View source for French destroyer Maillé Brézé (1931)

{{Short description|French Navy's Vauquelin-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|French ship Maillé Brézé}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{good article}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=File:Vauquelin 1934 NH 93317.jpg
|Ship caption=[[Sister ship]] ''Vauquelin'', about 1934
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=France
|Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|France|naval}}
|Ship name=''Maillé Brézé''
|Ship namesake=[[Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé]], Duc de Fronsac
|Ship ordered=1 February 1930
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët]], [[Saint-Nazaire]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=9 October 1930
|Ship launched=9 November 1931
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=6 April 1933
|Ship commissioned=31 December 1932
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=23 April 1933
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship fate=Lost by accidental explosion, 30 April 1940
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Vauquelin|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|2441|t|LT|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{convert|3120|t|LT|abbr=on}} ([[deep load]])
|Ship length= {{convert|129.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|11.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|4.97|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=*4 [[du Temple boiler]]s
*{{convert|64000|PS|kW shp|lk=on|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts; 2 geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship speed= {{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship crew=12 officers, 220 crewmen (wartime)
|Ship range={{convert|3000|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|14|kn}}
|Ship armament=*5 × single [[Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1927|{{convert|138.6|mm|abbr=on|1}} guns]]
*4 × single [[Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925|{{convert|37|mm|abbr=on|1}}]] [[anti-aircraft gun]]s
*2 × twin [[Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun|{{convert|13.2|mm|abbr=on|2}}]] [[anti-aircraft machinegun]]s
*1 × triple, 2 × twin {{convert|550|mm|abbr=on|1}} [[torpedo tube]]s
*2 chutes and 2 throwers for 36 [[depth charge]]s
*40 [[naval mine|mines]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''''Maillé Brézé''''' was one of six {{sclass|Vauquelin|destroyer}}s ({{lang|fr|contre-torpilleurs}}) built for the [[French Navy]] ({{lang|fr|Marine Nationale}}) during the 1930s. The ship entered service in 1933 and spent most of her career in the Mediterranean, sometimes as a [[flagship]]. During the [[Spanish Civil War]] of 1936–1939, she was one of the ships that helped to enforce the [[Non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War|non-intervention agreement]]. When France declared war on [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] in September 1939, all of the ''Vauquelin''s were assigned to the High Sea Forces ({{lang|fr|[[Forces de haute mer]]}} (FHM)) which was tasked to escort French convoys and support the other commands as needed. ''Maillé Brézé'' accordingly spent most of the next six months on escort duties. She played a minor role in the [[Norwegian Campaign]] before she was lost in an accidental explosion in April 1940. Most of her crew survived the incident; her wreck was not [[Marine salvage|salvaged]] until 1954 and was subsequently [[ship breaking|scrapped]].

==Design and description==
[[File:Recognition drawing of a French 2400-tonne class destroyer c1941.png|thumb|left|Right elevation and plan of the ''Vauquelin'' class]]
The ''Vauquelin''-class ships were designed as improved versions of the preceding {{sclass|Aigle|destroyer|2}}s. They had an [[length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|129.3|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|11.8|m|ftin|sp=us}},<ref>Jordan & Moulin, p. 112</ref> and a [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|4.97|m|ftin|sp=us}}. The ships displaced {{convert|2441|t|LT|sp=us|lk=on}} at [[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]]<ref>Chesneau, p. 268</ref> and {{convert|3120|t|LT|sp=us}} at [[deep load]]. They were powered by two geared [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company|Parsons]] [[steam turbine]]s, each driving one [[propeller shaft]], using steam provided by four [[du Temple boiler]]s. The turbines were designed to produce {{convert|64000|PS|kW shp|lk=on|sp=us}}, which would propel the ships at {{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}. During her [[sea trial]]s on 5 October 1932, ''Maillé Brézé''{{'}}s turbines provided {{cvt|69362|PS|kW shp}} and she reached {{convert|40.3|kn}} for a single hour. The ships carried enough [[fuel oil]] to give them a range of {{convert|3000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|14|kn}}. Their crew consisted of 10 officers and 201 crewmen in peacetime and 12 officers and 220 enlisted men in wartime.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 112, 116</ref>

