View source for French destroyer Branlebas

{{short description|Destroyer of the French Navy}}
{{other ships|French ship Branlebas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Branlebas destroyer.jpg
|Ship caption=''Branlebas'' in harbor
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=France
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|France|naval}}
|Ship name=''Branlebas''
|Ship namesake=[[Action stations]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand]], [[Le Havre]]
|Ship laid down=November 1905
|Ship launched=8 October 1907
|Ship completed=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship struck=
|Ship fate=Sunk 30 September 1915
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Branlebas|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|344|LT|t|0|disp=flip|abbr=on|lk=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|58|m|ftin|abbr=on}} ([[p/p]])
|Ship beam={{convert|6.28|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|2.96|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=*{{convert|6800|ihp|0|abbr=on|lk=in}}
*2 [[Normand boiler|Normand]] '''or''' [[Du Temple boiler]]s
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts; 2 [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|Triple-expansion steam engines]]
|Ship speed={{convert|27.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|2100|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn}}
|Ship complement=60
|Ship armament=*1 × [[Canon de 65 mm Modèle 1891|{{convert|65|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] gun
*6 × {{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on}} [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|Hotchkiss guns]]
*2 × {{convert|450|mm|in|abbr=on|1}} [[torpedo tube]]s 
|Ship armor=[[Belt armor|Waterline belt]]: {{convert|20|mm|in|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''''Branlebas''''' was the [[name ship]] of [[Branlebas-class destroyer|her class]] of [[destroyer]]s built for the [[French Navy]] in the first decade of the 20th century.

During [[World War I]], ''Branlebas'' struck a [[Naval mine|mine]] and sank in the [[North Sea]] between [[Dunkirk]], France, and [[Nieuwpoort, Belgium|Nieuwpoort]], Belgium, on 30 September 1915.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyFrench.htm |title=French Navy |publisher=Naval History |accessdate=21 February 2013}}</ref>

==Design==
The ''Branlebas''-class was a development of the previous {{sclass|Claymore|destroyer|4}}, and was the final evolution of the ''300-tonne'' type which the French had built since 1899, with their first destroyer class, the {{sclass|Durandal|destroyer|0}}. Like all the ''300-tonne'' destroyers, the ''Branlebas'' class had a turtledeck [[forecastle]] with a flying deck, raised above the hull, aft.<ref name="conways60 p326-7">{{harvnb|Campbell|1979|pp=326–327}}</ref>

They were {{convert|58|m|ftin}} long [[length between perpendiculars|between perpendiculars]] and {{convert|193|ft|9|in|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} [[length overall|overall]],<ref name="cou p92">{{Harvnb|Couhat|1974|p=92}}</ref><ref name="bras12p254">{{Harvnb|Hythe|1912|p=254}}</ref> with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|6.28|m|ftin}} and a maximum [[Draft (ship)|draught]] of {{convert|2.37|m|ftin}}. [[Displacement (ship)|Displacement]] was {{convert|344|LT|t|disp=flip|lk=on}}. Two coal-fired [[Normand boiler|Normand]] or [[Du Temple boiler]]s fed steam to two [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engines]], rated at {{convert|6800|ihp|kW|lk=in}}, and driving two propeller shafts, giving a design speed of {{convert|27.5|kn|lk=in}}. The ships had a range of {{convert|2100|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.<ref name="cou p92"/>

A {{convert|20|mm|in}} [[Belt armor|belt of armour]] was fitted to protect the ship's boilers and machinery from splinters.<ref name="conways60 p326-7"/><ref name="cou p94">{{harvnb|Couhat|1974|p=94}}</ref> The class was built with the standard gun armament for the ''300-tonne'' destroyers, with a single [[Canon de 65 mm Modèle 1891|{{convert|65|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] forward, backed up by six [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|{{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] guns, while two 450&nbsp;mm (17.7&nbsp;in) [[torpedo tube]]s were carried.<ref name="conways60 p326-7"/> The ships had a complement of 4 officers and 56 men.<ref name="cou p92"/>

==Construction and service==
''Branlebas'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] at the [[Le Havre]] shipyard of [[Chantiers et Ateliers A. Normand]] in November 1905 and  was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 8 October 1910. She reached a speed of {{convert|28.76|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} during [[sea trials]].<ref name="cou p94"/>

When the First World War began in August 1914, ''Branlebas'' was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla ({{lang|fr|1<sup>re</sup> escadrille de torpilleurs}}) of the 2nd Light Squadron ({{lang|fr|2<sup>e</sup> escadre légère}})<ref>Prévoteaux, Tome I, p. 34</ref> based at [[Cherbourg]].

==References== 
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905 |editor1-last=Chesneau |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Kolesnik |editor2-first=Eugene M. |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=Greenwich |year=1979 |isbn=0-8317-0302-4 |name-list-style=amp |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2|chapter=France|author1-last=Campbell|author1-first=N. J. M.|pages=283–333}}
*{{cite book|last=Couhat|first=Jean Labayle|title=French Warships of World War I|year=1974|publisher=Ian Allan |location=London|isbn=0-7110-0445-5}}
*{{cite book |last=Karau |first=Mark D. |title=The Naval Flank of the Westorn Front: The German MarineKorps Flandern 1914–1918 |year=2014 |location=Barnsley, UK |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-84832-231-8}}
* {{cite book |title=Monograph No. 28: Home Waters Part III.: From November 1914 to the end of January 1915 |series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) |volume=XII |year=1925 |publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XII_opt.pdf |ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 28|1924}}}}
*{{cite book |last1=Prévoteaux |first1=Gérard |title=La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome I 1914–1915 |date=2017 |publisher=Éditions Lela presse |location=Le Vigen, France |isbn=978-2-37468-000-2|trans-title=The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book I 1914–1915|series=Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond|volume=23}}
*{{cite book |last1=Prévoteaux |first1=Gérard |title=La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome II 1916–1918 |date=2017 |publisher=Éditions Lela presse |location=Le Vigen, France |isbn=978-2-37468-001-9|trans-title=The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book II 1916–1918|series=Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond|volume=27}}
* {{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Stephen S.|title=French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|year=2021|location=Barnsley, UK|publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-5267-4533-0}}
*{{cite book |editor=Viscount Hythe |title=The Naval Annual 1912 |year=1912 |location=Portsmouth |publisher=J Griffin and Co. |url=https://archive.org/details/brasseysnavala1912brasuoft |ref={{harvid|Hythe|1912}}}}

{{Branlebas class destroyer}}
{{September 1915 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|North Sea}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branlebas}}
[[Category:Branlebas-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Ships built in France]]
[[Category:1907 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1915]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by mines]]
[[Category:World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea]]