French destroyer Kersaint (1931)

Kersaint, named after Guy François de Kersaint, was ordered on 1 February 1930 from Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (ACL) as part of the 1929 Naval Program. To keep the workers at Chantiers Navals Français steadily employed, the ship's hull was ordered from that company's Caen shipyard. It was laid down on 19 September 1930 and launched on 14 November 1931. The incomplete ship was then towed to ACL's shipyard in Saint-Nazaire to be completed. She was commissioned on 20 September 1933 and entered service on 14 January 1934. Her entry into service was delayed for several months by problems with her gearboxes and with one of her turbines.^[6]

When the Vauquelins entered service they were assigned to the 5th and the newly formed 6th Light Divisions (Division légère (DL)) which were later redesignated as scout divisions (Division de contre-torpilleurs). Kersaint and her sister ships Vauquelin and Maillé Brézé were assigned to the 6th DL of the 2nd Light Squadron (2^e Escadre légère of the 2nd Squadron (2^e Escadre), based in Brest. The 6th DL was transferred to the group of large destroyers (Groupe de contre-torpilleurs (GCT) of the 1st Squadron (1^e Escadre) in Toulon in October 1934 and it was renumbered as the 9th. On 27 June 1935, all of the Vauquelins, except Cassard, participated in a naval review conducted by the Navy Minister (Ministre de la Marine) François Piétri in the Baie de Douarnenez after combined maneuvers by the 1st and 2nd Squadrons.^[7]

After the start of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, Kersaint and Cassard were among the ships assigned to evacuate French citizens from Spain on 22 July and later to patrol the surveillance zones assigned to France. After 24 September most of the contre-torpilleurs and destroyers in the Mediterranean were assigned these tasks on a monthly rotation as part of the non-intervention policy. The GCT reverted to its previous designation of the 3rd Light Squadron on 15 September. As of 1 October Kersaint, Maillé Brézé and Cassard were assigned to the 9th DL while Vauquelin, Tartu and Chevalier Paul belonged to the 5th, both of which were assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron as the 1st Squadron was now known. The 9th DL participated in a naval review held by the Navy Minister Alphonse Gasnier-Duparc in Brest on 27 May 1937. The following year the Mediterranean Squadron cruised the Eastern Mediterranean in May–June 1938; the squadron was redesignated at the Mediterranean Fleet (Flotte de la Méditerranée) on 1 July 1939.^[8]

On 27 August, in anticipation of war with Nazi Germany, the French Navy planned to reorganize the Mediterranean Fleet into the Forces de haute mer of three squadrons. When France declared war on 3 September, the reorganization was ordered and the 3rd Light Squadron, which included the 5th and 9th Scout Divisions with all of the Vauquelin-class ships, was assigned to the 3rd Squadron. The squadron transferred to Oran, French Algeria, on 3 September and the ships of the 9th Scout Division were assigned to escort duties in the Western Mediterranean in early October. On 22 December Kersaint, Maillé Brézé and the large destroyers Albatros, Vauban and Bison rendezvoused with Force Z, the battleship Lorraine and the light cruisers Jean de Vienne and Marseillaise, which was escorting four cargo ships loaded with American aircraft to Casablanca, French Morocco. A few days before the French surrender on 22 June, Kersaint escorted the seaplane carrier Commandant Teste from Toulon to Oran, despite being only able to steam on one propeller shaft, and then proceeded to nearby Mers-el-Kébir. The ship was present when the British attacked the fleet in the port on 3 July lest the ships be turned over to the Germans, but managed to escape to Toulon without damage, even though her maximum speed on one shaft was only 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).^[9]

The Vichy French government reestablished the Forces de haute mer (FHM) on 25 September after it negotiated rules limiting the force's activities and numbers with the Italian and German Armistice Commissions. Kersaint was in reserve until she was assigned to the FHM on 15 June 1941 and assigned to the 7th Scout Division. The ship was transferred to Algiers, French Algeria, in early December to prepare to escort the damaged battleship Dunkerque back to Toulon in February 1942. After the Allies invaded French North Africa on 8 November, the Germans attempted to capture the French ships in Toulon intact on 27 November, but the ship was scuttled by her crew. Kersaint settled to the harbor bottom and took on a list. Little effort was made to salvage her and her wreck was broken up in place in 1950.^[10]

• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.