The main armament of the ''Vauquelin''-class ships consisted of five [[Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1927|{{convert|138.6|mm|in|1|sp=us|adj=on}} Modèle 1927]] guns in single [[gun shield|shielded]] mounts, one [[superfiring]] pair fore and aft of the [[superstructure]] and the fifth gun [[abaft]] the aft [[funnel (ship)|funnel]]. Their [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft (AA)]] armament consisted of four [[Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925|{{convert|37|mm|in|1|adj=on|sp=us}} Modèle 1927]] AA guns in single mounts positioned [[amidships]] and two twin mounts for [[Hotchkiss et Cie|Hotchkiss]] [[Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun|{{convert|13.2|mm|in|2|adj=on|sp=us}} Modèle 1929]] AA [[machine gun]]s on the [[forecastle]] deck abreast the [[bridge (nautical)|bridge]]. The ships carried two above-water twin mounts for {{convert|550|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us|1}} [[torpedo tube]]s, one pair on each [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]] between each pair of funnels as well as one triple mount aft of the rear pair of funnels able to [[Traverse (gunnery)|traverse]] to both sides. A pair of [[depth charge]] chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of sixteen {{convert|200|kg|sp=us|adj=on}} depth charges, with eight more in reserve. They were also fitted with a pair of depth-charge throwers, one on each broadside abreast the aft funnels, for which they carried a dozen {{convert|100|kg|sp=us|adj=on}} depth charges. The ships could be fitted with rails to drop forty {{convert|530|kg|sp=us|adj=on}} Breguet B4 [[naval mine|mines]]. The depth-charge throwers were removed in 1936 and more 200-kilogram depth charges were carried in their place.<ref>Jordan & Moulin 2015, pp. 112, 120, 124–125</ref>

==Construction and career==
''Maillé Brézé'', named after [[Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé]], was ordered on 1 February 1930 from [[Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët]] as part of the 1929 Naval Program. She was [[laid down]] at their [[Saint-Nazaire]] [[shipyard]] on 9 October 1930, [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 9 November 1931, [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 31 December 1932 and entered service on 6 April 1933. Her entry into service was delayed for several months by a problems with one of her turbines and she wrapped a chain around her propeller during her sea trials.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 109–110</ref>

When the ''Vauquelin''s entered service they were assigned to the 5th and the newly formed 6th Light Divisions ({{lang|fr|Division légère}} (DL)) which were later redesignated as scout divisions ({{lang|fr|Division de contre-torpilleurs}}). ''Maillé Brézé'' and her [[sister ship]]s {{ship|French destroyer|Vauquelin|1931|2}} and {{ship|French destroyer|Kersaint|1931|2}} were assigned to the 6th DL of the 2nd Light Squadron ({{lang|fr|2<sup>e</sup> Escadre légère}} of the 2nd Squadron ({{lang|fr|2<sup>e</sup> Escadre}}), based in [[Brest, France|Brest]]. The 6th DL was transferred to the group of large destroyers ({{lang|fr|Groupe de contre-torpilleurs}} (GCT) of the 1st Squadron ({{lang|fr|1<sup>e</sup> Escadre}}) in [[Military port of Toulon|Toulon]] in October 1934 and it was renumbered as the 9th. On 27 June 1935, all of the ''Vauquelin''s, except {{ship|French destroyer|Cassard|1931|2}}, participated in a [[naval review]] conducted by the [[List of Naval Ministers of France|Navy Minister]] ({{lang|fr|Ministre de la Marine}}) [[François Piétri]] in the [[Baie de Douarnenez]] after combined maneuvers by the 1st and 2nd Squadrons.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 206–208, 213–215</ref>

After the start of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, ''Maillé Brézé'' was among the ships assigned to evacuate French citizens from Spain on 22 July; she was then transferred to the [[Tangier International Zone]] in Morocco to patrol the surveillance zones assigned to France. After 24 September most of the {{lang|fr|contre-torpilleurs}} and destroyers in the Mediterranean were assigned these tasks on a monthly rotation as part of the non-intervention policy. On 18 January 1937 the ship was unsuccessfully attacked by a [[Spanish Republican Air Force]] bomber off the coast of [[Catalonia]].<ref>Jordan & Moulin, p. 218</ref>

