 Le Hardi at anchor
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| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Le Hardi |
| Namesake | "the bold one" |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes |
| Laid down | 20 May 1936 |
| Launched | 4 May 1938 |
| Completed | 31 May 1940 |
| Commissioned | 1 December 1939 |
| In service | 2 June 1940 |
| Fate | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Le Hardi-class destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 117.2 m (384 ft 6 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 11.1 m (36 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) |
| Range | 3,100 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 187 officers and enlisted men |
| Armament |
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Le Hardi ("the bold one") was the lead ship of her class of destroyers (torpilleur d'escadre) built for the Marine Nationale (French Navy) during the late 1930s. The ship was completed during the Battle of France in mid-1940 and her first mission was to help escort an incomplete battleship to French Morocco only days before the French signed an armistice with the Germans. She played a minor role in the Battle of Dakar in September, mostly laying smoke screens. Le Hardi helped to escort one of the battleships damaged by the British during their July attack on Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, back to France in November. She was reduced to reserve in mid-1942.
When the Germans occupied Vichy France after the Allies landed in French North Africa in November 1942 and tried to seize the French fleet, the destroyer was one of the ships scuttled to prevent their capture. She was salvaged by the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) in 1943, but was captured by the Germans after the Italian armistice in September. Unrepaired, the ship was scuttled by them in 1945 in Italy and later scrapped.