French destroyer Vauquelin (1931)

Vauquelin in 1934
History
France
Name	Vauquelin
Namesake	Jean Vauquelin
Ordered	1 February 1930
Builder	Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk
Laid down	13 March 1930
Launched	29 September 1932
Completed	3 November 1933
Commissioned	1 June 1933
In service	28 March 1934
Fate	Scuttled, 27 November 1942
General characteristics
Class and type	Vauquelin-class destroyer
Displacement	2,441 t (2,402 long tons) (standard) 3,120 t (3,070 long tons) (deep load)
Length	129.3 m (424 ft 3 in)
Beam	11.8 m (38 ft 9 in)
Draft	4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)
Installed power	4 du Temple boilers 64,000 PS (47,000 kW; 63,000 shp)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Crew	12 officers, 224 crewmen (wartime)
Armament	5 × single 138.6 mm (5.5 in) guns 4 × single 37 mm (1.5 in) anti-aircraft guns 2 × twin 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft machineguns 1 × triple, 2 × twin 550 mm (21.7 in) torpedo tubes 2 chutes and 2 throwers for 36 depth charges 40 mines

The French destroyer Vauquelin was the lead ship of her class of six large destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) during the 1930s. The ship entered service in 1934 and spent most of her career in the Mediterranean. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, she was one of the ships that helped to enforce the non-intervention agreement. When France declared war on Germany in September 1939, all of the Vauquelins were assigned to the High Sea Forces (Forces de haute mer (FHM)) which was tasked to escort French convoys and support the other commands as needed. Vauquelin escorted a pair of heavy cruisers to French West Africa, but otherwise remained in the Mediterranean for the duration of the war.

The Vichy French reformed the FHM after the French surrender in June. She ferried ammunition to French Lebanon after it was invaded by the Allied forces in June 1941 and then unsuccessfully attempted to transport reinforcements there the following month. Vauquelin was scuttled in Toulon when the Germans occupied Vichy France in November 1942. Damaged during an Allied air raid, the ship was not significantly salvaged during the war and her wreck was broken up in 1951.