As of 1 October 1936 ''Maillé Brézé'', ''Kersaint'' and ''Cassard'' were assigned to the 9th DL while ''Vauquelin'', {{ship|French destroyer|Tartu|1931|2}} and {{ship|French destroyer|Chevalier Paul|1932|2}} belonged to the 5th, both of which were assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron as the 1st Squadron was now known. The 9th DL participated in a naval review held by the Navy Minister [[Alphonse Gasnier-Duparc]] in Brest on 27 May 1937. The following year the Mediterranean Squadron cruised the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] in May–June 1938. ''Maillé Brézé'' became flagship of the 3rd Light Squadron, as the GCT had been redesignated, on 12 October. The Mediterranean Squadron was redesignated at the Mediterranean Fleet ({{lang|fr|Flotte de la Méditerranée}}) on 1 July 1939.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 206–208, 213–215, 218</ref>

===World War II===
On 27 August, in anticipation of war with Nazi Germany, the French Navy planned to reorganize the Mediterranean Squadron into the FHM of three squadrons. When France declared war on 3 September, the reorganization was ordered and the 3rd Light Squadron, which included the 5th and 9th Scout Divisions with all of the ''Vauquelin''-class ships, was assigned to the 3rd Squadron which was transferred to [[Oran]], [[French Algeria]], on 3 September. The 9th Scout Division with ''Maillé Brézé'', ''Kersaint'' and ''Cassard'' was assigned to escort duties until April 1940. In mid-October 1939 ''Maillé Brézé'' and ''Vauquelin'' escorted the [[heavy cruiser]]s {{Ship|French cruiser|Algérie||2}} and {{Ship|French cruiser|Dupleix|1930|2}} to [[Dakar]], [[French West Africa]], and then escorted a convoy back home. On 22 December ''Maillé Brézé'', ''Kersaint'' and the large destroyers {{ship|French destroyer|Albatros||2}}, {{ship|French destroyer|Vauban||2}} and {{ship|French destroyer|Bison|1928|2}} rendezvoused with Force Z, the [[battleship]] {{ship|French battleship|Lorraine||2}} and the light cruisers {{Ship|French cruiser|Jean de Vienne||2}} and {{Ship|French cruiser|Marseillaise|1935|2}}, which was escorting four [[cargo ship]]s loaded with American aircraft to [[Casablanca]], [[French Morocco]]. Together with the large destroyers {{ship|French destroyer|Vautour||2}} and ''Albatros'', ''Maillé Brézé'' rendezvoused with the heavy cruisers {{ship|French cruiser|Foch||2}} and ''Dupleix'' on 13 February 1940 as they escorted three more freighters loaded with American aircraft to Casablanca. The following month, ''Maillé Brézé'' was briefly one of the escorts for ''Algérie'' and the battleship {{ship|French battleship|Bretagne}} as they ferried 2,379 bars of gold to [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax]], Canada.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 222–224; Rohwer, p. 16</ref>

[[File:Maillé Brézé NH 86537.jpg|thumb|''Maillé Brézé'' on fire and sinking, 30 April 1940]]
On 5 April the 5th Scout Division with ''Maillé Brézé'', ''Tartu'' and ''Chevalier Paul'' was assigned to Force Z in anticipation of an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Plan R 4|invasion of Norway]]; their mission was to escort convoys between Scotland and Norway. The [[Operation Weserübung|German invasion]] on 9 April preempted the Allies and ''Tartu'' did not begin her escort duties until mid-April when she covered Convoy FP-1 transporting the 5th Demi-Brigade of Mountain Infantry ({{lang|fr|5<sup>e</sup> Demi-Brigade de Chasseurs alpins}}) to participate in the [[Namsos Campaign]] on 19 April; the {{GS|U-46|1938|6}} unsuccessfully attacked ''Maillé Brézé'' with one torpedo and was unsuccessfully depth charged by her.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, p. 226; Rohwer, p. 20</ref>

