French destroyer Mogador Mogador was the lead ship of the French Navy ' s of destroyer s ( ) . Named for the Moroccan town , she was built before the outbreak of World War II . The ship was heavily damaged during the British attack on Mers - el - Kébir on 3 July 1940 , but was later repaired and sailed to Toulon . She was scuttled in Toulon Harbor when the Germans tried to seize her , along with the rest of the fleet , on 27 November 1942 . She was the last " contre - torpilleur " built by the French Navy , a not entirely successful attempt to build a ship capable of out - fighting every other ship below her tonnage . " In technological terms " Mogador " and " Volta " were ships with the armament of a light cruiser in the hull of destroyer ; the " contre - torpilleur " as a type had been pushed past the limits of its capabilities . " Design and description . " Mogador " had an overall length of , a beam of , and a maximum draft of . She displaced at standard load and at deep load . The Rateau - Bretagne geared steam turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ship at . However , during sea trials in March 1938 , " Mogador " s turbines provided and she reached for a single hour . The ship carried of fuel oil at normal load and an additional at deep load . " Mogador " carried eight Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1929 in four twin turret s , two each superimposed , fore and aft . Her anti - aircraft armament consisted of two " Mle 1933 " guns in a single mount positioned on the rear deck house forward of the rear turrets . She also mounted four " Mle 1929 " heavy machine gun s in two twin mounts located between the forward superstructure and the forward guns . " Mogador " carried 10 above - water torpedo tube s : a pair of triple mounts between the funnels and a pair of double mounts aft of the rear funnel . A pair of depth charge chutes were built into " Mogador " s stern ; these housed a total of 16 Guirard depth charges . Mine rails were fitted on the rear deck that had a maximum capacity of 40 mines . Service history . " Mogador " , with her sister , comprised the " 6th Large Destroyer Division ( 6 Division de contre - torpilleurs ) " and was assigned to the " Force de Raid " based at Brest when the war began . This group ' s purpose was to hunt German blockade runners and raiders and to escort convoys that might be in danger from the same . From 21 – 30 October 1939 the " Force de Raid " escorted the " KJ . 4 " convoy to protect it against the which had sortied into the North Atlantic before the war began . A sortie by the and into the North Atlantic on 21 November prompted the " Force de Raid " to sail from Brest to rendezvous with the British battlecruiser and patrol the area south of Iceland , but the German ships were able to return safely under the cover of heavy weather without being engaged . " Mogador " was refitted at Lorient between January and March 1940 and a number of minor changes were made . The necessary improvements identified for the main armament during her sea trials a year prior were finally implemented , the canvas cover for the back of the turrets was replaced by a rolling door , new radios were installed , and shields were fitted to the anti - aircraft machine guns and the searchlights . A " SS - 6 " sonar was fitted in June 1940 , but proved to be ineffectual . " Mogador " was present during the British attack on Mers - el - Kébir on 3 July 1940 , but she was severely damaged during by a hit from an armour - piercing shell in the rear hull that detonated her ready depth charge s although it failed to detonate itself . The explosion destroyed her upper rear hull , but , miraculously , the rear magazines failed to explode . One propeller shaft was undamaged and the other shaft and the two propellers were intact , albeit damaged . She was towed to Oran for repairs . She was dry docked on 17 July , the remains of her No . 4 turret were removed and the after bulkheads repaired and reinforced to make her seaworthy . She sailed for Toulon on 1 December where she was docked pending reconstruction . The French Navy decided to reinforce her anti - aircraft armament in light of its wartime experience . Her no . 3 gun turret was to be moved to the No . 4 position , its magazine converted for extra fuel storage , and a new twin 37 mm " Mle 1933 " mount would replace it on top of the rear deck house . Two more " Mle 1933 " mounts were to fitted on each side of the rear deckhouse and a fourth mount was to replace the 13 . 2 Hotchkiss machine guns forward of the bridge . One 13 . 2 mm Browning machine gun was to planned to be mounted on each side of the forward twin 37 mm guns . This plan was later amended to add a degaussing cable , replacement of the " SS - 6 " sonar by a French copy of the British ASDIC and six of the new " mitrailleuse de 25 mm contre - aéroplanes Modèle 1940 " anti - aircraft guns , plus two more 13 . 2 mm Brownings mounted on the forward corners of the center deck house . The rebuilding was slowed by material shortages and she wasn ' t taken into hand by the shipyard " Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranée " at La Seyne - sur - Mer until late February 1942 . In October it was estimated that she wouldn ' t be completed until Jul 1943 . She was scuttled in La Seyne - sur - Mer on 27 November 1942 to prevent her capture by the Germans . She was refloated by the Italians on 5 April 1943 , but not repaired . " Mogador " was sunk by Allied bombers in late 1944 , but was raised in 1949 and scrapped .