Voltigeur-class destroyer explained

The Voltigeur class was a pair of destroyers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Both ships survived the First World War and were scrapped afterwards.

Design and description

The Voltigeur class was based on the preceding, albeit with a different arrangement of propulsion machinery. They had a length between perpendiculars of 63-, a beam of 6.4-,^[1] and a draft of 2.9-. Designed to displaced 450t, the ships displaced at deep load.

The destroyers were powered by one triple-expansion steam engines and two direct-drive steam turbine. The steam engines drove the center propeller shaft while the turbine powered the two outer shafts, all using steam provided by four water-tube boilers of two different types. The engines were designed to produce 7500ihp which was intended to give the ships a speed of 28kn. The ships carried of coal which gave them a range of 1520nmi at a cruising speed of .^[1]

The primary armament of the Voltigeur-class ships consisted of six 65adj=onNaNadj=on Modèle 1902 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and the others were distributed amidships. They were also fitted with three 450mm torpedo tubes. One of these was in a fixed mount in the bow and the other two were on single rotating mounts amidships.^[2]

Ships

• - built by Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne, Nantes, launched 23 March 1909, decommissioned May 1920.^[2]
• - built by Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux, launched 27 November 1908, decommissioned July 1921.^[2]

Bibliography

• Book: Couhat, Jean Labayle. French Warships of World War I. 1974. Ian Allan. London. 0-7110-0445-5.
• Book: Freivogel . Zvonimir . The Great War in the Adriatic Sea 1914–1918 . 2019 . Despot Infinitus . Zagreb . 978-953-8218-40-8.
• Book: Jordan . John . Caresse . Philippe . French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932 . 2019 . Seaforth Publishing . Barnsley, UK . 978-1-5267-4118-9. amp.
• Book: Osborne, Eric W. . 2005 . Destroyers - An Illustrated History of Their Impact . 1-85109-479-2 . ABC-Clio . Santa Barbara, California.
• Book: Prévoteaux . Gérard . La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome I 1914–1915 . 2017 . Éditions Lela presse . Le Vigen, France . 978-2-37468-000-2. The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book I 1914–1915. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. 23.
• Book: Prévoteaux . Gérard . La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome II 1916–1918 . 2017 . Éditions Lela presse . Le Vigen, France . 978-2-37468-001-9. The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book II 1916–1918. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. 27.
• Book: Roberts, Stephen S.. French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. 2021 . Barnsley, UK. Seaforth Publishing . 978-1-5267-4533-0.
• Book: Smigielski, Adam. France. 190–220. Gray. Randal . Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. 1985 . Annapolis, Maryland. Naval Institute Press. 0-87021-907-3.

Notes and References

1. Couhat, p. 98
2. Smigielski, p. 202