French destroyer L'Audacieux

In December 1938–January 1939, the bridge wings were enlarged to accommodate the Hotchkiss machine guns. After the war began, depth-charge stowage increased to 48 and a pair of rails were installed on the stern for 35-kilogram (77 lb) depth charges. Each rail could accommodate 3 depth charges and 15 more were stored in the magazine. In early 1940 twin-gun 37 mm mounts replaced the single-gun mounts and a single Browning 13.2-millimeter anti-aircraft machine gun was installed on the quarterdeck.[5]

Both the 8th and 10th Scout Divisions were assigned to the Force de Raid, which was tasked to hunt down German commerce raiders and blockade runners, when war was declared in September 1939; it made only a single sortie as a complete unit on 2–6 September when it responded to an erroneous report that German ships had left port. Afterwards it was dispersed into smaller groups to better execute its mission. The 10th Scout Division, which consisted of L'Audacieux, Le Terrible, and Le Fantasque, together with British ships, was assigned to Force X that was based in Dakar, French West Africa, from 10 October to 18 November.[8] During 21–30 October, the Force de Raid, including all of the Le Fantasques, screened Convoy KJ 4 against a possible attack by the heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee.[9] The ships of the 10th Scout Division escorted the Strasbourg and the British aircraft carrier Hermes as they searched for German ships in the Central Atlantic between 7 and 13 November, then escorted Strasbourg and the heavy cruiser Algérie back to France on 18 November.[10]

L'Audacieux was one of the escorts for Strasbourg and her sister Dunkerque as the Force de Raid reassembled at Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, in late April 1940 in an effort to intimidate the Italians from entering the war. She took part in a sortie by the Force de Raid into the Western Mediterranean on 12–13 June, after Italy declared war on the Allies on the 10th. L'Audacieux then began escorting convoys evacuating personnel from mainland France to French North Africa and screened cruisers fruitlessly searching for Italian cruisers on 23–24 June after an erroneous report that they were at sea. After the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July, the ship escorted the cruisers that failed to rendezvous with Strasbourg, which escaped to Toulon.[11]

By the end of August, all of French Equatorial Africa had joined Free France, with the exception of French Gabon. In response, the Germans and Italians authorized the Vichy French to send ships to the Gulf of Guinea to bring the rebellious colonies back under control. The 4th Cruiser Division (4^e Division de croiseurs) of three light cruisers, escorted by the 10th Scout Division, was chosen and the ships were designated as Force Y. They departed on 9 September and departed Casablanca, French Morocco, on the 12th after refueling. The destroyers lacked enough range to reach Dakar at the 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) ordered by Contre amiral (Rear Admiral) Célestin Bourragué and were forced to return to Casablanca. They finally reached Dakar on 19–20 September.[12]

A powerful British and Free French force was already en route to Dakar; their mission was to rally it to the Free French or to conquer it. The Vichy French garrison refused General Charles de Gaulle's appeal to join the Free French and opened fire on the British ships on 23 September.[13] The French destroyers were tasked to make a continuous smoke screen to protect the cruisers as they maneuvered to avoid British shells. The heavy fog reduced the ability of the French ships to spot the British and L'Audacieux was ordered to venture forth on a reconnaissance mission. The ship was soon spotted by the Australian heavy cruiser Australia and was quickly hit at close range. Her bridge was destroyed by 8 in (203 mm) shells that also knocked out her power and set her on fire. The destroyer drifted ashore shortly afterwards near Rufisque. L'Audacieux lost 81 crewmen dead or missing during the battle.[14]

She was refloated on 11 March 1941 and was slowly repaired so that she was able to sail to Bizerte, French Tunisia, on 7 August 1942 where she arrived on the 22nd; when the Germans occupied Bizerte on 8 December, the ship was in a dry dock and was not scuttled. L'Audacieux was damaged by Allied bombing and was sunk on 7 May 1943 when the Germans destroyed the dock's gate during their evacuation of the city. Her hulk was refloated on 14 December 1943, after she had been repaired enough to get her out of the dock. Deemed a constructive total loss, the ship was cannibalized for spare parts for Le Triomphant, Le Fantasque and Le Terrible. Her remains were scrapped in August 1947.[15]