Bison in the early 1930s
History
France
NameBison
NamesakeBison
BuilderArsenal de Lorient
Launched29 October 1928
FateSunk, 3 May 1940
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeGuépard-class destroyer
Displacement
Length130.2 m (427 ft 2 in)
Beam11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)
Draft4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph)
Range3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph)
Crew12 officers, 224 crewmen (wartime)
Armament

The French destroyer Bison was a Guépard-class destroyer (contre-torpilleurs) built for the French Navy during the 1920s.

Career

The Bison served during the Norwegian Campaign in World War II. While evacuating Allied troops at Namsos, the ship came under German air attack and exploded after being struck in the forward magazine by a bomb, dropped by a Ju 87 from I./StG 1, killing 136 members of her crew and causing the ship to sink by the bow.

HMS Afridi came to the rescue of the surviving crew, rescuing sixty-nine of the French sailors in the water and sinking the hull of the ship. However, the Afridi soon came under air attack and sank as well, and among the dead were thirty-five of the surviving crew of the Bison. The surviving crew of the Bison, the Afridi, and the troops they evacuated were rescued by the Imperial and Griffin.

Notes

    References

    • Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
    • Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
    • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
    • Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

    64°27′57″N 11°29′03″E / 64.4659°N 11.4841°E / 64.4659; 11.4841


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