The Aigle-class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) were built for the French navy during the 1920s. They were very similar to the previous Guepard class, the only difference being improved machinery with higher pressure boilers, offering an additional 0.5 knots of speed and a new model 138 mm gun with a sliding breech block giving a higher rate of fire. The ships were named after birds.
Jürgen Rohwer was a German military historian and professor of history at the University of Stuttgart. Rohwer wrote over 400 books and essays on World War II naval history and military intelligence, which gained him worldwide recognition as a prominent historian and a leading authority on U-boats.
HMS Sportsman was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she spent most of the war serving in the Mediterranean Sea. After an initial patrol off Norway, she sank the heavy transport Général Bonaparte in the Mediterranean in 1943 and missed a French oil tanker. She was heavily damaged after a mistaken attack by an Allied bomber, and was sent east after repairs to participate in operations in the Black Sea. After the operation was cancelled, Sportsman patrolled the Aegean Sea, sending several Greek and German ships to the bottom. She sank the German transport SS Petrella in early 1944 despite it being clearly marked as a prisoner-of-war ship, killing 2,670 out of 3,173 Italians aboard. Sportsman sank several more ships, and suffered minor damage when she was detected and sighted while attempting to attack a convoy.
The French destroyer Milan was one of six Aigle-class destroyer (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1930s.
The French destroyer Bordelais was one of 14 L'Adroit-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
Guépard was the lead ship of her class of destroyers (contre-torpilleur) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
Valmy was one of six Guépard-class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
Verdun was one of six Guépard-class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
Lion was one of six Guépard-class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
The French destroyer Vauban was one of six Guépard-class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
The French destroyer Aigle was the lead ship of her class of destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
The French destroyer Albatros was one of six Aigle-class destroyer (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1930s.
Gerfaut was one of six Aigle-class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy in the interwar period.
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.
Mistral was a Bourrasque-class destroyer built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
Trombe was a Bourrasque-class destroyer built for the French Navy during the 1920s.
Mameluk was one of a dozen Le Hardi-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the late 1930s. The ship was completed during the Battle of France in mid-1940 and her first mission was to help escort an incomplete battleship to French Morocco only days before the French signed an armistice with the Germans in June. She then helped to escort one of the battleships damaged by the British during their July attack on Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, back to France in November. Mameluk returned to Morocco in early 1941 for convoy-escort duties and then was transferred back to France in late 1941.
The French destroyer Lansquenet was one of a dozen Le Hardi-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the late 1930s. Placed into service after the French signed an armistice with the Germans in June 1940, she sailed to French Morocco to avoid capture. In November the ship helped to escort one of the battleships damaged by the British during their July attack on Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, back to France. Placed in reserve afterwards, she was scuttled to prevent her capture when the Germans occupied Vichy France in November 1942. Lansquenet was salvaged in 1943 by the Regia Marina and captured by the Germans after the Italian armistice in September. They scuttled the ship in Italy in 1945; she was refloated in 1946, but was never repaired. She was stricken in 1958, then scrapped.
France
