Voltigeur-class destroyer

The Voltigeur class was a pair of destroyers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Both ships survived the First World War and were scrapped afterwards.

A lithograph of Voltigeur
Class overview
NameVoltigeur class
Operators French Navy
Preceded bySpahi class
Succeeded byChasseur class
Built1908–10
In service1910–21
Completed2
Scrapped2
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement
Length63–65.5 m (206 ft 8 in – 214 ft 11 in) (p/p)
Beam6.4–6.8 m (21 ft 0 in – 22 ft 4 in)
Draft2.9–3.1 m (9 ft 6 in – 10 ft 2 in)
Installed power
Propulsion3 shafts; 1 triple-expansion steam engine and 2 steam turbines
Speed28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range1,520 nmi (2,820 km; 1,750 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement76–77
Armament

Design and description

The Voltigeur class was based on the preceding Spahi-class destroyer, albeit with a different arrangement of propulsion machinery.[1] They had a length between perpendiculars of 63–65.5 meters (206 ft 8 in – 214 ft 11 in), a beam of 6.4–6.8 meters (21 ft 0 in – 22 ft 4 in),[2] and a draft of 2.9–3.1 meters (9 ft 6 in – 10 ft 2 in). Designed to displaced 450 metric tons (443 long tons), the ships displaced 590 t (581 long tons) at deep load.[1]

The destroyers were powered by one triple-expansion steam engines and two direct-drive steam turbine. The steam engines drove the center propeller shaft while the turbine powered the two outer shafts, all using steam provided by four water-tube boilers of two different types. The engines were designed to produce 7,500 indicated horsepower (5,600 kW) which was intended to give the ships a speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). The ships carried 118 t (116 long tons) of coal which gave them a range of 1,520 nautical miles (2,820 km; 1,750 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[2]

The primary armament of the Voltigeur-class ships consisted of six 65-millimeter (2.6 in) Modèle 1902 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and the others were distributed amidships. They were also fitted with three 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. One of these was in a fixed mount in the bow and the other two were on single rotating mounts amidships.[1]

Ships

Citations
  1. Smigielski, p. 202
  2. Couhat, p. 98

Bibliography
  • Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
  • Freivogel, Zvonimir (2019). The Great War in the Adriatic Sea 1914–1918. Zagreb: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-8218-40-8.
  • Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9.
  • Osborne, Eric W. (2005). Destroyers - An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio. ISBN 1-85109-479-2.
  • Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome I 1914–1915 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book I 1914–1915]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 23. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-000-2.
  • Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome II 1916–1918 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book II 1916–1918]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 27. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-001-9.
  • Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
  • Smigielski, Adam (1985). "France". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 190–220. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
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