French destroyer Boutefeu
Boutefeu was one of a dozen s built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Design and description. The "Bouclier" class were designed to a general specification and varied significantly from each other in various ways. The ships had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of . Designed to displace , they displaced at normal load. Their crew numbered 80–83 men. "Boutefeu" was powered by a pair of Zoelly steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four water-tube boilers. The engines were designed to produce  which was intended to give the ships a speed of . "Boutefeu" handily exceed that speed, reaching during her sea trials. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at cruising speeds of . The primary armament of the "Bouclier"-class ships consisted of two Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and four Modèle 1902 guns distributed amidships. They were also fitted with two twin mounts for torpedo tubes amidships. During World War I, a or anti-aircraft gun, two 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 . Construction and career. "Boutefeu" was ordered from Dyle et Bacalan and was launched from its Bordeaux shipyard on 2 May 1911. The ship was completed later that year. During the First World War she was stationed at Brindisi in support of the Otranto barrage. On 15 May 1917, during the Battle of the Strait of Otranto, "Boutefeu" struck a mine laid earlier that day by the Imperial German Navy submarine "UC-25" just outside Brindisi harbor. The destroyer broke in two and sank  in under two minutes, with heavy loss of life.