Le Triomphant returned to escort duties that included supporting iron-ore shipping routes. American officials resisted treating Le Triomphant as a destroyer, while the French continued to regard her as a contre-torpilleur. Her nominal reclassification as a light cruiser is dated either during or after a Sydney refit between September and November 1943, with French acceptance limited. After taking aboard a Royal Australian Navy liaison team, she accompanied an American oil tanker toward the Mediterranean. Damage forced the tanker to tow her, and a typhoon caused further harm. HMS Frobisher helped her onward to Diego Suarez in French Madagascar. Temporary repairs there benefited from facilities working in the same language as her manuals. Full restoration in Boston lasted until April 1945, after which she joined the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. Repairs had consumed much of her war despite her usefulness whenever she was operational.
Notable Point · 27:37-30:30
Le Triomphant's cruiser label and worldwide repair cycle
Arguments over whether Le Triomphant was a destroyer or light cruiser accompanied a repair cycle that stretched from Sydney through Diego Suarez to Boston.