French destroyer Mangini


Mangini was one of six s built for the French Navy during the 1910s. The ship was condemned in 1934.

Design and description

The Bisson class were enlarged versions of the preceding built to a more standardized design. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of, a beam of, and a draft of. Designed to displace, they displaced at normal load. Their crew numbered 80–83 men.
Mangini was powered by a pair of Zoelly steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four Indret water-tube boilers. The engines were designed to produce which was intended to give the ships a speed of. During her sea trials, Mangini reached a speed of. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at cruising speeds of.
The primary armament of the Bisson-class ships consisted of two [Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891|] Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and four Modèle 1902 guns distributed amidships. They were also fitted with two twin rotating mounts for torpedo tubes amidships.

Construction and career

Mangini was ordered from Schneider et Cie and was launched from its Chalon-sur-Saône shipyard on 31 March 1913. The ship was completed the following year. When the First World War began in August 1914, Mangini was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the 1st Naval Army. During the preliminary stages of the Battle of Antivari, Montenegro, on 16 August, the 1st, 4th and 5th Destroyer Flotillas were tasked to escort the core of the 1st Naval Army while the 2nd, 3rd and 6th Flotillas escorted the armored cruisers of the 2nd Light Squadron and two British cruisers. After reuniting both groups and spotting the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser and the destroyer, the French destroyers played no role in sinking the cruiser, although the 4th Flotilla was sent on an unsuccessful pursuit of Ulan. Having broken the Austro-Hungarian blockade of Antivari, Vice-Admiral Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère, commander of the 1st Naval Army, decided to ferry troops and supplies to the port using a small requisitioned passenger ship,, escorted by the 2nd Light Squadron, reinforced by the armored cruiser, and escorted by the destroyer with the 1st and 6th Destroyer Flotillas under command while the rest of the 1st Naval Army bombarded the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro, Montenegro, on 1 September. Four days later, the fleet covered the evacuation of Danilo, Crown Prince of Montenegro, aboard Bouclier, to the Greek island of Corfu. The flotilla escorted multiple small convoys loaded with supplies and equipment to Antivari, beginning in October and lasting for the rest of the year, always covered by the larger ships of the Naval Army in futile attempts to lure the Austro-Hungarian fleet into battle. Amidst these missions, the 1st and 6th Flotillas were led by the as they conducted a sweep south of Cattaro on the night of 10/11 November in an unsuccessful search for Austro-Hungarian destroyers.
The torpedoing of the on 21 December caused a change in French tactics as the battleships were too important to risk to submarine attack. Henceforth, only the destroyers would escort the transports. After Italy signed the Treaty of London and declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 23 May 1915, Boué de Lapeyrère reorganized his forces in late June to cover the approaches to the Adriatic and interdict merchant shipping of the Central Powers since the Royal Italian Navy now had primary responsibility for the Adriatic itself. His area of responsibility extended from Sardinia to Crete and he divided it into two zones with the 1st Light Squadron assigned to the western zone and the 2nd Light Squadron in the east. Those destroyers of the 1st Naval Army not assigned to reinforce the Italians were transferred to the newly-formed 1st and 2nd Flotillas of the Naval Army. The 1st and 3rd Destroyer Flotillas were assigned to the 2nd Flotilla of the Naval Army, of which ‘’Dehorter’’ was the flagship, which was tasked to support the cruisers of the 2nd Light Division.
On 18 April 1918, she rammed and sank destroyer in the Strait of Otranto after her steering broke down.