French cruiser Montcalm (1935)
{{other ships|French ship Montcalm}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=French Cruiser Montcalm 19-N-48987.jpg |Ship caption=Montcalm in 1943 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=France |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|France|naval}} {{shipboxflag|Free France|naval}} |Ship name= Montcalm |Ship namesake=Louis-Joseph de Montcalm |Ship owner= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée (La Seyne-sur-Mer, France) |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=15 November 1933 |Ship launched=26 October 1935 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=15 November 1937 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=1 May 1957 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed=Q457 31 December 1969 |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Scrapped 1970 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|La Galissonnière|cruiser}} |Ship type= |Ship displacement=*{{convert|7600|t|LT}} (standard)
|Ship length={{cvt|179|m|ftin}} |Ship beam={{cvt|17.5|m|ftin}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{cvt|5.35|m|ftin}} |Ship depth= |Ship decks= |Ship power={{cvt|84000|shp|lk=on}} |Ship propulsion=*2 x Parsons single reduction geared turbines
|Ship speed={{convert|31|kn|lk=on}} |Ship range=*{{convert|7000|nmi|lk=on}} at {{convert|12|kn}}
|Ship endurance= |Ship complement=540 |Ship crew= |Ship sensors= |Ship armament=*InitialWhitley 1995, p. 43-45
|Ship armour=*Main belt: {{convert|105|mm|abbr=on}}
|Ship armor= |Ship aircraft=*up to 4 GL-832, later 2 Loire 130 flying boats
|Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
Montcalm was a French {{sclass|La Galissonnière|cruiser}}, named in honour of Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. During World War II, she served with both Vichy France and the Allies. It was commissioned in 1937, decommissioned in 1957, and finally scrapped in 1970.
Design and description
The La Galissonnière class was designed as an enlarged and improved version of the preceding {{ship|French cruiser|Emile Bertin||2}}. The ships had an overall length of {{convert|179.5|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a beam of {{convert|17.48|m|ftin|sp=us|0}}, and a draft of {{convert|5.28|m|ftin|sp=us}}. They displaced {{convert|7600|LT|t|0|disp=flip|sp=us|lk=on}} at standard load and {{cvt|9460|t|LT}} at deep load. Their crew consisted of 557 men in peacetime and 612 in wartime.Jordan & Moulin, p. 124
Service history
=Pre-war=
After commissioning and trials, Montcalm was assigned to the 4th Cruiser Division at Brest. Pre-war activities included being stationed in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), French Indochina for two months from January 1938. Once back in France and part of the French Atlantic Fleet, her peacetime routine included a review for King George VI at Calais in July 1938 and she represented France at the New York World's Fair, in 1939.{{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M J|title=Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Arms and Armour Press|year=1995|location=London|isbn=1-85409-225-1|page=46}}
=World War II=
At the start of the war, now assigned to the 2nd Squadron of the Force de Raid,{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don
|title=French Navy|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-3909-05OtherNavies.htm|accessdate=19 Nov 2008}} she performed Atlantic patrols and convoy escort duties{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Sunday, 22 October|work=Naval Events, October 1939|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-3910-07OCT02.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}} and swept for the German battleships {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} after they had sunk the British Armed Merchant Cruiser {{HMS|Rawalpindi}}.
{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Thursday, 23 November|work=Naval Events, November 1939|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-3911-08NOV02.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}} In early September 1939, there was a major French fleet deployment to Casablanca to forestall an enemy naval attack, which was soon abandoned.
