Allied Warships

FFL La Combattante

Escort destroyer of the Hunt (Type III) class

NavyThe Free French Navy
TypeEscort destroyer
ClassHunt (Type III) 
Pennant 
Built byFairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Govan, Scotland) 
Ordered28 Jul 1940 
Laid down16 Jan 1941 
Launched27 Apr 1942 
Commissioned30 Dec 1942 
Lost23 Feb 1945 
Loss position53° 22'N, 1° 01'E
History

Loaned to the Free French Navy and renamed La Combattante.

About 23.45 hours on 23 February 1945, the Free French escort destroyer La Combattante hit a mine while on patrol on the inside of the Outer Dowsing Shoal covering the swept channel from a point level with East Dudgeon lightvessel (off Cromer), northwards to the Humber Estuary, and broke in two. The forepart sank immediately in position 53º22'N, 01º01'E, about three miles northeast of East Dudgeon buoy. The other part drifted away on the tide and sank shortly afterwards.
68 of the 185 officers and men on board were lost. The survivors were picked up by the British motor torpedo boats MTB-763 and MTB-770.
The minefield F6/OMS-101 (consisting of 24 LMB ground mines) had been laid in bad weather during the night of 29/30 January 1945 by the German 2.Schnellboot-Flottille (Korvettenkapitän Opdenhoff) off the Humber estuary.

For years it was believed that she was torpedoed and sunk east of Dungeness by the German (Seehund) midget submarine U-5330 (Lt. Sparbrodt) but the ship sunk by this midget submarine was the British cable layer Alert (941 BRT).
Fore more on the operations of Midget submarines see this article.

The forepart of La Combattante lays in 11 meters of water in position 53º22'13"N, 01º01º40"E, the afterpart lays in 25 meters of water in position 53º20'52"N, 01º01'33"E.

See also this website (offsite link and the website is in French language).

 
Former nameHMS Haldon

We don't have any commands listed for FFL La Combattante


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Notable events involving La Combattante include:


22 Feb 1943
HMS Malaya (Capt. J.W.A. Waller, RN) departed Scapa Flow for Greenock. She was escorted by HMCS Athabascan (Cdr. G.R. Miles, DSO, OBE, RCN), HMS Eggesford (Lt.Cdr. D.W. Austin, RN) and FFS La Combattante (Lt.Cdr. A. Patou).

They arrived at Greenock on 23 February 1943. (1)

9 Mar 1943
HMS Trespasser (Lt. R.M. Favell, RN) carries out A/S exercises with the Free French escort destroyer La Combattante (Lt.Cdr. A. Patou) and the British minesweeper HMS Salamander (Lt. W.R. Muttram, RN). (2)

12 Mar 1943
HMS Usurper (Lt. D.R.O. Mott, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Scapa Flow with La Combattante (Lt.Cdr. A. Patou), HMS Brissenden (Lt. D.C. Beatty, RN) and HMS Echo (Lt. R.H.C. Wyld, RN). (3)

Sources

  1. ADM 53/117877
  2. ADM 173/18253
  3. ADM 173/18389

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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