L'Adroit-class destroyer

The L'Adroit-class destroyer was a group of fourteen French Navy destroyers (torpilleur) laid down in 1925–26 and commissioned from 1928 to 1931. They were the successors to the Bourrasque class, with the same armament, but being slightly heavier overall.

A L'Adroit-class destroyer (either Le Fortuné or Le Mars)
Class overview
NameL'Adroit class
Preceded byBourrasque class
Succeeded byLe Hardi class
SubclassesForbin
Completed14
Lost9
Scrapped5
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement
  • 1,378 tonnes (1,356 long tons) standard
  • 2,000 tonnes (2,000 long tons) full load
Length107.9 m (354 ft 0 in)
Beam9.84 m (32 ft 3 in)
Draught4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Installed power34,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Propulsion
Speed33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement142
Armament

Service history

The class saw varied service in the Second World War.

La Railleuse was the first French destroyer casualty of the war, being blown up in Casablanca harbour by an accidental torpedo explosion on 23 March 1940. L'Adroit was sunk by a bomb from a German He 111 bomber on 21 May 1940 near Dunkirk, but her entire crew were able to escape and served in shore batteries until the French capitulation. Foudroyant was sunk in similar circumstances, but with more loss of life, on 1 June 1940.

Basque, Forbin and Le Fortuné were part of the French Alexandria squadron, which were disarmed by the British on 22 June 1940 following French capitulation. They were rearmed under Free French auspices in December 1943.

Boulonnais, Brestois, Fougueux and Frondeur were all sunk by Allied ships off Casablanca, as part of Operation Torch. L'Alcyon survived the attack and later joined the Allies.

Bordelais, La Palme and Le Mars joined many other French warships in scuttling at Toulon to stop their being taken over by the German navy.

Ships
  • L'Adroit (Pennant number: T2, 11, 21, 42, 41, 23, T23)
  • Basque (Pennant number: 55, 11, 57, 97, 43, 42, 23, 91, 92, T92, T91, T33)
  • Bordelais (Pennant number: 117, 112, 22, 81, T81, T11)
  • Boulonnais (Pennant number: 11, 99, 73, 33, 53, T53, T52)
  • Brestois (Pennant number: 12, 97, 14, 31, 51, T51)
  • Forbin (Pennant number: 98, 15, 12, 3, 92, 91, T91, T92, T32)
  • Frondeur (Pennant number: 119, 115, 23, 22, T22)
  • L'Alcyon (Pennant number: 116, 112, 71, 83, T83, T23, T63)
  • La Palme (Pennant number: 74, 11, 1, T11, T13)
  • La Railleuse (Pennant number: 73, 12, 5, 2, T32)
  • Le Fortuné (Pennant number: 72, 75, 32, 4, 1, T31)
  • Le Mars (Pennant number: 71, 72, 14, 2, T12)
  • Foudroyant (Pennant number: 99, 96, 44, 43, 52, T52)
  • Fougueux (Pennant number: 118, 114, 21, T21)

Notes

    References
    • Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
    • Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2013). "Toulon: The Self-Destruction and Salvage of the French Fleet". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2013. London: Conway. pp. 134–148. ISBN 978-1-84486-205-4.
    • Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
    • Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
    • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
    • Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
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