Protet (OT) and sister ship Commandant Lucas (LA) at anchor in Toulon, 1926
History
France
NameProtet
BuilderArsenal de Rochefort
Laid downJuly 1912
Launched15 October 1913
Completed1914
Stricken1933
FateSold for scrap 1933
General characteristics
Class and typeBisson-class destroyer
Displacement756–791 t (744–779 long tons)
Length78.1 m (256 ft 3 in) (p/p)
Beam8.6 m (28 ft 3 in)
Draft3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts; 2 steam turbines
Speed30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range1,950 nmi (3,610 km; 2,240 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement80–83
Armament

Protet was one of six Bisson-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the 1910s. The ship was condemned in 1933 and sold for scrap in 1933.

Design and description

Sister ship Bisson in harbor

The Bisson class were enlarged versions of the preceding Bouclier class built to a more standardized design. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 78.1 meters (256 ft 3 in), a beam of 8.6 meters (28 ft 3 in), and a draft of 3.1 meters (10 ft 2 in).[1] Designed to displace 850–880 metric tons (837–866 long tons),[2] they displaced 756–791 t (744–779 long tons) at normal load. Their crew numbered 80–83 men.[1]

Protet was powered by a pair of Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four Indret water-tube boilers. The engines were designed to produce 15,000 shaft horsepower (11,000 kW) which was intended to give the ships a speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 1,450 nautical miles (2,690 km; 1,670 mi) at cruising speeds of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).[1]

The primary armament of the Bisson-class ships consisted of two 100-millimeter (3.9 in) Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and four 65-millimeter (2.6 in) Modèle 1902 guns distributed amidships. They were also fitted with two twin mounts for 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes amidships.[2]

Construction and career

Protet was ordered from the Arsenal de Rochefort and was launched on 15 October 1913. The ship was completed the following year.[3] When the First World War began in August 1914, Protet was assigned to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla (6e escadrille de torpilleurs) of the 1st Naval Army (1ère Armée Navale).[Note 1] During the preliminary stages of the Battle of Antivari, Montenegro, on 16 August, the 1st, 4th and 5th Destroyer Flotillas were tasked to escort the core of the 1st Naval Army while the 2nd, 3rd and 6th Flotillas escorted the armored cruisers of the 2nd Light Squadron (2e escadre légère) and two British cruisers. After reuniting both groups and spotting the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser SMS Zenta and the destroyer SMS Ulan, the French destroyers played no role in sinking the cruiser, although the 4th Flotilla was sent on an unsuccessful pursuit of Ulan. Having broken the Austro-Hungarian blockade of Antivari (now known as Bar), Vice-Admiral (Vice-amiral) Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère, commander of the 1st Naval Army, decided to ferry troops and supplies to the port using a small requisitioned passenger ship, SS Liamone, escorted by the 2nd Light Squadron, reinforced by the armored cruiser Ernest Renan, and escorted by the destroyer Bouclier with the 1st and 6th Destroyer Flotillas under command while the rest of the 1st Naval Army bombarded the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro, Montenegro, on 1 September. Four days later, the fleet covered the evacuation of Danilo, Crown Prince of Montenegro, aboard Bouclier, to the Greek island of Corfu. The flotilla escorted multiple small convoys loaded with supplies and equipment to Antivari, beginning in October and lasting for the rest of the year, always covered by the larger ships of the Naval Army in futile attempts to lure the Austro-Hungarian fleet into battle. Amidst these missions, the 1st and 6th Flotillas were led by the French destroyer Dehorter as they conducted a sweep south of Cattaro on the night of 10/11 November in an unsuccessful search for Austro-Hungarian destroyers.[5]

The torpedoing of the French battleship Jean Bart on 21 December caused a change in French tactics as the battleships were too important to risk to submarine attack. Henceforth, only the destroyers would escort the transports, covered by cruisers at a distance of 20–50 miles (32–80 km) from the transports. The first convoy of 1915 to Antivari arrived on 11 January and more were made until the last one on 20–21 April. After Italy signed the Treaty of London and declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 23 May, the ship was still assigned to the 6th Flotilla when the unit was transferred to the 1st Division of Destroyers and Submarines (1ère division de torpilleurs et de sous-marines) of the 2nd Squadron (escadre) based at Brindisi, Italy.[6]

On 12 July, the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, including Protet, was part of the force that raided the island of Lastovo off the Austrian coast of the Adriatic (now part of Croatia), destroying oil stores and the telegraph station. This attack was simultaneous with the Italian occupation of Palagruža.[7][8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Prévoteaux lists Protet as still conducting her sea trials on 1 August. Exactly when those were completed and the ship entered active service is unknown.[4]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Gardiner & Gray, p. 203
  2. 1 2 Couhat, p. 111
  3. ↑ Couhat, pp. 111, 115
  4. ↑ Prévoteaux, p. 27
  5. ↑ Freivogel, pp. 98–99, 117–121; Prévoteaux, I, pp. 27, 55–56, 59–62
  6. ↑ Prévoteaux, I, pp. 111, 113; Roberts, p. 396
  7. ↑ Naval Staff Monograph No. 21, pp. 176–177
  8. ↑ Freivogel, pp. 184–185

Bibliography

  • Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
  • Freivogel, Zvonimir (2019). The Great War in the Adriatic Sea 1914–1918. Zagreb: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-8218-40-8.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • Monograph No. 21: The Mediterranean 1914–1915 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. VIII. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1923.
  • Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome I 1914–1915 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book I 1914–1915]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 23. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-000-2.
  • Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome II 1916–1918 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book II 1916–1918]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 27. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-001-9.
  • Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
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