View source for French destroyer Lynx

{{Short description|French Chacal-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|French ship Lynx}}
{{Good article}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Chacal-1.jpg
|Ship caption=[[Sister ship]] ''Chacal'' turning
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=France
|Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|France|naval}}
|Ship name=''Lynx''
|Ship namesake=[[Lynx]]
|Ship ordered=26 February 1923
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire]], [[Nantes]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=14 January 1924
|Ship launched=24 February 1925
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=18 October 1927
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=15 November 1927
|Ship out of service=July 1940
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship identification=
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|Ship fate=*[[Scuttled]], 27 November 1942
*[[ship breaking|Scrapped]], 1948
|Ship notes=
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(as built)
|Ship class=[[Chacal-class destroyer|''Chacal''-class destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|2126|t|LT|abbr=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{convert|2980|-|3075|t|LT|abbr=on}} ([[Full-load displacement|full load]])
|Ship length= {{convert|126.8|m|ftin|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship beam={{convert|11.1|m|ftin|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship draft={{convert|4.1|m|ftin|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship power=*{{convert|50000|PS|kW shp|lk=on|abbr=on}}
*5 [[du Temple boiler]]s
|Ship propulsion=*2 shafts
*2 geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship speed= {{convert|35.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship crew=12 officers, 209 crewmen (wartime)
|Ship range={{convert|3000|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
|Ship armament=*5 × single [[Canon de 130 mm Modèle 1919|{{convert|130|mm|abbr=on|1}} guns]]
*2 × single [[Canon de 75 mm modèle 1924|{{convert|75|mm|abbr=on|1}}]] [[anti-aircraft gun]]s
*2 × triple {{convert|550|mm|abbr=on|1}} [[torpedo tube]]s
*2 chutes; four throwers for 32 [[depth charge]]s
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''French destroyer ''Lynx''''' was a {{sclass|Chacal|destroyer}} (''contre-torpilleur'') built for the [[French Navy]] during the 1920s. The ''Chacal''s were regarded as obsolete by 1935 and ''Lynx'' became a [[training ship]] for the torpedo school at [[Military port of Toulon|Toulon]] that year. She was assigned convoy escort duties in the Atlantic after the start of World War II in September 1939. In July 1940, the ship was present when the British [[attack on Mers-el-Kébir|attacked the French ships at Mers-el-Kébir]], but managed to escape without damage. After she reached Toulon, ''Lynx'' was placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] where she remained for the next two years. On 27 November 1942, she was [[Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon|scuttled at Toulon]] when the Germans attempted to capture the French ships there. Her wreck was [[Marine salvage|salvaged]] in 1944, but she was not [[ship breaking|broken up]] until 1948.

==Design and description==
The ''Chacal''-class ships were designed to counter the large Italian {{sclass|Leone|destroyer|2}}s. They had an [[length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|126.8|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|11.1|m|ftin|sp=us}},<ref>Jordan & Moulin, p. 22</ref> and a [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|4.1|m|ftin|sp=us}}. The ships displaced {{convert|2126|t|LT|sp=us}} at [[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]]<ref>Chesneau, p. 267</ref> and {{convert|2980|-|3075|t|LT|sp=us}} at [[deep load]]. They were powered by two geared [[steam turbine]]s, each driving one [[propeller shaft]], using steam provided by five [[du Temple boiler]]s. The turbines were designed to produce {{convert|50000|PS|kW shp|lk=on|sp=us}}, which would propel the ship at {{convert|35.5|kn|lk=in}}. During her [[sea trial]]s on 20 April 1927, ''Lynx''{{'}}s turbines provided {{convert|57810|PS|kW shp}} and she reached {{convert|35.54|kn}} for a single hour. The ships carried {{convert|530|t|LT|0|sp=us}} of [[fuel oil]] which gave them a range of {{convert|3000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}. Their crew consisted of 10 officers and 187 crewmen in peacetime and 12 officers and 209 enlisted men in wartime.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 18, 22–27</ref>

The main armament of the ''Chacal''-class ships consisted of five [[Canon de 130 mm Modèle 1919]] guns in single mounts, one [[superfiring]] pair fore and aft of the superstructure and the fifth gun [[abaft]] the aft [[funnel (ship)|funnel]]. The guns were numbered '1' to '5' from front to rear. Their [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] armament consisted of two [[Canon de 75 mm modèle 1924]] guns in single mounts positioned [[amidships]]. The ships carried two above-water triple sets of {{convert|550|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us|1}} [[torpedo tube]]s. A pair of [[depth charge]] chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of twenty {{convert|200|kg|sp=us|adj=on}} depth charges. They were also fitted with four depth-charge throwers for which they carried a dozen {{convert|100|kg|sp=us|adj=on}} depth charges.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 27–33</ref>

