Bouclier-class destroyer

Bouclier, lead ship of the series, circa 1914
Class overview
Name	Bouclier class
Operators	French Navy
Preceded by	Template:Sclass-
Succeeded by	Template:Sclass-
Built	1909–13
In commission	1911–33
Completed	12
Lost	4
Scrapped	8
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	732–809 t (720–796 long tons)
Length	72.3–78.3 m (237 ft 2 in – 256 ft 11 in) (o/a)
Beam	7.6–8 m (24 ft 11 in – 26 ft 3 in)
Draft	2.9–3.3 m (9 ft 6 in – 10 ft 10 in)
Installed power	13,000 shp (9,694 kW) 4 water-tube boilers
Propulsion	2–3 shafts; 2–3 Steam turbines
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	1,200–1,600 nmi (2,200–3,000 km; 1,400–1,800 mi) at 12–14 knots (22–26 km/h; 14–16 mph)
Complement	80–83
Armament	2 × 100 mm (3.9 in) Mle 1893 guns 4 × 65 mm (2.6 in) Mle 1902 guns 2 × twin 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes

The Bouclier class, or Casque class, was a class of twelve destroyers of the French Navy built between 1910 and 1912, four of which were lost during the First World War.

This 800-tonne class were built by various shipyards to a general specification that included oil-fired boilers and steam turbines. This allowed for some variations in size (from 237–256 ft (72–78 m) in length) and machinery (Bouclier and Casque had three shafts, all the others had two, while Casque has three funnels, all the rest had four). Speeds also varied, Bory was the slowest at only 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), while Bouclier achieved 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph) in trials.

All ships of the class received the standard armament of two 100 mm (3.9 in) 1893 Model guns, four 65 mm (2.6 in) 1902 Model guns and two twin trainable 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes. During World War I, a 45 mm (1.8 in) or 75 mm (3 in) anti-aircraft gun, two 8 mm (0.31 in) machine guns, and eight or ten Guiraud-type depth charges were added.

All but three (Bouclier, Capitaine Mehl and Francis Garnier) of the ships in the class served in the Mediterranean Sea between 1914 and 1918.

Ships

Name	Builder	Launched	Fate
Bouclier	Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand, Le Havre	29 June 1911	Struck, 15 February 1933
Boutefeu	Dyle et Bacalan, Bordeaux	2 May 1911	Sunk by mine laid by UC-25 off Brindisi, 15 May 1917, during the Battle of the Strait of Otranto
Capitaine Mehl	Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, St. Nazaire	20 April 1912	Struck, 10 July 1926
Casque	Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, Le Havre	25 August 1910	Struck, 26 March 1926. Broken up, 1927.
Cimeterre	Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux	13 April 1911	Struck, 10 July 1926
Commandant Bory	Dyle et Bacalan, Bordeaux	14 September 1912	Struck, 29 July 1926
Commandant Rivière	Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux	2 October 1912	Struck, June 1933
Dague		13 April 1911	Sunk by a drifting mine in Antivari Roads, 24 February 1915
Dehorter	Ateliers et Chantiers de Penhoët, Saint-Nazaire	18 April 1912	Struck, 1933
Faulx	Établissement de la Brosse et Fouché, Nantes	2 February 1911	Accidentally rammed and sunk by Mangini in Strait of Otranto, 18 April 1918
Fourche		21 October 1910	Torpedoed and sunk by U-15, 23 June 1916
Francis Garnier	Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand, Le Havre	1 October 1912	Struck, 10 February 1926

Bibliography

• "BOUCLIER - Contre-torpilleur - marine - Forum Pages d'Histoire: marine". pages14-18.mesdiscussions.net. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
• Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allen. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Osborne, Eric W. (2005). Destroyers - An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio. ISBN 1-85109-479-2.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). "Classement par types". Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 2, 1870 - 2006. Toulon: Roche. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.

External links

• The Bouclier class on navypedia.org