, a number of premises were erected, actually extending the stern superstructure. At the same time (September-November 1943), the cruiser lost one gun. Moreover, he did not lose it in battle.
The fact is that the United States decided to launch the production of 152-mm shells for French ships. And in order to test the shells under development, a French gun was required. For ballistic experiments, the middle gun from turret II was dismantled. And during the experiments, the barrel was experimented with for good, and since there was nothing to replace, the cruiser operated with eight guns for the second half of the war.
As compensation (just kidding), the Americans significantly increased the ship's air defense. All the machine guns were finally thrown away, and they installed 4 four-barreled 40-mm Bofors Mk.2 submachine guns (in pairs on the bow and stern superstructures) and 20 single-barreled 20-mm Oerlikon Mk.4 submachine guns (2 on the forecastle near the elevated tower; 4 in front of the conning tower; 4 on the stern superstructure in the area of the former catapult, 4 behind the twin 90-mm installation, 6 at the stern). The total ammunition included 24 thousand 40-mm and 60 thousand 20-mm rounds.
The ship was equipped with the Asdik type 128 sonar, two aft bomb throwers (under the upper deck) with eight 254-kg Mk. VIIH depth charges and four Thornycroft airborne bombers with four 186-kg Mk. VII depth charges each.
And finally, "Emile Bertin" received a set of American radar equipment, which in the United States was installed on destroyers. Search radars of SA type (detection range up to 40 miles) and SF type (detection range up to 15 miles), as well as VK and BL identification stations "friend or foe". All radio communications have been brought in line with US Navy regulations.
All these gifts made the cruiser noticeably heavier, so they had to lighten it. And the first thing the Emile Bertin parted with was … mine equipment! But the normal displacement of the cruiser still increased to 7704 tons, the total - to 8986 tons.
The last significant modernization was carried out in fact after the war, from January to September 1945. Then the middle gun of the second turret was finally put back in place, the barrels on all the other main guns were replaced, the torpedo tubes were dismantled and the same 90-mm station wagons were put in their place.
The cruiser received British fire control radars and a second PUAZO.
Combat service.
On May 17, 1935, the Emile Bertin entered the active fleet and until August 1936 the ship was engaged in routine cruises, maneuvers and visits.
Something similar to combat work happened in August 1936, the ship was sent to the shores of Spain, where the civil war broke out. "Emile Bertin" visited a number of ports in Spain, accompanying the packet boat "Mexico", which took French citizens out of Spain.
When the Second World War began, "Emile Bertin" in Bizerte (Tunisia), from where at the end of September 1939 he made a trip to Beirut (Lebanon) and took out 57 tons of gold that belonged to the Bank of Poland.
In December 1939, Emile Bertin joined the heavy cruiser Foch in Dakar, and on January 8, 1940, the cruisers sailed to the Central Atlantic, where they inspected ships from Spain, Italy and Germany.
On March 28, "Emile Bertin" with the counter-destroyer "Bison" successfully escorted a group of transports to Oran.
The next mission for the cruiser was a trip to Norway. The cruiser was escorting a troop transport to Namsos when an interesting event occurred.
On April 13, the cruiser was escorted by the FP-1 convoy, which transported troops from Brest to Namsus. On April 19, in Namsfjord, the cruiser was attacked by a single German Ju-88 bomber from II / KG 30 (pilot Lieutenant Werner Baumbach) and received a direct hit from a 500-kg bomb.
The bomb hit the stern superstructure, pierced it, two decks, a longitudinal bulkhead, an outer skin just below the waterline and exploded in the water.
Not bad, right? It is peculiar, of course, but here the lack of armor played into the hands of the French. If the decks were booked, a 500 kg bomb would have done very serious business. Nevertheless, the through hole in the ship had to be repaired, and the cruiser went to Brest for repairs. Norway lost without him.
After the renovation, Émile Bertin again took up the transport of gold!
On May 19, 1940, the Emile Bertin, together with the Jeanne d'Arc cruiser, sailed to Halifax, Canada. Emile Bertin's cargo consisted of 100 tons of gold from the French National Bank. On June 2, the gold was unloaded, and already 9 ships returned to Brest for a new batch.
