French destroyer Somali

The French destroyer Somali was one of a dozen Arabe-class destroyers built for the French Navy in Japan during the First World War.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Somali.
Sister ship Algérien in 1917
History
France
Name: Somali
Namesake: Somali people
Ordered: 1916
Builder: Kawasaki Dockyard Co., Kobe, Japan
Laid down: 1917
Launched: 21 July or 20 June 1917
Completed: 1917
In service: 8 November 1917
Stricken: 27 August 1935
Fate: Scrapped after 1935
General characteristics
Class and type: Arabe-class destroyer
Displacement: 685 t (674 long tons)
Length:
  • 82.26 m (269 ft 11 in) (o/a)
  • 79.4 m (260 ft 6 in) (p/p)
Beam: 7.33 m (24 ft 1 in)
Draft: 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 3 shafts; 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range: 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement: 109
Armament:

Design and description

The Arabe-class ships had an overall length of 82.26 meters (269 ft 11 in), a length between perpendiculars of 79.4 meters (260 ft 6 in) a beam of 7.33 meters (24 ft 1 in), and a draft of 2.39 meters (7 ft 10 in).[1] The ships displaced 865 metric tons (851 long tons) at normal load.[2] They were powered by three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four mixed-firing Kampon Yarrow-type boilers. The engines were designed to produce 10,000 metric horsepower (7,400 kW; 9,900 shp), which would propel the ships at 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). During their sea trials, the Arabe class reached 29.16–30.44 knots (54.00–56.37 km/h; 33.56–35.03 mph).[3] The ships carried enough coal and fuel oil which gave them a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).[4] Their crew consisted of 5 officers and 104 crewmen.[5]

The main armament of the Arabe-class ships was a single Type 41 12-centimeter (4.7 in) gun, mounted before the bridge on the forecastle. Their secondary armament consisted of four Type 41 76-millimeter (3 in) guns in single mounts; two of these were positioned abreast the middle funnel and the others were on the centerline further aft. One of these latter guns was on a high-angle mount and served as an anti-aircraft gun. The ships carried two above-water twin mounts for 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. In 1917–18, a rack for eight 75-kilogram (165 lb) depth charges was added.[6]

Construction and career

Somali was ordered from Kawasaki Dockyard Co. and was laid down in its Kobe shipyard in 1917.[4] The ship was launched on 21 July and completed on 8 November of that year. She was stricken on 27 August 1935 and subsequently broken up for scrap.[7]

Citations
  1. Garier, p. 33
  2. Gardiner & Gray, p. 205
  3. Garier, pp. 34, 36
  4. Couhat, p. 118
  5. Garier, p. 37
  6. Garier, pp. 36–37
  7. Garier, p. 34

References
  • Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
  • Garier, Gérard (March 2001). "Les torpilleurs d'escadre français de construction japonaise: Le type 'Algérien' (1917 / 1936)". Navires & Historie. Lela Presse. 06: 33–51. ISSN 1280-4290.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). "Classement par types". Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 2, 1870 - 2006. Toulon: Roche. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
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