Volta

History: Volta was a Mogador-class destroyer (French: contre-torpilleur) of the French Navy. Named for the West African river, she was built before the outbreak of World War II and was the penultimate contre-torpilleur built by the French Navy. Along with her sister ship Mogador, Volta was designed in an effort to build a ship capable of out-fighting every other ship below her tonnage. Arguably the design was less than successful, as it possessed the armament of a light cruiser on the hull of a destroyer. The two ships of the class have been described as having pushed the contre-torpilleur concept beyond "the limits of its capabilities".

During Volta's service with the French Navy, she saw only limited action. Following the outbreak of the war, she took part in convoy escort duties initially before being withdrawn to Brest for refit. On 3 July 1940, when the British attacked the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, Volta managed to escape without damage and sought refuge in Toulon. When the Germans tried to seize her along with the rest of the fleet on 27 November 1942, however, she was scuttled in Toulon Harbour by her crew to prevent her from being captured.

Class: The Mogador-class large destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) of the French Navy were laid down in 1935 and commissioned in 1939. They were extremely fast, very large destroyers intended to act as scouts for the two fast Dunkerque-class battleships. The design evolved from the extremely fast Le Fantasque class, being 300 tons heavier and carrying eight guns in semi-enclosed twin turrets rather than five guns in single open mounts. With their eight 138 mm (5.4 in) guns they approached a light cruiser in firepower.

Both Mogador and her sister Volta were present during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July 1940, but only Volta managed to escape to Toulon. Mogador was struck by a 15-inch (38 cm) shell in the rear hull that detonated her ready depth charges despite not actually detonating itself. This destroyed most of her stern above water, but she remained afloat and was repaired enough to be sent to Toulon on 1 November 1940 for reconstruction. Both ships were scuttled in Toulon Harbour when the Germans tried to seize them on 27 November 1942.

Nationality: France is one of Europe’s largest countries. It is bordered by six countries other nations: Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the southeast and Spain to the southwest. The United Kingdom borders France via the English Channel. The country is considered to be the gateway to Europe as there are several large international airports (two of these can be found in Paris), ferry terminals and the French rail service.

In 486, Frankish tribes unified under Merovingian kingship. In 843, Western Francia was established from the division of the Carolingian Empire. In 1789, the French monarchy was overthrown, and in 1792, the First French Republic was founded. In 1958, the Fifth French Republic was established.