Le Triomphant

History: Le Triomphant ("The triumphant one") was a Le Fantasque class destroyer of the French Navy. At the outbreak of World War II, in September 1939, Le Triomphant under capitaine de frégate Pothuau was part of the 2nd Light Squadron in the 8th Large Destroyer Division, which also included her sister-ships Le Malin and L'Indomptable. The Squadron was headed by contre-amiral Lacroix.

On 3 July 1940, she was captured by the British at Plymouth, as part of Operation Catapult. Because of the complexity of her handling and of the need to support the Free French, Le Triomphant was handed to the FNFL, on 28 August 1940, and put under the command of captain Pierre Gilly. Her aft gun was replaced by a British model, mainly for logistical reasons.

Class: The Le Fantasque class of six large, very fast destroyers (also referred to as the Malin class) was ordered under the French naval programme of 1930. They served in World War II for both Vichy France and the Free French Forces.

The original purpose of these large French destroyers, and the earlier Chacal class, was to operate with battleship and cruiser forces, although they were not restricted to this. The Italian Navy, the Regia Marina, reacted by building the Capitani Romani-class cruisers. The class was assigned to the Force de Raid when war was declared. Those ships that later sailed with the Allies were classed as light cruisers.

Nationality: France is one of Europe’s largest countries. It is bordered by six countries other nations: Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the southeast and Spain to the southwest. The United Kingdom borders France via the English Channel. The country is considered to be the gateway to Europe as there are several large international airports (two of these can be found in Paris), ferry terminals and the French rail service.

In 486, Frankish tribes unified under Merovingian kingship. In 843, Western Francia was established from the division of the Carolingian Empire. In 1789, the French monarchy was overthrown, and in 1792, the First French Republic was founded. In 1958, the Fifth French Republic was established.