Mogador

Mogador was the lead ship of the French Navy's of destroyers. Named after the Moroccan town, she was built before the outbreak of World War II. The ship was heavily damaged during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July 1940, but was later repaired and sailed to Toulon. She was scuttled in Toulon Harbor when the Germans tried to seize her, along with the rest of the fleet, on 27 November 1942. The Mogador and her sister Volta were the last contre-torpilleurs built by the French Navy, a not entirely successful attempt to build a ship capable of out-fighting every other ship below her tonnage. "In technological terms Mogador and Volta were ships with the armament of a light cruiser in the hull of destroyer; the contre-torpilleur as a type had been pushed past the limits of its capabilities." Design and description Mogador had an overall length of , a beam of , and a maximum draft of . She displaced at standard load and at deep load. The Rateau-Bretagne geared steam turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ship at . However, during sea trials in March 1938, Mogadors turbines provided and she reached for one hour. The ship carried of fuel oil at normal load and an additional at deep load. Mogador carried eight Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1929 in four twin turrets, two each superimposed, fore and aft. Her anti-aircraft armament consisted of two Mle 1933 guns in a single mount positioned on the rear deck house forward of the rear turrets. She also mounted four Mle 1929 heavy machine guns in two twin mounts located between the forward superstructure and the forward guns. Mogador carried 10 above-water torpedo tubes: a pair of triple mounts between the funnels and a pair of double mounts aft of the rear funnel. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into Mogadors stern; these housed a total of 16 Guirard depth charges. Mine rails were fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 40 mines.