On 30 April 1940, at 14:15, as ''Maillé Brézé'' was anchored at the [[Tail of the Bank]], [[Firth of Clyde]] off [[Greenock]], Scotland, a torpedo tube malfunctioned while undergoing maintenance and launched an armed torpedo onto the deck which struck the aft end of the forecastle. The detonation set fire to the fuel tanks and the forward [[magazine (artillery)#Naval magazines|magazine]], which however did not explode. At 15:15, the crew abandoned ship due to the danger of explosion, except for numerous sailors trapped in the mess hall. Around 16:30, a few sailors returned to the ship to flood the aft magazine, and by 19:30 the fire was controlled by the Greenock firemen. By that time, ''Maillé Brézé'' was so low in the water that she began sinking before she could be towed, and she went down with those still trapped in the forward part. The accident killed 37 and wounded 47 crewmen. Although the ship was well off the main shipping channel when she sank, by 1953 the [[Department for Transport|Ministry of Transport]] was concerned about unstable ammunition and leakage of her remaining fuel oil and requested that the [[Board of Admiralty|Admiralty]] assess the feasibility of raising the wreck. After cutting away most of her superstructure to reduce the weight of the [[silt]]-filled ship, her hull was first lifted on the night of 3/4 August 1954. After grounding her on a nearby beach where {{cvt|40|LT|t|0}} of ammunition and {{cvt|500|LT|t|0}} of fuel oil were removed, the ship was refloated and towed to [[Port Glasgow]] on 15 September where she was broken up.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Buxton|first=Ian| year=1992 |title=Question 6/89|journal=Warship International|publisher=International Naval Research Organization|volume=XXIX|issue=1|page=101|issn=0043-0374}}</ref><ref>{{Canmore | num=102453|desc=Fs Maille Breze: Tail Of The Bank, Upper Firth Of Clyde| access-date=29 October 2021}}</ref><ref>Jordan & Moulin, p. 227</ref>

==Memories and memorials==
[[File:Free French Memorial Greenock.jpg|thumb|right|The sinking is unofficially remembered in the Inverclyde area in relation to the Free French Memorial]]
Greenockian May Watson recalled in an interview sixty years after the event that she clearly remembered being in an art class at school at the time, and "we just heard this tremendous bang and we all wondered what it was. It was a bang that we had never heard before, really dreadful. We were excited and afraid at the same time wondering what this big bang was". When she went home, she was told that "Some of the sailors were killed and others managed to swim to safety but even those sailors were badly injured in the blast. The sailors were brought ashore and were taken to halls in Greenock. A lot of the ladies in the town went along to the halls and helped to bathe their wounds until they could be taken to hospital — the old [[Greenock Royal Infirmary]] in Duncan Street."<ref name="GWD">{{cite web | author=Greenock War Detectives project | title=WW2 People's War - Free French Navy in Inverclyde | website=BBC Scotland | date=15 October 2014 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/30/a9011530.shtml | access-date=9 January 2017}}</ref>

She said that the "dead were buried in Greenock cemetery until 1946 when the bodies were returned to France. There was a service for those who had died in St. Mary’s church." Her recollection was that the [[Free French Memorial, Greenock]], was erected on [[Lyle Hill]] in memory of the dead of the ''Maillé Brézé''.<ref name="GWD" /> This remains a common belief in the [[Inverclyde]] area, but is incorrect as the sinking occurred a few months before the [[Free French Naval Forces]] came into being, and there is no mention of the ship or its sailors on the monument. There is a more modest memorial to the lost crew of the ''Maillé Brézé'' at [[Brookwood Cemetery]], Surrey, England.<ref>[http://www.wyrdlight.com/brookcwgc/embedpoptextFF3.html French Destroyer Maille Breze - Memorial]</ref><ref>Jeffrey, p. 21</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
*{{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Jeffrey|title=Scotland's Cruel Sea: Heroism and Disaster off the Scottish Coast|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX8vBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT21|year= 2014|publisher=Black & White Publishing|location=Edinburgh, Scotland|isbn=978-1-84502-887-9}}
*{{cite book|last1=Jordan|first1=John|last2=Moulin|first2=Jean|title=French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956|year=2015|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-198-4 |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|author-link=Michael J. Whitley|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1988 |isbn=0-87021-326-1 |location=Annapolis, Maryland}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Sweeney |first1=Patrick |title=Question 6/89 |journal=Warship International |date=1991 |volume=XXVIII |issue=1 |page=91 |issn=0043-0374}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.hmsfiredrake.co.uk/firedrake18.htm The Tragedy of the Maillé Brézé]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6042.html Maillé Brézé on Uboat.net]

{{Vauquelin class destroyer}}
{{April 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maille Breze}}
[[Category:World War II destroyers of France]]
[[Category:Vauquelin-class destroyers]]
[[Category:1931 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1940]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Firth of Clyde]]