The F67 type, also known as the ''Tourville'' class was a

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 ...

of large high-sea (

blue water Maritime geography is a collection of terms used by naval military units to loosely define three maritime regions: brown water, green water, and blue water. Definitions The elements of maritime geography are loosely defined and their meanings hav ...

) Frigates of 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 ...

specialised in anti-submarine warfare. They had anti-air and anti-surface capabilities. Between 1994 and 1996, ''Tourville'' and ''De Grasse'' were refitted with the modern SLASM anti-submarine system, and active Very Low Frequency (VLF) sonar.

Design

The ships are an enlarged version of the frigate ''Aconit''. They have two shaft steam turbine machinery and a double hangar for two Lynx WG13 helicopters. They were the first ships fitted with the marine version of the Crotale surface-to-air missile system. A

Malafon Malafon (MArine LAtécoère FONds) was a French ship-launched anti-submarine missile system. Developed in the 1950s and 1960s, the weapon was intended to take advantage of the greater detection ranges possible with towed sonar arrays. The missil ...

anti-submarine missile system was fitted when the ships were built but this was removed during refits in the late 1980s. Optimized for anti-submarine warfare, and carrying towed as well as hull-mounted sonar arrays, the ''Tourville''s were typically placed in the destroyer category of warship and carry destroyer pennant numbers. Similar in many regards to the unmodified destroyers, they carried a similar combination of sensors, naval guns, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons, aircraft and surface-to-air missiles. Additionally, they were well-regarded for their

seakeeping Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea stat ...

, serving much of their careers in the Atlantic rather than with France's Mediterranean fleet.

Ships

The three ships of the class, D612 ''De Grasse'', D611 ''Duguay-Trouin'' and D610 ''Tourville'', are named major figures from French naval history. De Grasse and Tourville were French admirals and Duguay-Trouin coming to fame as a privateer. The three ships of the class were all constructed by Arsenal de

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

Notes

References

* Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen & Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Tourville class frigate Destroyer classes Frigate classes Ship classes of the French Navy