French Navy – Standard 1500t destroyers, 14 built 1925-1931, in service until 1952: L’Adroit, Basque, Bordelais, Boulonnais, Brestois, Forbin, Frondeur, L’Alcyon, La Palme, La Railleuse, Le Fortuné, Le Mars, Foudroyant, Fougueux The L’Adroit class were a group of standard French destroyers, called “torpilleurs” (“torpedo boats”) in French nomenclature. They were built in 1925-1930 as part … Read more
French Navy – Standard 1500t destroyers, 14 built 1925-1931, in service until 1952: Bourrasque, Cyclone, Mistral, Orage, Ouragan, Simoun, Sirocco, Tempête, Tornade, Tramontane, Trombe, Typhon New cycle: French Destroyers. Part I: The interwar classes, from Chacal to Le Hardi. Part II (2026): WWI French destroyers. The Bourrasque class is a series of twelve torpedo boats … Read more
French Navy (1949-70), Rebuilt Battleship Backstory: An unfinished battleship in WW2 FS Jean Bart was the sister ship of Richelieu, the last class of French battleships. And if the first was barely completed when the 1940 summer offensive commenced, the second still was months ahead before completion. She had to sail out in emergency from … Read more
France (1928-45), Oceanic Submersibles, 31 completed. France’s largest submarine class The “Redoutable class” -official name was 1500 tonnes- was initiated in 1925. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, signed by France indeed, tried to prevent a future naval arms race by limiting fleets and warship types. Like Italy, France was fairly limited in numbers of … Read more
Marine Nationale, French seaplane carrier (1927-1942) The French Marine Nationale interwar seaplane carrier The Commandant Teste was France’s only dedicated fleet seaplane carrier in 1939. She was a large ship based in the Mediterranean where weather conditions favored the use of seaplanes to screen for the fleet, equipped with four catapults, cranes, hangar and workshops … Read more
French 2nd class oceanic submersibles (1925-1938) Sirène (4), Ariane (4), Circé (4), Argonaute (5), Diane (9), Orion (2), Minerve (6), total 34. The largest French Submarine serie. In September 1939, with 34 boats, a good chunk of the total submarine force of the French, the 600-630 series were supposed to defend French interests in the … Read more
French Marine Nationale – Oceanic Types 1923-1947: Caïman, Dauphin, Espadon, Marsouin, Morse, Narval, Phoque, Requin, Souffleur The Requin (“shark”) class submarines: Continuing with our study of interwar submersibles in 2023 with 100 years of distance (1923) here is another entry: The first French Oceanic submersible design of the interwar, launched 1924-27. The 1,000 tonnes models … Read more
France – Treaty Light Cruiser 1828-1959 An innovative French cruiser Named after a famous French naval engineer, Emile Bertin, this light cruiser innovated in the same way Algeria, marking a clear break for heavy cruisers. In the interwar Germany was still the only country against which France imagined having to fight and there was a … Read more
French Navy (1946-1976) De Grasse was the first French post-WW2 cruiser completed, with Colbert. Both their stories went back to the interwar, De grasse being the lead ship of a class of three light cruisers designed to replace the old 1922 Duguay Trouin class. Caught by the war, she was captured by the Germans that … Read more
Marine Nationale, 11 Battleships (1910-1940) Introduction In thirty years, from her first dreadnought battleship, Courbet, started late, in 1910 to the Jean Bart and Gascogne project in 1940, France only had produced four classes of battleships, the Courbet, Bretagne, Dunkerque, and Richelieu, transitioning from dreadnought to super dreadnought, and semi-battlecruiser to fast battleship, respectively. Each … Read more
