La Combattante

Sunk

Free French Naval Forces, then French Navy

Type	Destroyer
Class	Hunt (Type III)
War	Second World War
Main guns	4 × 4″ guns

Service

1942–1943	La Combattante Lent to the Free French while completing as HMS Haldon	Free France
from 1943	La Combattante The Free French merged into the French Navy	France

Hunt-class escort destroyer launched as HMS Haldon and lent to the Free French. Fought German torpedo boats and S-boats in the Channel, supported the landings at Juno Beach and on 14 June 1944 carried General de Gaulle back to France. Sunk by a mine or a midget submarine in the North Sea on 23 February 1945.

La Combattante, New Destroyer For Fighting French Navy, Built in British Shipyards. 14 January 1943, La Combattante Has Been Launched in the Presence of Rear-admiral Auboyneau, C-in-c, Fighting French Navy. The French destroyer LA COMBATTANTE. Photo: Beadell, S J (Lt), Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Armament and specifications

Armament

4 × QF 4 in Mark XVI on twin mounts Mk. XIX
4 × QF 2-pounder Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII
1 × QF 2-pounder Mk. VIII on single mount
3 × 20 mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III
2 × tubes for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes
110 depth charges, 4 throwers, 2 racks

Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Glasgow
Laid down	16 January 1941
Launched	27 April 1942
Commissioned	15 December 1942
Displacement	1,050 tons standard; 1,435 tons full load
Length	85.3 m (279 ft 10 in)
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Complement	168

As built, from the ship's Wikipedia article. Figures there may cover later refits too.

Career

Launched

27 April 1942

Joined the French Navy

August 1943 · The Free French merged into the French Navy

Normandy landings

Survived

6 June 1944

Off Juno

Fate

Sunk

Mined 23 February 1945