The French destroyer ''Foudroyant'' was one of 14 s 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 ...

during the 1920s.

Design and description

The ''L'Adroit'' class was a slightly enlarged and improved version of the preceding ''Bourrasque'' class. The ships had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . The ships displaced at standard load and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. They were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

, using steam provided by three

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. The turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ships at . The ships carried of fuel oil which gave them a range of at . The main armament of the ''L'Adroit''-class ships consisted of four Canon de 130 mm Modèle 1924 guns in single mounts, one superfiring pair each fore and aft of the superstructure. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of a pair of

Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925 The Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925 was a widely used family of French anti-aircraft guns used by the French Navy during World War II. Design & Construction The Modèle 1925 was a single gun mount while the later Modèle 1933 was a twin mount. ...

guns. The ships carried two above-water triple sets of

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. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of sixteen depth charges. In addition two depth charge throwers were fitted for which six depth charges were carried.

Construction and career

''Foudroyant'' was laid down on 28 July 1927, launched on 24 April 1929 and commissioned on 10 October 1930. She was sunk on 1 June 1940 off Dunkirk by German aircraft, whilst assisting in the Dunkirk evacuation. Wreck located at: .Foudroyant Wreck

Notes

References

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External links

*http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6026.html *http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?14 {{DEFAULTSORT:Foudroyant (1929) L'Adroit-class destroyers World War II destroyers of France 1929 ships Destroyers sunk by aircraft Ships built by Dyle et Bacalan Maritime incidents in June 1940 Ships sunk by German aircraft World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea