HMAS Adelaide was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), named after Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Laid down in 1915, wartime shortages and design modifications meant the ship was not completed until 1922, earning her the nickname "HMAS Longdelayed".
HMS Cornwall, pennant number 56, was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Kent sub-class built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship spent most of her pre-World War II career assigned to the China Station. Shortly after the war began in August 1939, she was assigned to search for German commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean. Cornwall was transferred to the South Atlantic in late 1939 where she escorted convoys before returning to the Indian Ocean in 1941. She then sank the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin in May. After the start of the Pacific War in December 1941, she began escorting convoys until she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in March 1942. The ship was sunk on 5 April by dive bombers from three Japanese aircraft carriers during the Indian Ocean Raid.
The Battle of Ko Chang took place on 17 January 1941 during the Franco-Thai War in which a flotilla of French warships attacked a smaller force of Thai vessels, including a coastal defence ship. The battle resulted in a tactical victory by the French Navy over the Royal Thai Navy although the strategic result is disputed. The Japanese intervened diplomatically and mediated a ceasefire which was in Thailand's favor as all disputed territories in French Indochina were ceded by Vichy France to Thailand. In the end, two Thai ships were sunk and one was heavily damaged. Within a month of the engagement, the French and the Thais negotiated a peace which ended the war.
The La Galissonnière-class cruisers were commissioned by the French Navy in the 1930s. They were the last French cruisers completed after 1935, until the completion of De Grasse in 1956. They are considered fast, reliable and successful light cruisers. Two cruisers of this class, Georges Leygues and Montcalm, took part in the defence of Dakar in late September 1940 during World War II. With the cruiser Gloire, they joined the Allied forces after the successful Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942. The three other cruisers of the La Galissonière class, held under Vichy control at Toulon, were scuttled on 27 November 1942.
The Bougainville class was a group of colonial avisos, or sloops, built for the French Navy during the 1930s. They were designed to operate in the remote locations of the French Empire.
French Flower-class corvettes were those ships of the Flower class built for, or operated by, the French Navy and Free French Naval Forces in World War II. At the outbreak of the war, four anti-submarine warfare ships were ordered from a British shipyard, and a further 18 ships were later ordered from several British and French shipyards. Following the Fall of France in June 1940, the ships in Britain were taken over by the Royal Navy, while those in France fell into German hands. Eight other Flowers were later transferred to the Free French Naval Forces.
D'Entrecasteaux was an Bougainville-class aviso of the French Navy launched in 1931. The ship was designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa. She was posted at Madagascar, under Vichy French control during World War II.
Savorgnan de Brazza was one of eight Bougainville-class avisos built for the French Navy in the 1930s. Completed in 1933, she was assigned to the Far Eastern Naval Division where she cruised amongst the islands of French Polynesia and the coast of French Indochina. The ship returned to France following the beginning of World War II in 1939 and played a minor role in the Dunkirk evacuation in May–June 1940 after the Germans invaded France. Savorgnan de Brazza sailed to Britain to avoid capture later in June.
Bougainville was a Bougainville-class aviso of the French Navy launched on 25 April 1931 and commissioned on 15 February 1933. The ship was designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa and initially stationed in the Indian Ocean. In 1935 it was transferred for service in the eastern and southern Mediterranean, and in early 1939 to Djibouti, returning to Toulon escorting a group of submarines after the outbreak of World War II.
Amiral Charner was a Bougainville-class aviso of the French Navy launched on 7 October 1932. She was designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa. During the Franco-Thai War, she participated in the Battle of Koh Chang during the night of 16–17 January 1941. She was scuttled in the Mỹ Tho River in French Indochina on 10 March 1945.
D′Iberville was a French Navy Bougainville-class aviso, designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa. She was launched on 23 September 1934.
La Grandière was an Bougainville-class aviso of the French Navy, designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa. She was ordered under the 1937 programme and launched on 22 June 1939 as Ville d'Ys, but completed as La Grandière.
The Élan class was a class of French minesweeping sloops. Originally designed as minesweepers, they were never used in that role, instead being used mostly as escort vessels. Built between 1936 and 1940, the first came into service just before the outbreak of World War II.
Commandant Dominé (U70/A15/F742) was a French Élan-class minesweeping sloop that served in World War II.
The Chamois class were French minesweeping sloops ordered between 1935 and 1939. They were similar in design to the Élan class, and like them classed as minesweepers, but were actually used as anti-submarine ships, convoy escorts and patrol vessels.
Tramontane was a Bourrasque-class destroyer built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
Tornade was a Bourrasque-class destroyer built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
Siroco was one of a dozen Le Hardi-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the late 1930s under the name Le Corsaire. Although she was still under construction during the Battle of France, the ship sailed to French Algeria to avoid capture by the Germans. She was renamed Siroco in early 1941 while still under construction and was completed later that year and immediately placed in reserve. The destroyer was one of the ships scuttled to prevent their capture in November 1942 when the Germans occupied Vichy France. Siroco was salvaged by the Regia Marina and towed to Italy in 1943. Captured by the Germans after the Italian armistice in September, the ship was scuttled by the Germans in late 1944 and later scrapped.
La Bastiaise was a Flower-class corvette of the French Navy. The ship was built by the British shipyard Smiths Dock in their Middlesbrough shipyard, and was completed in June 1940, just before the French Armistice with Germany. She was sunk by a mine on 22 June 1940 during sea trials.
The Arras class, sometimes known as the Amiens class, were a series of aviso built for the French Navy at the end of World War I.
France
