French aviso Calais

Laid down by Chantiers de la Méditerranée at their shipyard in La Seyne-sur-Mer in 1918, Calais was launched in 1919 and completed in 1920.^[3] The first ship of the name in the French fleet, the vessel was the second to be completed from the yard after sister ship Amiens. She began trials shortly after the other ship had been cleared to enter service on 7 July.^[7][8] On 4 May 1921, the vessel visited Ajaccio in Corsica to commemorate the centenary of the death of Napoleon.^[9]

During the Rif War, the success of the Riffian force under Abd el-Krim led to Spain agreeing with France on joint responsibility for the security of the coastline of their north African colonies. In particular, the countries were concerned about arms imports to the Riffian army. ^[10] On 4 March 1922, the ship left Toulon to travel to Bizerte, arriving the following day.^[11] On 16 March 1923, the ship arrived at Bône, Algeria.^[12] The aviso joined the ex-German light cruiser Strasbourg, previously Regensburg, monitoring the Moroccan coast.^[13] On 27 December, the ship took a break from this operation and participated in the unsuccessful search for the airship Dixmude.^[14]

The ship returned to serve in the blockade until 13 August 1926, when the force was stood down. During the period, the aviso was joined by a wide range of French and Spanish vessels, including sister ship Montmirail and supported French colonial troops from Senegal and Morocco.^[15] On 25 May 1928, the aviso, along with sister ship Bapaume, returned to Algiers harbour and was subjected to a mock attack by the Sirène-class submarines Galatée, Naïade, Nymphe and Sirène.^[16] The ship then accompanied these submarines on a return visit to Bougie between 5 and 8 September 1931.^[17]

On 8 September 1937, the vessel arrived in Casablanca, Morocco.^[18] At the start of the Second World War, the aviso was called up. The French Navy dominated the Mediterranean Sea but, on 15 November 1939, withdrew most of the forces for other theatres.^[19] On 23 September 1940, the aviso was one of the French Navy ships in Dakar when the Royal Navy attacked the port in the Battle of Dakar.^[20] During the battle, Calais rescued the crew of the sinking submarine Persée.^[21] After the war, in 1946, Calais was sold to be broken up.^[22]

• Castex, Jean-Claude (2004). Dictionnaire des Batailles Navales Franco-Anglaises [Dictionary of Franco-British Naval Battles]. Québec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval. ISBN 978-2-76378-061-0.
• Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
• Labayle Couhat, Jean (1974). French Warships of World War I. Shepperton: Ian Allen. ISBN 978-0-71100-445-0.
• Le Conte, Pierre (1932). Répertoire des Navires de Guerre Français [Directory of French Warships] (in French). Cherbourg: Pierre Le Conte, La Villarion, rue des Bastions. OCLC 1400324432.
• Salerno, Reginald M. (2002). Vital Crossroads: Mediterranean origins of the Second World War, 1935-1940. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-80143-772-4.
• Smigielski, Adam (1985). "France". In Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.