# Bourrasque-class destroyer

The Bourrasque class was a group of twelve French Navy destroyers (torpilleur) laid down in 1923 and in service from 1926 to 1950. Along with the heavier Chacal class, they were part of a plan to modernise the French fleet after the First World War. The Bourrasques were smaller and slower than the Chacals, but were nonetheless comparable with the British W class. The class saw varied service in the Second World War, in five different navies, on both sides. These ships were named after types of wind.
The design was used as the basis for the two Wicher-class destroyers built for the Polish Navy during the late 1920s.

## Design and description

The Bourrasque class had an overall length of 105.6 meters (346 ft 5 in), a beam of 9.7 meters (31 ft 10 in), and a draft of 3.5 meters (11 ft 6 in). The ships displaced 1,320 metric tons (1,300 long tons) at (standard) load and 1,825 metric tons (1,796 long tons) at deep load. They were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three du Temple boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 31,000 metric horsepower (22,800 kW; 30,576 shp), which would propel the ship at 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).
The main armament of the Bourrasque-class ships consisted of four Canon de 130 mm (5.1 in) Modèle 1919 guns in shielded single mounts, one superfiring pair each fore and aft of the superstructure. Their anti-aircraft (AA) armament consisted of a single Canon de 75 mm (3 in) Modèle 1924 gun. The ships carried two triple mounts of 550-millimeter (21.7 in) torpedo tubes amidships. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern that housed a total of sixteen 200-kilogram (440 lb) depth charges.

## Ships

Construction details :
| Ship name | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comm. | Completed | In service | Fate |
| Bourrasque | Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk | 12 Nov 1923 | 5 Aug 1925 | | 23 Sep 1926 | 23 Sep 1926 | Mined and lost off Nieuwpoort during Operation Dynamo, 30 May 1940 |
| Cyclone | Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, Le Havre | 29 Sep 1923 | 24 Jan 1925 | 15 Mar 1927 | 31 May 1927 | 25 Jun 1928 | Damaged by E-boat S-24 30 May 1940; scuttled at Brest 18 Jun 1940 |
| Mistral | Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, Le Havre | 28 Nov 1923 | 6 Jun 1925 | 5 Apr 1927 | 1 Jun 1927 | 21 Jan 1928 | Constructive total loss 10 Jun 1944; decommissioned 17 Feb 1950 |
| Orage | Chantiers Navals Français, Caen | 20 Aug 1923 | 30 Aug 1924 | 1 Oct 1926 | 1 Sep 1926 | 19 Jan 1927 | Sunk 23 May 1940 |
| Ouragan | Chantiers Navals Français, Caen | 7 Sep 1923 | 6 Dec 1924 | 19 Jan 1927 | | 15 Sep 1927 | Loaned to Poland; decommissioned 3 Jul 1940 |
| Simoun | Ateliers et Chantiers de St Nazaire-Penhoet, St. Nazaire | 8 Aug 1923 | 3 Jun 1924 | 1 Jan 1926 | 29 Apr 1926 | Aug 1926 | Decommissioned 17 Feb 1950; scrapped 1950 |
| Sirocco | Ateliers et Chantiers de St Nazaire-Penhoet, St. Nazaire | 15 Mar 1924 | 3 Oct 1925 | | 1 Jul 1927 | 5 Feb 1928 | Sunk by the E-boats S-23 and S-26 during Operation Dynamo, 31 May 1940 |
| Tempête | Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes | 3 Dec 1923 | 21 Feb 1925 | 20 Jul 1926 | 28 Sep 1926 | Sep 1926 | Decommissioned, scrapped 1950 |
| Tornade | Dyle et Bacalan, Bordeaux | 25 Apr 1923 | 12 Mar 1925 | 1 Oct 1927 | 10 May 1928 | 21 May 1928 | Sunk 8 Nov 1942 |
| Tramontane | Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux | 29 Jun 1923 | 29 Nov 1924 | 15 May 1927 | 15 Oct 1927 | 1 Jan 1928 | Lost 8 Nov 1942 |
| Trombe | Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux | 5 Mar 1924 | 27 Dec 1925 | 1 Jun 1927 | 27 Oct 1927 | 21 Dec 1927 | Scuttled 27 Nov 1942; decommissioned 17 Feb 1950 |
| Typhon | Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux | 1 Sep 1923 | 22 May 1925 | 15 Feb 1928 | 27 Jun 1928 | 22 Oct 1928 | Scuttled 9 Nov 1942 |

## Service

Four ships of the class - Bourrasque, Cyclone, Orage and Sirocco - were lost in 1940; Orage on 23 May, sunk by German bombers; Bourasque by German mines and artillery fire on 30 May while evacuating troops from Dunkirk; Sirocco on 31 May, to German torpedo boats while engaged in the same operation; and Cyclone, having been badly damaged on 30 May by torpedo boats was scuttled at Brest on 18 June to prevent her capture.
Mistral and Ouragan were captured by the British in Plymouth harbour on 3 July 1940 during Operation Catapult. Both were eventually transferred to the Free French. Somewhat circuitously, Ouragan was first transferred to the Free Polish Navy. Both survived the war.
Tornade and Tramontaine were lost in the same engagement off Oran on 8 November 1942, against allied units protecting Operation Torch. Typhon was scuttled in Oran harbour to stop her being acquired by the Allies.
Simoun and Tempête, based at Casablanca, joined the Allies in November 1942. They may have joined the battleship Jean Bart in engaging the Allied 'Covering Group', a taskforce based on the battleship Massachusetts.
Trombe was the only ship of the class to be scuttled at Toulon in November 1942 alongside much of the French Navy. She was later raised, commissioned into the Italian Navy as FR31, and then re-transferred to the Free French on 28 October 1943. This destroyer was crippled (constructive total loss) by a fascist Italian MTM explosive motorboat on 17 April 1945 in the Gulf of Genoa.
* Plan and specifications
* Bourrasque-class destroyer (T81)
* Bourrasque-class destroyer