{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Saturday, 2 September|work=Naval Events, September 1939|publisher=|date=
|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-3909-06SEP01.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}}
After a major refit in April 1940, Montcalm served as flagship of the French Scandinavian Force supporting the Franco-British defence of Norway (replacing the damaged {{ship|French cruiser|Emile Bertin}}){{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Tuesday, 23 April|work=Naval Events, April 1940|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4004-13APR04.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}} and the evacuation of troops from Namsos, Norway, with {{HMS|Devonshire|39|6}}, at the end of April 1940.{{cite web|last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B |title=HMS York|work=Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2
|publisher=|year=2004|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CA-York.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}}
Recalled to the Force de Raid in May,{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Tuesday, 14 May|work=Naval Events, May 1940
|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4005-14MAY02.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}} Montcalm was then moved to Algiers in North Africa{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=French Navy Ships, 10 June 1940|work=British and Other Navies in World War 2|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4006-16French.htm|accessdate=19 Nov 2008}}{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Tuesday, 2 April|work=Naval Events, April 1940|publisher=|date=| url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4004-13APR01.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}} where she stayed, performing at least one convoy escort,{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Saturday, 22 June|work=Naval Events, April 1940|publisher=|date=
|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4006-19JUN04.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}} until the Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, when she was ordered to Toulon. On 9 September 1940, she left Toulon with her sister ships {{ship|French cruiser|Gloire|1935|2}} and {{ship|French cruiser|George Leygues||2}},{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Monday, 9 September|work=Naval Events, September 1940|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4009-22SEP01.htm
|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}} and passed Gibraltar without being challenged (for which the local British commander, Admiral Sir Dudley North, was relieved of his command).{{cite web|last=|first=|title=The Papers of Admiral Sir Dudley North|publisher=Janus|date=|url=http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FNRTH|format=|accessdate=2012-07-10}} The flotilla refuelled at Casablanca and continued to Dakar, arriving on 14 September.
The three cruisers left Dakar on 18 September, intending to go south to Libreville, but they were intercepted by British forces, including {{HMAS|Australia|1927|6}}. Montcalm and George Leygues outran the British ships and returned to Dakar,{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Wednesday, 18 September|work=Naval Events, September 1940|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4009-22SEP02.htm|accessdate=19 Sep 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610154833/http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4009-22SEP02.htm|archive-date=10 June 2016|url-status=dead}} where they helped to defend the port against the unsuccessful British and Free French attack (Operation Menace) from 23 to 25 September. Gloire, slowed by mechanical troubles and unable to escape, was ordered back to Casablanca.
Apart from a deployment in April 1941 to recapture a French steamer, Fort de France,{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don
|title=Tuesday, 8 April|work=Naval Events, April 1941|publisher=|date=|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4104-31APR01.htm
|accessdate=19 Sep 2008}} the next two years were relatively uneventful until the Allied landings in North Africa (Operation Torch) and the German occupation of Vichy France, when she joined the Allies, as did other French warships. Montcalm was refitted at Philadelphia, from February until August 1943, the engines were overhauled, aircraft installations removed and the French light anti-aircraft weapons were replaced and augmented.{{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M J
|title=Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Arms and Armour Press|year=1995|location=London
|isbn=1-85409-225-1|page=45}}
Montcalm's next duty was anti-blockade-runner patrols, based from Dakar. She was allocated to the Western Task Force and supported Allied landings in Normandy at Omaha Beach in June 1944{{cite web|last=Mason
|first=Geoffrey B|title=HMS Talybont|work=Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2|publisher=|year=2004
|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4005-14MAY01.htm|accessdate=19 Nov 2008}} and southern France in August.{{cite web|last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B|title=HMS Rosario|work=Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2|publisher=|year=2001|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-22MS-Algerine-Rosario.htm|accessdate=19 Nov 2008}} Her war ended with coastal bombardments along the Riviera coastline until March 1945.{{cite web|last=Mason
|first=Geoffrey B|title=HMS Lookout|work=Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2|publisher=|year=2005
|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-41L-Lookout.htm|accessdate=19 Nov 2008}}
=Post-war=
File:Cruisers Montcalm and USS Des Moines (CA-134) during Operation Longstep in 1952.jpg in 1952.]]
She had a refit at Chantiers de la Seyne from May to the end of January 1946, and made a tour of Indo-China in 1954.
Montcalm was decommissioned and placed in reserve, in Tunisia, on 1 May 1957. She was subsequently towed to Toulon in 1959 to serve as an accommodation hulk for the submarine school. Finally condemned on 31 December 1969, she was renamed Q457 and passed to the dockyard for disposal as scrap.
{{Commons category|Montcalm (ship, 1935)}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last1=Jordan|first1=John|last2=Moulin|first2=Jean|title=French Cruisers 1922–1956 |year=2013|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-133-5 |name-list-style=amp}}
{{La Galissonnière class cruisers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montcalm (1935)}}
Category:La Galissonnière-class cruisers
Category:Naval ships of Operation Neptune
Category:Ships built in France