The ''Branlebas'' class was a class of ten destroyers built for the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

in the first decade of the 20th century. Eight of the ships survived the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and were scrapped afterwards.

Construction and design

The ''Branlebas''-class was a development of the previous , and was the final evolution of the ''300-tonne'' type which the French had built since 1899 with their first destroyer

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

, the . Like all the ''300-tonne'' destroyers, the ''Branlebas''-class ships had a turtledeck

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

with a flying deck, raised above the hull, aft.Campbell 1979, pp. 326–327. They were long

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with a beam of and a maximum draught of .''The Engineer'' 21 August 1908, p. 192.

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was .Couhat 1974, p. 92. Two coal-fired Normand or

Du Temple boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, a ...

s fed steam at to two 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, rated at , and driving two propeller shafts, giving a design speed of . Speeds reached during

sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...

ranged from for to for . The ships had a range of at .Couhat 1974, pp. 92, 94. A belt of armour was fitted to protect the ship's boilers and machinery.Couhat 1974, p. 94. The class was built with the standard gun armament for the ''300-tonne'' destroyers, with a single forward, backed up by six guns, while two 450 mm (17.7 in)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s were carried, with one amidships and one right aft. The ships had a complement of 4 officers and 56 men. The ''Branlebas'' class were considered good sea-boats, with reliable machinery.Campbell 1979, p. 323.Couhat 1974, pp. 80–81, 92. By the time the class was built, however, they were outclassed by contemporary British and German destroyers, such as the and the German being larger (and more heavily armed. (French destroyer size had been kept small owing to the influence of the

Jeune École The ''Jeune École'' ("Young School") was a strategic naval concept developed during the 19th century. It advocated the use of small, heavily armed vessels to combat larger battleships, and the use of commerce raiders to cripple the trade of the ...

, which favoured the construction of large numbers of small ships.)

Losses

*''Branlebas'' was sunk by a German mine on 30 September 1915 near

Nieuwpoort, Belgium Nieuwpoort ( , ; vls, Nieuwpôort; french: Nieuport ) is a city and municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Nieuwpoort prope ...

. *''Étendard'' was sunk by German torpedoboat ''A39'' on 25 April 1917 in the North Sea.

Ships

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{WWI French ships Destroyer classes Destroyers of the French Navy Ship classes of the French Navy