French aviso Bougainville

Bougainville
Model of D'Entrecasteaux at Musée de la Marine de Paris
History
France
NameBougainville
NamesakeAdmiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville
Laid down25 November 1929
Launched25 April 1931
Commissioned15 February 1933
FateSunk 9 November 1940
General characteristics
TypeBougainville-class aviso
Displacement
Length103.7 m (340 ft 3 in) (o/a)
Beam12.7 m (41 ft 8 in)
Draught4.15 m (13 ft 7 in)
Installed power2,100 PS (1,500 kW; 2,100 bhp)
Propulsion2 shafts; 2 diesel engines
Speed15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Range9,000 nmi (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement
  • 14 officers and 121 crewmen in peacetime;
  • 166 or 183 men in wartime
Armament
Armour
  • Hull: 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in)
  • Deck: 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in)
  • Gun shields: 3 mm (0.1 in)
Aircraft carried1 × Gourdou-Leseurre GL-832 HY floatplane

Bougainville was one of a dozen Bougainville-class avisos built for the French Navy during the 1930s. The ship was designed to operate from French colonies in Asia and Africa and initially stationed in the Indian Ocean. Completed in 1933, the ship sided with Vichy France and was sunk by its sister Savorgnan de Brazza in November 1940 off Libreville in the Battle of Gabon.