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Hello and welcome to this new suggestion.
Today I’m presenting a new ship from the French Navy, the auxiliary cruiser El Djezair.
At the beginning of World War II, the French Navy requisitioned several hundred ships and their crews to create a massive fleet capable of patrolling and protecting all French waters. Among these vessels were trawlers, passenger ships, and merchant ships. The El Djezair was a ship belonging to the Compagnie de Navigation Mixte, a French shipping company that transported passengers between southern France and the North African colonies, particularly Algeria and Tunisia.
Launched in 1933 and commissioned in 1934, the El Djezair was requisitioned at the beginning of the Second World War in 1939. After being armed and registered as X17, it was sent with the 1st Auxiliary Cruiser Division, of which it was the command ship (all converted passenger ships), to Norway to repatriate the French expeditionary force stationed there. It was subsequently sent to Brest.
As France was retreating and losing the war, the gold reserves of the Bank of France were being sent by train to the port of Brest, which the Germans were rapidly approaching. Amidst this evacuation (several tens of thousands of French, British, and Plonian soldiers were in the city), and with German bombardments becoming increasingly intense (a large part of the French fleet was in the port), Admiral Brohan ordered the gold loaded into the holds of the 1st Auxiliary Cruiser Division so that it could be stored in Dakar, far from the Germans. The ships left the port less than 24 hours before the arrival of the Panzer Division and arrived safely in Dakar after a stop in Casablanca to refuel. Once its cargo was unloaded, the El Djezair returned to Marseille and was decommissioned. The ship remained there until 1943, when it was captured by the Germans and given to Italy, where it was renamed Cassino. However, during a British air raid, a bomb struck the ship while it was in the Thau Lagoon. The ship then sank. At the end of the war it was refloated but its hull being in too bad a condition, only its engine block was recovered and installed in a new ship which took the name El Djezair 2 and which, once peace returned, carried out the same links with North Africa as its predecessor.
Characteristics
Length : 123.00 m
Width : 16.40 m
Draft : 5.50 m
Mass : 2400 tons
The ship’s two Parsons turbines produce a total power of 12,000 hp, allowing it to reach a speed of 22.75 knots during trials and a more consistent speed of 20 knots. Its crew consists of 96 sailors.
Weapons
Like other passenger and cargo ships requisitioned by France during the war, the El Djezair received a fairly comprehensive armament based on equipment already widely used by the French forces at the time. This included:
- 7 x 138.6mm guns
- 2 x 75mm guns
- 4 x 13.2mm machine guns
This armament was particularly noteworthy. The seven main guns provided considerable firepower, allowing the ship to defend itself against small destroyers, while the 75mm guns and machine guns were used to defend against air units.
In-game this ship would be an interesting addition, providing a ship of significant size, similar to that of a light cruiser but with armament closer to that of a destroyer, bringing a unique ship in terms of gameplay and thus complementing the French tree.
Sources
- Jean Michel Kersaudy - Les Français Libres
- * EL DJEZAIR (1939/1940)
- Les paquebots et cargos armés en guerre
- le paquebot El Djezair de la Compagnie de navigation mixte, les transports en Algérie;http://alger-roi.fr
- Série des “El”
- EL DJEZAÏR - CPArama.com
- Français d’Algérie : il y a 60 ans, la traversée sans retour, et l’arrivée sur les quais de Port-Vendres - lindependant.fr
- Collectif France 40: 12 avril 1940, début de l’embarquement des unités franco-polonaises à Brest à destination de Namsos en Norvège