The first 55 French destroyers all belonged to the 300-ton type, roughly equivalent in performance to the British 27-knotters of 1893 vintage. All 55 were named for weapons, except Branlebas, which was an ancient French command (something like 'Action Stations!', exclaimed very heroically). They were reasonably up-to-date when first ordered in 1896, but the French kept bulding them till 1909, at which time they were utterly and hopelessly outclassed. The early ones were considered reasonably good sea boats for their size (the later ones were overweight), and they also were of more robust construction as many later, much larger french destroyers. Four were exported to Turkey, and 16 similar units to Russia.
The initial four boats: Durandal, Hallebarde, Fauconneau, Espingole, laid down 1896. When completed, they were painted the same way as French capital ships, with black hulls and off-white superstructure, masts and funnels. They had two 381mm torpedo tubes, a 65mm gun, six 47mm guns and were good for 26 knots
After 1908, they were painted in Gris Bleu 1908. I have not been able to find the exact RGB values of that colour (as usual when researching WWI-era paintjobs), but it's my best guess. The bridge was enlargened and the searchlight moved further up; to combat topweight problems, the aft CT was deleted and the mainmast replaced with a stump.
The next four boats: Framee, Yatagan, Pique and Epee, laid down 1897. They had four funnels, were a little longer and had finer lines aft; otherwise they were simliar.
I have not found any pics of a Framee-class boat with a modified bridge like Durandal's; they did however lose their mainmast and aft CT too:
The following group: Pertuisane, Escopette, Rapiere and Flamberge, laid down 1899/1900. They were identical to the Durandals, except their funnels were slightly raked.
Modifications were simliar to that of the Framee-class:
The first real large order was placed in 1900, 20 units laid down between 1900 and 1902: Arbalete, Arc, Arquebuse, Balliste, Belier, Bombarde, Carabine, Catapult, Dard, Epieu, Francisque, Fronde, Harpon, Javeline, Mousquet, Mousqueton, Pistolet, Sabre, Sagaie, Sarbacane. They had the same hull form as the Framees, but only two funnels. Improved boilers added two knots of speed (28kts as designed).
They (at least some of them) were modified in a similar way as Durandal:
The 13 follow-on boats (laid down 1904 - 1906) featured a major redesign, with a wider hull with more freeboard and slightly less draught, more displacement (350 ts), larger (450mm) torpedoes and a redesigned bridge; they had no mainmast from the beginning. Unlike their predecessors, they were top-heavy and not quite as popular. I have not found any photo of one of them prior to adoption of the Gris Bleu 1908 hull paint, so I included only one in the later paintjob.
The last ten of the class were laid down 1906/6. They received 17 or 18mm splinter protection armour for their machinery and boilers; this not only improved protection, but also resulted in a better weight distribution, so they were probably the best of the lot.
Greetings
GD
Thank you Kim for the crest