On June 12, Emile Bertin took on board about 290 tons of gold and sailed to Halifax again. The cruiser was escorted by the counter-destroyer "Gerfo". The ships arrived in Halifax on June 18, but did not have time to disembark, an armistice was signed. And after the signing of this truce, an order came from France not to unload gold in the United States, but to go to Fort-de-France, which is in Martinique.
Gold did not allow many to live normally. So the British allies decided that it was dangerous to let the Emile Bertin go back, the gold could get to the Germans, and therefore the British heavy cruiser Devonshire was sent to the parking lot of the French cruiser. Obviously on an unofficial visit …
But the French officers turned out to be more perspicacious, and at night "Emile Bertin" simply washed away and on June 24 dropped anchor in Martinique.
And for three years, in fact, the cruiser was the guardian of gold in Martinique. While staying at Fort-de-France, its bow raised tower was constantly turned towards the port entrance in case of a possible British attack.
On May 1, 1942, by agreement of the Governor of Martinique, Admiral Robert, with the American government, Bertin, like the rest of the French ships in the West Indies, was disarmed and put into reserve. After the landing of Anglo-American troops in North Africa on November 8, 1942, relations between the United States and the Vichy government were severed, and the cruiser commander received an order to sink it, but, fortunately, refused to comply.
On June 3, 1943, the colonial administration recognized the government of General de Gaulle, after which the ships began to return to service.
On August 22, the Emile Bertin departed for Philadelphia for renovations and upgrades. Upon their completion, on January 2, 1944, the cruiser arrived at the Dakar base. From here, the ship made two patrols in the Atlantic, after which it was sent to Algeria.
In April-May 1944, the Émile Bertin made five flights to Naples, transferring French and American troops. Three times in May 1944 he fired at German and Italian troops in the Anzio area, firing almost 400 shells of the main caliber.
On 15 August, Emile Bertin and Dughet-Truin, part of Task Force TF-87 of Rear Admiral Lewis, supported the landing of the 36th US Infantry Division at Camel in Normandy.
The cruiser actively supported the landing, firing more than 600 shells of the main caliber.
On August 17, "Émile Bertin" crossed over to Toulon, where the 1st division of the "Free French" was advancing and there, too, supported the offensive of fellow countrymen. On account of the gunners of the cruiser suppression of the German battery.
Once the cruiser itself was in great danger when a battery of 340-mm guns from Cape Sepet fired three volleys at it. Fortunately, nothing happened.
On August 24, 78 shells of the main caliber destroyed the Italian dry cargo ship Randazzo, which was sitting aground near Nice, as there were fears that the Germans would be able to remove it and flood it as at the port entrance.
In total, until September 1, the cruiser fired more than 1,000 main-caliber shells at the enemy.
The last operation of the Second World War for "Emile Bertin" was the support of the troops in the Livorno region.
After the end of World War II, virtually all combat-ready ships of the French fleet gathered in the Far East. And from one war, France immediately ended up in another - for Indochina. But if in World War II France somehow, but "won", then in Indochina 9 years of war ended in a shameful defeat.
In 1947, "Emile Bertin" was withdrawn from the fleet into reserve, and then became a training ship. For 4 years the ship sailed in the Mediterranean Sea, preparing sailors. Since 1951, the cruiser has become a non-self-propelled training center due to the wear and tear of machines and mechanisms. The last point was set in March 1961, when the ship was sold for scrap.
Bottom line.
In general, a good life for a ship. For French, it turned out gorgeous. The bulk of French warships cannot boast of such successes.
But "Emile Bertin" never became the prototype for a large series of new-generation cruisers. There were too many shortcomings, ships of the La Galissoniere class appeared too quickly, which were more balanced.
"La Galissoniera" surpassed the "Emile Bertin" in everything except speed: in armament, protection, cruising range, seaworthiness.
Yes, "Emile Bertin" was a very innovative ship, but hence there are just a bunch of shortcomings: reservation (more precisely, its complete absence), weak air defense, ineffective fire control. Plus a complex and capricious power plant.
Therefore, the French naval command and preferred "Émile Bertin" "La Galissoniera". But more on that in the next article.
And to all history lovers, I will dare to recommend the excellent work of Sergei Patyanin "Light cruiser" Emile Bertin ". France".
