Bourrasque-class destroyer

The Bourrasque class[1] was a group of twelve French Navy destroyers (torpilleur) laid down in 1923 and in service from 1926 to 1950. Along with the heavier Chacal class, they were part of a plan to modernise the French fleet after the First World War. The Bourrasques were smaller and slower than the Chacals, but were nonetheless comparable with the British W class. The class saw varied service in the Second World War, in five different navies, on both sides. These ships were named after types of wind.

Class overview
NameBourrasque
Operators
Preceded byEnseigne Gabolde
Succeeded byAdroit class
Completed12
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement
Length106 m (347 ft 9 in)
Beam9.64 m (31 ft 8 in)
Draught4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Propulsion
  • 3 boilers
  • Geared turbines
  • 31,000 shp (23,117 kW)
  • 2 shafts
Speed33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range2,150 nmi (3,980 km; 2,470 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement7 officers, 138 men
Armament

The design was used as the basis for the two Wicher-class destroyers built for the Polish Navy during the late 1920s.

Design and description

The Bourrasque class had an overall length of 105.6 meters (346 ft 5 in), a beam of 9.7 meters (31 ft 10 in), and a draft of 3.5 meters (11 ft 6 in). The ships displaced 1,320 metric tons (1,300 long tons) at (standard) load and 1,825 metric tons (1,796 long tons) at deep load. They were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three du Temple boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 31,000 metric horsepower (22,800 kW; 30,576 shp), which would propel the ship at 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[2]

The main armament of the Bourrasque-class ships consisted of four Canon de 130 mm (5.1 in) 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 75 mm (3 in) Modèle 1924 gun. The ships carried two triple mounts of 550-millimeter (21.7 in) torpedo tubes amidships. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern that housed a total of sixteen 200-kilogram (440 lb) depth charges.[2]

Ships
Construction details
Ship name Builder Laid down Launched Comm. Completed In service Fate
Bourrasque Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk 12 Nov 1923 5 Aug 1925 23 Sep 1926 23 Sep 1926 Mined and lost off Nieuwpoort during Operation Dynamo, 30 May 1940
Cyclone Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, Le Havre 29 Sep 1923 24 Jan 1925 15 Mar 1927 31 May 1927 25 Jun 1928 Damaged by E-boat S-24 30 May 1940; scuttled at Brest 18 Jun 1940
Mistral 28 Nov 1923 6 Jun 1925 5 Apr 1927 1 Jun 1927 21 Jan 1928 Constructive total loss 10 Jun 1944; decommissioned 17 Feb 1950
Orage Chantiers Navals Français, Caen 20 Aug 1923 30 Aug 1924 1 Oct 1926 1 Sep 1926 19 Jan 1927 Sunk 23 May 1940
Ouragan 7 Sep 1923 6 Dec 1924 19 Jan 1927 15 Sep 1927 Loaned to Poland; decommissioned 3 Jul 1940
Simoun Ateliers et Chantiers de St Nazaire-Penhoet, St. Nazaire 8 Aug 1923 3 Jun 1924 1 Jan 1926 29 Apr 1926 Aug 1926 Decommissioned 17 Feb 1950; scrapped 1950
Sirocco 15 Mar 1924 3 Oct 1925 1 Jul 1927 5 Feb 1928 Sunk by the E-boats S-23 and S-26 during Operation Dynamo, 31 May 1940
Tempête Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes 3 Dec 1923 21 Feb 1925 20 Jul 1926 28 Sep 1926 Sep 1926 Decommissioned, scrapped 1950
Tornade Dyle et Bacalan, Bordeaux 25 Apr 1923 12 Mar 1925 1 Oct 1927 10 May 1928 21 May 1928 Sunk 8 Nov 1942
Tramontane Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux 29 Jun 1923 29 Nov 1924 15 May 1927 15 Oct 1927 1 Jan 1928 Lost 8 Nov 1942
Trombe 5 Mar 1924 27 Dec 1925 1 Jun 1927 27 Oct 1927 21 Dec 1927 Scuttled 27 Nov 1942; decommissioned 17 Feb 1950
Typhon 1 Sep 1923 22 May 1925 15 Feb 1928 27 Jun 1928 22 Oct 1928 Scuttled 9 Nov 1942

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 Ouragan were captured by the British in Plymouth harbour on 3 July 1940 during Operation Catapult. Both were eventually transferred to the Free French. 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 Jean Bart in engaging the Allied 'Covering Group', a taskforce based on the battleship Massachusetts.

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.

Bourrasque class
  • Plan and specifications
    Plan and specifications
  • Bourrasque class destroyer
    Bourrasque-class destroyer (T81)
  • Bourrasque class destroyer
    Bourrasque-class destroyer

Notes
  1. also known as Simoun class from the first ship completed
  2. Jordan & Moulin, p. 41

References
  • Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
  • Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2013). "Toulon: The Self-Destruction and Salvage of the French Fleet". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2013. London: Conway. pp. 134–148. ISBN 978-1-84486-205-4.
  • Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Colledge, J. J. & Adams, T. A. (May 2022). "French Ships Seized by the Royal Navy During the Second World War — Part 2". Marine News Supplement: Warships. 76 (5): S261–S276. ISSN 0966-6958.
  • Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. 1: Major Surface Warships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-790-9.
  • Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
  • Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
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