The Chacal was a large destroyer ("contre-torpilleur") of the French Navy which served during the Second World War.

History

Chacal was launched in 1924 and commissioned in 1925. Her initial destiny was in the Mediterranean, but in 1932, she departed of Casablanca to Brest and joined with the Atlantic fleet; after being reffited from 1933 to 1935, Chacal commenced to made patrols in the north of Spain.
When WW2 started in September 1939, Chacal was at the Denmark Strait and patrolled the area for prevent U-boot attacks, and from September 26, she escorted the British convoy rute of Quebec-Southampton. After did an useless attempt of pursuit Graf Spee, Deutschland

German pocket battleship Deutschland

Deutschland was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. Ordered by the Weimar government for the Reichsmarine, she was laid down at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel in February 1929 and completed by April 1933...

and Scharnhorst

German battleship Scharnhorst

Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...

, Chacal returned to her ASW duties, contributing -along HMS Salmon

HMS Salmon (N65)

HMS Salmon was a Royal Navy S-class submarine which was launched on April 30, 1934, and fought in the Second World War. Salmon is one of 12 boats named in the song "Twelve Little S-Boats"....

 to the sinking of U-36 in the Kola Peninsula in December 4; after being damaged by 2 torpedoes of Salmon and left afloat during all afternoon, U-36 was depth charged by Chacal.

Chacal operated in the transport of gold bullion of Banque de France from Brest to Quebec, operating in that duty until march 1940, when she returned to Brest; Chacal was there when Germany invaded France in early may. After engaged combat with German aircrafts and surface units, Chacal -along her sister ship Léopard

French destroyer Léopard

The Léopard was a Chacal class destroyer of the French Navy. As one of the large destroyers of her time, she was designed to escort convoys, large naval units, or serve as a light cruiser in remote sectors of the French Empire...

departed of Brest in May 18 for operate in the evacuation of Dunkerque

Operation Dynamo

The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...

, steaming at full speed to Dunkerque and arriving the day 20, transporting personel and technical meterial to Cherbourg to the next day. In the night of May 21 to May 22, Chacal and Léopard transported demolition charges to Dunkerque for destroy their military installations, due to the imminent German advance, and in the early morning of the day 22, both ships reached at full speed to Calais, transporting material; after completed offloading in Calais, Chacal and Léopard reached to Boulogne for another transport mission (this time to Cherbourg), arriving in the early morning of May 23.

In May 24, while still were moored at Boulogne, Chacal and Léopard was attacked by German bombers; badly damaged, Chacal commenced to sink and the crew abandoned the ship. Finally, Chacal rolled over on her port side and sank by the stern 8 minutes after being bombed. Of the 194 crewman of Chacal, 178 were rescued by the trawler Messidor. Badly damaged Léopard reached to Cherbourg, constantly besieged by German planes

In 1970´s, several parts of Chacal´s rusted hull was recovered and used in the steel industry. Today, the wreck lies on a depth of only 3 m. beneath the surface on the entrance of Boulogne, and only is visible the former control tower because the another section of the hull is completely buried at the sea, and the superstructure debris was dismantled. Also, 2 of the 130 mm guns of Chacal is exposed in the piers of Boulogne.