The ''Bourrasque'' classalso known as ''Simoun'' class from the first ship completed was a group of twelve

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 ...

destroyers (''torpilleur'') laid down in 1923 and in service from 1926 to 1950. Along with the heavier , they were part of a plan to modernise the French fleet after 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 ...

. The ''Bourrasque''s were smaller and slower than the ''Chacal''s, but were nonetheless comparable with the British W class. The class saw varied service in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, in five different navies, on both sides. These ships were named after types of wind. The design was used as the basis for the two s built for the Polish Navy during the late 1920s.

Design and description

The ''Bourrasque'' class 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 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 Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

) 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 ship at . The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at .Jordan & Moulin, p. 41 The main armament of the ''Bourrasque''-class ships consisted of four Canon de Modèle 1919 guns in shielded single mounts, one superfiring pair each fore and aft of the superstructure. Their anti-aircraft (AA) armament consisted of a single Canon de Modèle 1924 gun. The ships carried two triple mounts 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 ...

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...

. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern that housed a total of sixteen depth charges.

Ships

Service

Four ships of the class - ''Bourrasque'', ''Cyclone'', ''Orage'' and ''Sirocco'' - were lost in 1940; ''Orage'' on 23 May, sunk by German bombers; ''Bourasque'' by German mines and artillery fire on 30 May while evacuating troops from Dunkirk; ''Sirocco'' on 31 May, to German torpedo boats while engaged in the same operation; and ''Cyclone'', having been badly damaged on 30 May by torpedo boats was scuttled at Brest on 18 June to prevent her capture. ''Mistral'' and were captured by the British in Plymouth harbour on 3 July 1940 during

Operation Catapult Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. Both were eventually transferred to the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

. Somewhat circuitously, ''Ouragan'' was first transferred to the Free Polish Navy. Both survived the war. ''Tornade'' and ''Tramontaine'' were lost in the same engagement off Oran on 8 November 1942, against allied units protecting Operation Torch. ''Typhon'' was scuttled in Oran harbour to stop her being acquired by the Allies. ''Simoun'' and ''Tempête'', based at Casablanca, joined the Allies in November 1942. They may have joined the battleship in engaging the Allied 'Covering Group', a taskforce based on the battleship . ''Trombe'' was the only ship of the class to be scuttled at Toulon in November 1942 alongside much of the French Navy. She was later raised, commissioned into the Italian Navy as ''FR31'', and then re-transferred to the Free French on 28 October 1943. This destroyer was crippled (constructive total loss) by a fascist Italian MTM explosive motorboat on 17 April 1945 in the

Gulf of Genoa The Gulf of Genoa (''Golfo di Genova'') is the northernmost part of the Ligurian Sea. This Italian gulf is about wide from the city of Imperia in the west to La Spezia in the east. The largest city on its coast is Genoa, which has an importan ...

Notes

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

''Bourrasque'' class on uboat.net"Mistral" : Un nom, une histoire
{{WWII French ships Destroyer classes World War II destroyers of France Ship classes of the French Navy