French sloop Commandant Dominé

History

France
Name	Commandant Dominé
Builder	Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes
Laid down	February 1938
Launched	2 May 1939
Commissioned	April 1940
Decommissioned	18 August 1960
Fate	Scrapped, October 1960
General characteristics
Class and type	Élan-class minesweeping sloop
Displacement	630 or 647 t (620 or 637 long tons) (standard) 890 t (876 long tons) to 900 t (886 long tons) (deep load)
Length	78.3 m (256 ft 11 in) (o/a) 73.81 m (242 ft 2 in) (p/p)
Beam	8.7 m (28 ft 7 in)
Draught	3.28 m (10 ft 9 in)
Installed power	4,600 bhp (3,430 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 × Sulzer diesel engines
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement	88 in peacetime; 104 or 106 during the war
Armament	As built: 1 × single M1892 or M1932 100 mm/45 gun or 1 × twin M1926 90 mm/50 guns 1 × quad 13.2 mm/76 AA gun 2 × twin 13.2 mm/76 AA guns 2 depth charge throwers 1 depth charge rack

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

Ship history

Commandant Dominé was built by Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon in Nantes, laid down in February 1938, launched on 2 May 1939 and commissioned in April 1940. She was seized by the British on 3 July 1940 and transferred to the Free French Naval Forces, 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 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.

Post-war she remained in service with the French Navy. 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.

Commandant Dominé was decommissioned on 18 August 1960, and scrapped in October 1960.

Notes

^ Le Masson 1969, p. 16.
^ Le Masson 1969, p. 17.
Le Masson 1969, pp. 17–21.
^ Le Masson 1969, p. 18.
^ "Classe: Élan". users.swing.be (in French). Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2010.

Bibliography

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.

v t e Élan-class sloops
French Navy	Élan La Batailleuse La Boudeuse La Capricieuse Commandant Bory Commandant Delage Commandant Dominé Commandant Duboc Commandant Rivière La Curieuse La Gracieuse L'Impétueuse La Moqueuse
Royal Navy	La Capricieuse
Regia Marina	FR 51 (ex-La Batailleuse) FR 52 (ex-Commandant Rivière) FR 54 (ex-L'Impétueuse) FR 55 (ex-La Curieuse)
Kriegsmarine	SG23 / UJ2331 (ex-La Batailleuse, ex-FR 51) SG25 (ex-La Curieuse, ex-FR 55)
Preceded by: Chamois class Followed by: Cannon class
List of French modern frigates

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