Chamois-class sloop

	Gazelle in Free French service during World War II
Class overview
Name	Chamois class
Builders	Arsenal de Lorient; Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire; Ateliers et Chantiers de Provence; Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde; Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée;
Operators	French Navy; Free French Naval Forces; Kriegsmarine; Regia Marina;
Built	1937-1948
In commission	1939-1966
Planned	24
Completed	12
Cancelled	12
Lost	5
Scrapped	7
General characteristics
Type	Minesweeping sloop
Displacement	647 tonnes (637 long tons) standard; 900 tonnes (886 long tons) full;
Length	78.30 m (256 ft 11 in) o/a; 73.81 m (242 ft 2 in) p/p;
Beam	8.70 m (28 ft 7 in)
Draught	3.28 m (10 ft 9 in)
Propulsion	2 × Sulzer diesel engines, 4,600 hp (3,430 kW), 2 shafts
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph); 5,200 nautical miles (9,600 km; 6,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph); 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph); Fuel capacity: 105 tonnes;
Complement	88 in peacetime;; 106 at war;
Armament	As designed: ; 2 × Model 1933 100 mm (3.9 in)/45 DP guns; 1 × quad + 2 × twin 13.2/76 machine guns; Sweeps; As built (pre-war):; 1 × Model 1892 or Model 1932 100 mm (3.9 in)/45 or 1 × twin Model 1926 90 mm (3.5 in)/50 gun; 1 × quad + 2 × twin 13.2/76 mm machine guns; 2 × Depth charge projectors; Depth charge racks;

The Chamois class were French minesweeping sloops (Avisos dragueur de mines) ordered between 1935 and 1939. They were similar in design to the Élan class, and like them classed as minesweepers, but were actually used as anti-submarine ships, convoy escorts and patrol vessels.

Although all 24 ships of the class were laid down between 1936 and 1939, only five were commissioned in time to serve in the French Navy during World War II. Of the remaining ships, four were completed by the Germans, of which three where commissioned, twelve were scrapped incomplete, and three were eventually completed after the war and served in the French Navy into the 1960s.

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