„Jaguar“ – the French destroyer

The destroyer “Jaguar” was part of a series of 6 ships, called the “Jaguar” type or 2100 ton destroyers (although the name 2400 t destroyers is often found in French literature). These were the first destroyers built by France after World War I. The ships were powered by 2 "Rateau" type turbines with a total power of 50,000 h. p., ships are equipped with 5 "Du Temple" steam boilers. During the tests destroyers developed a maximum speed of 35 knots. “Jaguar” type armament in October 1939 consisted of 6 (2x III) three-tube 550 mm caliber torpedo tubes, 5 (5x I) 130 mm caliber 1919 model guns. In addition, 8 (4x II) 13.2 mm caliber anti-aircraft guns "Hotchkiss R4" model of 1929 were mounted near the command superstructure and amidships superstructure. During that period, the anti-aircraft guns of 75 mm caliber had already been dismantled and replaced by the aforementioned 13.2 mm guns. The keel was laid on August 22, 1923 at the Lorient shipyard. The hull was launched on November 7, 1923, and commissioned on July 26, 1924. The ship was included in the Toulon 1 Squadron, which was later transferred to the Atlantic coast - Brest. In the 1930s the ship spent most of its time in the Mediterranean, patrolling the coasts of French colonies in Africa and taking part in training, organized by the Toulon base. In the second half of the 1930s it was again transferred to the Atlantic and registered in the port of Brest. On October 1, 1938, together with the minesweepers "Chacal" and "Leopard" of the same class, it was included in the 2nd destroyer (according to the French nomenclature - anti-torper carrier) division. At the time it was carrying out neutrality patrols in the territorial waters, boarding with Spanish< who burns in Civil War fire. At that time French tricolors were painted on top of the main artillery towers as quick identification marks. The beginning of World War II caught the 2nd division in Brest. “Jaguar” is assigned to the Navy Force “Nord”. The ship patrolled the territorial waters of the Cherbourg, Brest and Boulogne regions, and also escorted convoys with fugitives from the Dutch port Rotterdam. Later participates in convoys to and from Gibraltar. When the Germans attacked in the western direction, the ship was assigned to operations in the Dunkirk area, where it was torpedoed by two German torpedo boats "Schnellboot" S-21 and S-23.

A complex and rather labor-intensive model. The model is well designed and richly detailed, intended for intermediate and advanced modelers only. You can glue together a model of the ship, as it was in October 1939, when it was registered in the port of Brest. The ship is painted in a two-tone camouflage of irregular spots.