French frigate Tunisien

History
United States
Name	USS Crosley
Namesake	Walter Selywn Crosley
Builder	Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware
Laid down	23 June 1943
Launched	17 December 1943
Commissioned	10 February 1944
Identification	DE-108
Fate	Transferred to Free France, 11 February 1944
Stricken	14 May 1952
Free France
Name	Tunisien
Namesake	Tunisian
Acquired	12 February 1944
Identification	T23
France
Name	Tunisien (T23)
Namesake	Tunisian
Acquired	14 October 1945
Reclassified	Tunisien (F06); Tunisien (F706);
Fate	Returned to the US Navy in May 1964
General characteristics
Class and type	Cannon-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,240 long tons (1,260 t) standard; 1,620 long tons (1,646 t) full;
Length	306 ft (93 m) o/a; 300 ft (91 m) w/l;
Beam	36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft	8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
Propulsion	4 × GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW), 2 screws
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	10,800 nmi (20,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	15 officers and 201 enlisted
Armament	3 × single Mk.22 3"/50 caliber guns; 1 × twin 40 mm Mk.1 AA gun; 8 × 20 mm Mk.4 AA guns; 3 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 1 × Hedgehog Mk.10 anti-submarine mortar; 8 × Mk.6 depth charge projectors; 2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks;

Tunisien (T23, F706), was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the Free French Naval Forces and the French Navy from 1944 to 1964. She was scrapped in 1964.

History

World War II

The ship was originally built as USS Crosley (DE-108), an American named for Rear Admiral Walter Selywn Crosley. Crosley was transferred to the Free French Naval Forces under lend lease on 12 February 1944, and renamed Tunisien (T23).

Tunisien participated in Operation Anvil-Dragoon on 15 August 1944.^[2]

Ownership of the vessel was transferred to France on 21 April 1952 under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program.

Algerian War

Tunisien participated in the Algerian War in 1956.^[3] She was decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Navy in 1964 and scrapped.

References

^ "ex-Crosley (DE 108)". Navsource.org. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
^ "Tunisien". Alamer.fr. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
^ "HMS Tunisien F706 ex DE108". Desausa.org. Archived from the original on 6 November 2003. Retrieved 24 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)