French destroyer Mistral

Sister ship Ouragan underway before 1942
History
France
Name	Mistral
Namesake	Mistral
Ordered	5 March 1923
Laid down	28 November 1923
Launched	6 June 1925
Completed	1 June 1927
Commissioned	5 April 1927
In service	21 January 1928
Fate	Constructive total loss 10 June 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Template:Sclass-
Displacement	1,320 t (1,300 long tons) (standard) 1,825 t (1,796 long tons) (full load)
Length	105.6 m (346 ft 5.5 in)
Beam	9.7 m (31 ft 9.9 in)
Draft	3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in)
Installed power	31,000 PS (22,800 kW; 30,576 shp) 3 du Temple boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 geared steam turbines
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range	3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Crew	9 officers, 153 crewmen (wartime)
Armament	4 × single 130 mm (5.1 in) guns 1 × single 75 mm (3.0 in) anti-aircraft guns 2 × triple 550 mm (21.7 in) torpedo tubes 2 chutes for 16 depth charges

Mistral was a Template:Sclass- (torpilleur d'escadre) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.

When France surrendered to Germany in June 1940 during World War II, Mistral sought refuge at Plymouth Dockyard in Devon, England. On 3 July 1940, the British executed Operation Catapult, in which they seized or destroyed French warships in French and British ports to prevent them from falling into German or Vichy French hands. That day, Mistral was partially scuttled at Plymouth during the operation. The British later salvaged her and placed her in Royal Navy service as HMS Mistral. Eventually, the British transferred her to the control of the Free French Naval Forces.

Operating with the Free French Naval Forces in support of the Allied invasion of Normandy, Mistral was damaged by German artillery fire in the English Channel off Quinéville, Manche, France, on 10 June 1944. She was declared a constructive total loss.

References

• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Jordan, John; Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.