==Construction and career==
''Lynx'', named after the [[Lynx|eponymous feline]], was ordered on 26 February 1923 from [[Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire]]. She was [[laid down]] at their [[Saint-Nazaire]] [[shipyard]] on 14 January 1924, [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 25 February 1925, completed on 18 October 1927 and entered service on 15 November. Completion was delayed by problems with her propulsion machinery and late deliveries by sub-contractors. The ship was assigned to the 4th Light Division (DL) ({{lang|fr|4e division légère}}) of the 2nd Squadron ({{lang|fr|2e Escadre}}) based at [[Brest, France|Brest]] upon completion, together with her [[sister ship]]s {{ship|French destroyer|Léopard||2}} and {{ship|French destroyer|Jaguar||2}}. On 3 July 1928, ''Lynx'' participated in a naval review by [[Gaston Doumergue]], [[President of France]], off [[Le Havre]]. The four depth charge throwers were removed in 1932. The next year, the ship was present when the fleet was reviewed by the new President of France, [[Albert Lebrun]], in Cherbourg on 20 July 1933. About two years later, the 75-millimeter guns were replaced by four twin mounts for [[Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun|{{convert|13.2|mm|adj=on|1|sp=us}}]] [[anti-aircraft machinegun]]s. The ship was assigned to the 11th DL of the Torpedo Training School ({{lang|fr|Ecole d'application du lancement à la mer}}) at Toulon in 1935 as the ''Chacal''s were regarded as obsolete.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 20–21, 38–39, 213–14, 217</ref>

When the war started in September 1939, ''Lynx'' belonged to the 4th Large Destroyer Division ({{lang|fr|4e division de contre-torpilleurs}}) with her sisters {{ship|French destroyer|Panthère||2}} and {{ship|French destroyer|Tigre||2}}. She was assigned to the Western Command ({{lang|fr|Forces maritimes de l'Ouest}}) for convoy escort duties from October to May 1940 where she guarded convoys traveling between [[Gibraltar]] and Brest as well as [[Casablanca]], [[French Morocco]], and [[Le Verdon-sur-Mer]]. In January 1940, the ship had a British Type 123 [[ASDIC]] installed; several months later ''Lynx'' had two depth-charge throwers reinstalled, No. 3 gun removed, and her depth charge stowage reduced to a dozen 200&nbsp;kg and eight 100&nbsp;kg depth charges to improve her stability. She was transferred to [[Mers-el-Kébir]], [[French Algeria]], on 27 May and she was still there on 25 June after [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|France surrendered]].<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 39, 202, 225, 231</ref> The ship managed to escape the harbor during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July and together with her sister ''Tigre'' briefly engaged the destroyer {{HMS|Wrestler|1918|6}}. The sisters then depth charged the submarine {{HMS|Proteus|N29|6}}<ref>Jordan & Dumas, p. 83</ref> as the French ships headed for Toulon, where they arrived the following day.<ref>Rohwer, p. 31</ref> As the oldest ''contre-torpilleurs'' in French service, ''Lynx'' and her sisters were reduced to reserve and stripped of their light anti-aircraft armament. On 27 November 1942, ''Lynx'' was scuttled at Toulon with the rest of the French fleet to prevent her capture by the Germans. She was refloated on 23 January 1944 and [[Beaching (nautical)|beached]] at the adjacent port of [[Brégaillon]]. The wreck was raised in 1948 and broken up.<ref>Jordan & Moulin, pp. 40, 213–14, 217, 248</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
*{{cite book |last1=Jordan|first1=John|last2=Dumas|first2=Robert|title=French Battleships: 1922–1956|year=2009|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-59114-416-8|name-list-style=amp}}
*{{cite book|last1=Jordan|first1=John|last2=Moulin|first2=Jean|title=French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956|year=2015|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-198-4|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2}}

{{Chacal class destroyer}}
{{November 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynx}}
[[Category:1925 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in France]]
[[Category:Chacal-class destroyers]]
[[Category:World War II warships scuttled at Toulon]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in November 1942]]