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The Savorgnan de Brazza was a colonial sloop, a class of ships built by the French Navy for service in the Tropics. Launched on 18th June 1931 and capable of 18.3 knots, she was built with Flagship facilities and only light bullet-proof plating. Captured by the British on 3rd July 1940 and later manned by the FNLF (formed on the same day), she took part in Operation Menace on 23rd September 1940. A combined force of British and Free French troops attempted to sieze Dakar, on the West African coast, as a first stage establishing General de Gaulle as the rallying point for the Free French forces. However, after losses on both sides, the operation was abandonned on 25th September. FFS Savorgnan de Brazza continued in service with the FNFL and, on 9th November 1940 at Libreville, she sank her sister ship, the Bougainville, which had remained in Vichy hands.
