The French destroyer ''Boulonnais'' 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 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.Jordan & Moulin, Chapter 3

Construction and career

''Boulonnais'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 4 May 1926, launched on 1 June 1927 and completed on 25 June 1929. She was sunk on 8 November 1942 off Casablanca, French Morocco, during the

Naval Battle of Casablanca The Naval Battle of Casablanca was a series of naval engagements fought between American ships covering the invasion of North Africa and Vichy French ships defending the neutrality of French Morocco in accordance with the Second Armistice at C ...

by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

Notes

References

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External links

*http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6022.html *http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?14 {{DEFAULTSORT:Boulonnais (1927) L'Adroit-class destroyers World War II destroyers of France 1927 ships Maritime incidents in November 1942