Name Savorgnan de Brazza Length 104 m Beam 13 m | Fate scrapped 20 March 1957 Launched 1931 Weight 1,969 tons | |
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Savorgnan de Brazza was a Bougainville-class aviso of the French Navy. She was designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa, launched in June 1931, served in the Second World War and was scrapped in 1957.
History
The ship was originally equipped with a seaplane. In 1940 this was removed and replaced with two additional 37 mm single-mounted anti-aircraft guns.
After the Fall of France in June 1940, Savorgnan de Brazza joined the Free French Forces. She fought in the Battle of Gabon, in which on 9 November 1940 she engaged and sank a Vichy French aviso of the same class, her sister ship, Bougainville.
On 12 August 1943 the German submarine U-181 torpedoed and sank the British Clan Line cargo ship Clan Macarthur in the Indian Ocean 350 nautical miles (650 km) east of Farafangana in Madagascar. 53 people were killed but Savorgnan de Brazza rescued 76 survivors and landed them at Port Louis, Mauritius.
By 1944 Savorgnan de Brazza's anti-aircraft armament had been further increased. The number of 37mm AA guns had been increased to eight, three 25 mm and two 20 mm AA guns had been added and the number of 13.2 mm AA guns had been reduced to two.
Savorgnan de Brazza survived the Second World War. She was scrapped in March 1957.