# Bouclier-class destroyer

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

## Design and description

The Bouclier-class was nearly double the size of the preceding 450-metric-ton (443-long-ton) destroyers to match the increase in size of foreign destroyers. The French Navy issued a general specification that required oil-fired boilers, steam turbine propulsion and a uniform armament that allowed individual shipyards the freedom to design their ships as they saw fit. This allowed for some variations in size (from 72.32–78.3 meters (237 ft 3 in – 256 ft 11 in) 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).
Bouclier was the shortest ship with an overall length of 72.32 meters and her sister ships ranged in length from 74 to 78.3 meters (242 ft 9 in to 256 ft 11 in). All of the ships had beams of 7.6–8 meters (24 ft 11 in – 26 ft 3 in) and drafts of 2.9–3.3 meters (9 ft 6 in – 10 ft 10 in). Bouclier and her sister Francis Garnier had the lightest displacements at 692 metric tons (681 long tons); the others displaced 720–756 metric tons (709–744 long tons) at normal load. Their crews numbered 80–83 men.
The destroyers were powered by two or three steam turbines of four different models, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four water-tube boilers of four different types. The turbines were designed to produce 13,000 shaft horsepower (9,700 kW) which was intended to give the ships a speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). During their sea trials, they reached speeds of 29.3–35.5 knots (54.3–65.7 km/h; 33.7–40.9 mph). The ships carried 120–160 t (118–157 long tons) of fuel oil which gave them a range of 1,200–1,600 nautical miles (2,200–3,000 km; 1,400–1,800 mi) at cruising speeds of 12–14 knots (22–26 km/h; 14–16 mph).
The primary armament of the Bouclier-class ships consisted of two 100-millimeter (3.9 in) Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and four 65-millimeter (2.6 in) Modèle 1902 guns distributed amidships. They were also fitted with two twin mounts for 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes amidships.
During World War I, a 45-millimeter (1.8 in) or 75-millimeter (3 in) anti-aircraft gun, two 8-millimeter (0.31 in) machine guns, and eight or ten Guiraud-type depth charges were added to the ships. The extra weight severely overloaded the ships and reduced their operational speed to around 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph).

## 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 | Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux | 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 | Établissement de la Brosse et Fouché, Nantes | 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 |

## Citations

* 1 2 3 4 Gardiner & Gray, p. 203
* ↑ Couhat, pp. 101, 104