French destroyer Sakalave

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Sakalave.

Sakalave near Le Havre in 1921
History
France
Name	Sakalave
Namesake	Sakalava people
Ordered	1916
Builder	Maizuru Naval Arsenal, Maizuru, Japan
Laid down	1917
Launched	1917
Completed	1917
In service	9 November 1917
Stricken	14 June 1936
Fate	Scrapped after 1936
General characteristics
Class & type	Arabe-class destroyer
Displacement	685  t (674 long tons)
Length	82.26 m (269 ft 11 in) (o/a)
Beam	7.33 m (24 ft 1 in)
Draft	2.39 m (7 ft 10 in)
Installed power	4 Kampon water-tube boilers 10,000  PS (7,400  kW; 9,900  ihp)
Propulsion	3 shafts; 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range	2,000  nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	109
Armament	1 × single 120 mm (4.7 in) gun 4 × single 76 mm (3 in) guns 2 × twin 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes

The French destroyer Sakalave was one of a dozen Arabe-class destroyers built for the French Navy in Japan during the First World War.

Design and description

The Arabe-class ships had an overall length of 82.26 meters (269 ft 11 in), a length between perpendiculars of 79.4 meters (260 ft 6 in), a beam of 7.33 meters (24 ft 1 in), and a draft of 2.39 meters (7 ft 10 in). ^[1] The ships displaced 865 metric tons (851 long tons ) at normal load. ^[2] They were powered by three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four mixed-firing Kampon Yarrow-type boilers. The engines were designed to produce 10,000 metric horsepower (7,400  kW ; 9,900  ihp ), which would propel the ships at 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). During their sea trials, the Arabe class reached 29.16–30.44 knots (54.00–56.37 km/h; 33.56–35.03 mph). ^[3] The ships carried enough coal and fuel oil which gave them a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). ^[4] Their crew consisted of 5 officers and 104 crewmen. ^[5]

The main armament of the Arabe-class ships was a single Type 41 12-centimeter (4.7 in) gun, mounted before the bridge on the forecastle. Their secondary armament consisted of four Type 41 76-millimeter (3 in) guns in single mounts; two of these were positioned abreast the middle funnel and the others were on the centerline further aft. One of these latter guns was on a high-angle mount and served as an anti-aircraft gun. The ships carried two above-water twin mounts for 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. In 1917–18, a rack for eight 75-kilogram (165 lb) depth charges was added. ^[6]

Construction and career

Sakalave was ordered from Maizuru Naval Arsenal ^[4] and was launched in 1917 and was completed on 9 November of that year. ^[7] During the Russian Civil War on January 9, 1921, she participated in an action during which the Soviet Elpidifor-class gunboat KL No. 7 (ex-Elpidifor No. 415) was damaged at Anapa in the Black Sea and caused the ship to be beached and abandoned.

Citations

1. Garier, p. 33
2. Smigielski, p. 205
3. Garier, pp. 34, 36
4. Couhat, p. 118
5. Garier, p. 37
6. Garier, pp. 36–37
7. Garier, p. 34

References

• Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN   0-7110-0445-5.
• Garier, Gérard (March 2001). "Les torpilleurs d'escadre français de construction japonaise: Le type 'Algérien' (1917 / 1936)". Navires & Historie. 06: 33–51. ISSN   1280-4290.
• Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5267-4533-0.
• Smigielski, Adam (1985). "France". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 190–220. ISBN   0-85177-245-5.

External links

• naval-history.net