Léopard

Wrecked

French Navy, then Free French Naval Forces

Type	Destroyer
Class	Chacal
War	Second World War
Main guns	5 × 5.1″ guns

Service

to 1940	Léopard	France
from 1940	Léopard Seized by the British and manned by the Free French	Free France

Large destroyer seized by the British at Portsmouth in July 1940 and manned by the Free French. Escorted Atlantic convoys and sank U-136 with Spey and Pelican in 1942; took Réunion for the Free French in November 1942. Ran aground near Tobruk on 27 May 1943 and was wrecked.

The Free French destroyer Léopard on 6 June 1942, following refit in the United Kingdom in which her forward stack and boilers were removed, fuel stowage increased and additional anti-aircraft guns fitted. Note her British-style pattern camouflage. Photo: U.S. Navy, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Armament and specifications

Armament

5 × single 130 mm (5.1 in) guns
2 × single 75 mm (3.0 in) anti-aircraft guns
2 × triple 550 mm (21.7 in) torpedo tubes
2 chutes; four throwers for 46 depth charges

Builder	Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire
Laid down	14 August 1923
Launched	29 September 1924
Commissioned	15 November 1927
Displacement	2,126 t (2,092 long tons) (standard) 2,980–3,075 t (2,933–3,026 long tons) (full load)
Length	126.8 m (416 ft 0.1 in)
Speed	35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph)

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

Career

Launched

29 September 1924

Seizure of the French ships in Britain

Captured

3 July 1940

At Portsmouth

Joined the Free French Naval Forces

July 1940 · Seized by the British and manned by the Free French

Fate

Wrecked

Ran aground and wrecked, 27 May 1943