French sloop Commandant Dominé

History
France
Name	Commandant Dominé
Builder	Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes
Laid down	February 1938
Launched	2 May 1939
Commissioned	April 1940
Decommissioned	18 August 1960
Fate	Scrapped, October 1960
General characteristics
Class and type	Élan-class minesweeping sloop
Displacement	630 or 647 t (620 or 637 long tons) (standard)[1] 890 t (876 long tons) to 900 t (886 long tons) (deep load)[1]
Length	78.3 m (256 ft 11 in) (o/a)[1] 73.81 m (242 ft 2 in) (p/p)[1]
Beam	8.7 m (28 ft 7 in)[1]
Draught	3.28 m (10 ft 9 in)[1]
Installed power	4,600 bhp (3,430 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 × Sulzer diesel engines[1]
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)[1]
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement	88 in peacetime;[2] 104 or 106 during the war[2]
Armament	As built: 1 × single M1892 or M1932 100 mm/45 gun or 1 × twin M1926 90 mm/50 guns 1 × quad 13.2 mm/76 AA gun 2 × twin 13.2 mm/76 AA guns 2 depth charge throwers 1 depth charge rack

Commandant Dominé (U70/A15/F742) was a French Élan-class minesweeping sloop (Avisos dragueur de mines) that served in World War II.

Ship history[edit]

Commandant Dominé was built by Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon in Nantes,^[3] laid down in February 1938, launched on 2 May 1939^[4] and commissioned in April 1940. She was seized by the British on 3 July 1940 and transferred to the Free French Naval Forces,^[5] seeing service in the Battle of Dakar ("Operation Menace") in September 1940.

The ship was rearmed by the British in 1941. Her main armament was replaced by twin QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval guns, and she also received a single QF 2-pounder pom-pom^[1] AA gun to replace the quadruple 13.2 mm/76 AA guns. She retained her original twin 13.2 mm/76 AA guns, but had an additional four twin and two single 12.7 mm/62 machine guns installed.^[1]

Post-war she remained in service with the French Navy.^[5] In 1947 she was rearmed again, with a single German 105 mm/45 calibre SK C/32 gun as main armament, a single Bofors 40 mm/60 Mk.3 and four single 20 mm/70 Mk.2 Oerlikons.^[1]

Commandant Dominé was decommissioned on 18 August 1960,^[5] and scrapped in October 1960.^[4]

Notes[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Le Masson, Henri (1969). The French Navy. Navies of the Second World War. Vol. 2. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. pp. 16–22. ISBN 9780356023847.