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French sloop Commandant Dominé

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History
France
NameCommandant Dominé
BuilderAteliers et Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes
Laid downFebruary 1938
Launched2 May 1939
CommissionedApril 1940
Decommissioned18 August 1960
FateScrapped, October 1960
General characteristics
Class and typeÉlan-class minesweeping sloop
Displacement
Length
  • 78.3 m (256 ft 11 in) (o/a)[1]
  • 73.81 m (242 ft 2 in) (p/p)[1]
Beam8.7 m (28 ft 7 in)[1]
Draught3.28 m (10 ft 9 in)[1]
Installed power4,600 bhp (3,430 kW)
Propulsion2 × shafts; 2 × Sulzer diesel engines[1]
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)[1]
Range10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement
  • 88 in peacetime;[2]
  • 104 or 106 during the war[2]
Armament

Commandant Dominé (U70/A15/F742) was a French Élan-class minesweeping sloop (Avisos dragueur de mines) that served in World War II.

Ship history

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Commandant Dominé was built by Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon in Nantes,[3] laid down in February 1938, launched on 2 May 1939[4] and commissioned in April 1940. She was seized by the British on 3 July 1940 and transferred to the Free French Naval Forces,[5] seeing service in the Battle of Dakar ("Operation Menace") in September 1940.

The ship was rearmed by the British in 1941. Her main armament was replaced by twin QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval guns, and she also received a single QF 2-pounder pom-pom[1] AA gun to replace the quadruple 13.2 mm/76 AA guns. She retained her original twin 13.2 mm/76 AA guns, but had an additional four twin and two single 12.7 mm/62 machine guns installed.[1]

Post-war she remained in service with the French Navy.[5] In 1947 she was rearmed again, with a single German 105 mm/45 calibre SK C/32 gun as main armament, a single Bofors 40 mm/60 Mk.3 and four single 20 mm/70 Mk.2 Oerlikons.[1]

Commandant Dominé was decommissioned on 18 August 1960,[5] and scrapped in October 1960.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Le Masson 1969, p. 16.
  2. ^ a b Le Masson 1969, p. 17.
  3. ^ Le Masson 1969, pp. 17–21.
  4. ^ a b Le Masson 1969, p. 18.
  5. ^ a b c "Classe: Élan". users.swing.be (in French). Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2010.

Bibliography

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  • Le Masson, Henri (1969). The French Navy. Navies of the Second World War. Vol. 2. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. pp. 16–22. ISBN 9780356023847.