(1923-1939), about 90 ships Almost 20 years of development French Destroyer Frondeur of the L’Adroit-class – Official U.S. Navy photo NH 55990 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Almost 20 years of development: From the 1920s mass-produced “three-pipers” to the 40 knots, super-destroyers of the Mogador class, destroyer development in France went … Read more
France (1928-45), Minelayer Diesel Electric Submersibles. Diamant, Nautilus, Perle, Rubis, Saphir, and Turquoise France’s most successful ww2 subs This class of “diamonds” became the best known during the war among french subs, the only ones to gain fame within the allied forces and pass to posterity with a new class of nuclear attack submarines named … Read more
French Navy – Minelayer cruiser The shortest lived French cruiser The Pluton (formerly La Tour d’Auvergne) was the shortest-lived French cruiser of WW2: Commissioned in May 1931, she served eight years, until her accidental explosion in September 1939, just 12 days into the war. But Pluton was also an oddity, the first “special service” cruiser … Read more
French Navy – Duguay-Trouin, Primauguet, Lamotte-Picquet First French cruisers since 15 years: These three light cruisers, Duguay-Trouin, Lamotte-Picquet and Primauguet, were the first French cruisers built since 1906. The main reason was like for other countries, the revelation of HMS Dreadnought caused a brutal shift in naval spendings towards the new breed of Battleships. It … Read more
