- Yes
- No
Hello and welcome to this new suggestion.
Today we’re looking at one of the variants of the French Navy’s T47-class destroyers. I’m talking about the Tartar refit, which is present on the escort ship Du Chayla (D630).
The Du Chayla (D630) is a T 47 class escort ship, built in the 1950s to meet the needs of the French fleet renewal after the Second World War. Laid down at the Brest shipyards in 1953, it was launched on 27 November 1954 and commissioned in 1957. Named in honor of the naval officer Armand-Simon-Marie, Chevalier de Blanquet du Chayla, it was originally designed for anti-aircraft warfare, with heavy artillery adapted to naval group defense. Like several of its sister ships of the T 47 class, the Du Chayla was then modernized in the 1960s to become a missile escort ship, receiving the Tartar launcher, intended for medium and long-range anti-aircraft warfare, and a complete update of its radar, sonar and combat equipment.
In service until 1991, the Du Chayla participated in numerous escort, deterrence, and international cooperation missions during the Cold War. Integrated into the Atlantic and Mediterranean combat flotillas, it played an important role in anti-ship missile systems, notably escorting aircraft carriers and strategic nuclear submarines. Its capabilities also allowed it to participate in NATO inter-allied exercises. Although technologically outdated by the end of the 1980s, it remained a pillar of the French fleet for several decades. Decommissioned in 1991, it was subsequently scrapped, unlike some of its sister ships such as the Maillé-Brézé, which is preserved as a museum. The Du Chayla illustrates a period of rapid modernization of the French Navy, marked by the gradual integration of naval missile systems into surface units.
Characteristics
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Length : 128 m
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Width : 12
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Draft : 5 m
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Mass : 3850 tons
The ship is powered by a 63,000 hp Parsons turbine, driving two propeller shafts, which allows the ship to reach a speed of 32 knots. The estimated range is 5,000 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots.
The crew varies depending on the era but is around 300 sailors.
Equipment
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Radar :
- DRBV22 air surveillance radar
- DRBV31 sea surveillance and navigation radar
- DRBC31 fire control radar
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Sonar :
- DUBV24 sonar
- DUBA1 sonar
Weapons
- Before 1963 :
- 2 x 3 127mm mle 1948 canons
- 2 x 3 57mm mle 1951 canons
- 4 x 20mm canons
- 4 x 3 torpedo tube (2x3 short for anti sub and 2x3 long for anti ship)
After the refit of 1936-1964, the Du Chayat became a ship mainly focused on anti-aircraft warfare, for this it received many new weapons and lost a large part of the weapons it previously possessed.
- After 1964 :
- 3 x 2 57mm canons
- 1 x Tartar Mk13 Launcher (40 missiles)
- 1 x 375mm Mod 1972 x 6 anti-submarine rocket launcher (turret on front platform)
- 2 x 3 torpedo tube (short tube)
The Tartar launcher can launch an American RIM-24 missile (one missile launch every 15 seconds), which can hit targets up to Mach 2 and up to 30 kilometers away. The Mk13 version installed on this ship can store 40 missiles in a fire-protected barrel.
This ship would be an extremely interesting addition to the French naval tree, bringing a ship capable of intercepting air targets at medium range and defending itself at close range with the 57mm guns and torpedo/rocket launchers.
