NAVYPEDIA

Photo

Francis Garnier Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Bouclier	M66		Normand, Le Havre	1909	29.6.1911	1911	stricken 2.1933
Boutefeu	M67		Dyle et Bacalan, Bordeaux	1909	2.5.1911	1911	sunk 15.5.1917
Casque	M68		F C de la Méditerranée, La Seyne	1909	25.8.1910	1911	stricken 3.1926
Cimeterre	M69		F C de la Gironde, Bordeaux	1909	13.4.1911	1912	stricken 7.1926
Dague	M70		F C de la Gironde, Bordeaux	1909	13.4.1911	1912	sunk 24.2.1915
Faulx	M71		De la Brosse et Fouché, Nantes	1909	2.2.1911	1912	collision 18.4.1918
Fourche	M72		De la Brosse et Fouché, Nantes	1909	21.10.1910	1912	sunk 23.6.1916
Capitaine Mehl	M73		A C de la Loire, St-Nazaire	1910	20.4.1912	1912	stricken 7.1926
Commandant Bory	M74		Dyle et Bacalan, Bordeaux	1910	14.9.1912	1913	stricken 7.1926
Commandant Rivière	M75		F C de la Gironde, Bordeaux	1910	2.10.1912	1913	stricken 6.1933
Dehorter	M76		Penhoët, St-Nazaire	1910	18.4.1912	1913	stricken 1933
Francis Garnier	M77		Normand, Le Havre	1910	1.10.1912	1913	stricken 2.1926

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	720 - 756
Displacement full, t	760 - 820
Length, m	Bouclier: 72.3 others: 74.0 - 78.3
Breadth, m	7.60 - 8.00
Draught, m	2.90 - 3.30
No of shafts	Bouclier, Casque: 3 others: 2
Machinery	Bouclier, Casque: 3 Parsons steam turbines, 4 Normand, Normand-Sigaudy, Du Temple or Dyle et Bacalan boilers Capitaine Mehl, Dehorter, Francis Garnier: 2 Parsons steam turbines, 4 Normand, Normand-Sigaudy, Du Temple or Dyle et Bacalan boilers Boutefeu, Commandant Rivière: 2 Zoelly steam turbines, 4 Normand, Normand-Sigaudy, Du Temple or Dyle et Bacalan boilers Cimeterre, Dague: 2 Bréguet steam turbines, 4 Normand, Normand-Sigaudy, Du Temple or Dyle et Bacalan boilers Faulx, Fourche, Commandant Bory: Rateau steam turbines, 4 Normand, Normand-Sigaudy, Du Temple or Dyle et Bacalan boilers
Power, h. p.	13000
Max speed, kts	30
Fuel, t	oil 120 - 160
Endurance, nm(kts)	1200-1400(12-14)
Armament	2 x 1 - 100/45 M1893, 4 x 1 - 65/50 M1902, 2 x 2 - 450 TT
Complement	80 - 83

Standard scale images

Graphics

Project history

These 12 800-tonners were designed by various shipyards lo the general specification which included turbines and oil-fired boilers as a requirement - hence many variations from ship to ship. They were however given a uniform armament of 2 100mm 1893 model guns, 4 65mm 1902 model guns and 2 twin trainable 45Omm TT. These ships were laid down in 1909-1910 under 1908 and 1910 programmes and completed in 1911-1913. Casque cost 2.96 million francs. They had twin screw machinery - except Bouclier and Casque which had 3 screws and were the fastest ships of the class, reaching 35.5kts and 34.9kts respectively an trials. Bouclier and Casque also had the lowest fuel consumption. These 800t destroyers were modified during the war and became overloaded so their top operational set speed seldom exceeded 26kts. Their hulls showed weakness in a seaway and had to be strengthened and their machinery proved itself to be not very sturdy. Other drawbacks became apparent and needed correcting before the end of the war -armament was thought to be weak, the bridge poorly constructed and the ship's silhouette too high. Ships of this type formed a relatively homogenous class, rare in the French Navy at that time troubled as it was by frequent changes of policy. Four funnels were fitted except in Casque which had three. The funnels were stepped in two groups before the engine room (Boutefeu and Commandant Bory had their stacks spaced equally). The slowest ship of the class was Bory which reached only 24kts in service.

Modernizations

1916 - 1918, all survived: + 1 x 1 - 75/35 M1897, 2 x 1 - 8.80, 2 DCR (8 - 10).

Naval service

Bouclier was damaged by German destroyers off Dunkirk 20.5.1917, 8.12.1917 she lost her poop after explosion of own DC. Boutefeu was cut in half 15.5.1917 at Brindisi on a mine laid by German submarine UC25, Fourche was torpedoed and sunk 23.6.1916 by Austrian submarine U15. Dague was stricken 24.2.1915 by drifting mine at coast of Montenegro, Faulx was rammed by destroyer Mangini 18.4.1918 in Otranto Strait. Commandant Rivière in action against Austrian destroyer Dinara 22.12.1916 was badly damaged (one boiler room was knocked out). Casque twice received serious damages from collisions: with Italian destroyer Giuseppe Cesare Alba in the Otranto Strait 23.12.1916 and with French minelayer Pluton off Dardanelles 29.8.1918, but both times was repaired and commissioned again.



Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.