French sloop Commandant Dominé

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

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

Ship history

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
  1. Le Masson 1969, p. 16.
  2. Le Masson 1969, p. 17.
  3. Le Masson 1969, pp. 17–21.
  4. Le Masson 1969, p. 18.
  5. "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.
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