French destroyer Durandal
Durandal was the name ship of her class of four destroyers built for the French Navy in the late 1890s. Design and description. The "Durandal" class was the first class of destroyers built for the French Navy, and formed part of the "300-tonne" type of destroyers, of which 55 ships of similar size and layout were built between 1897 and 1908. They were designed by the French specialist builder of torpedo vessels, Chantiers et Ateliers A. Normand, based on their design, but enlarged and with a stronger hull. The "Durandal"s were long overall and between perpendiculars , with a beam of and a draft of . Displacement was . Like all the "300 tonne" destroyers, "Durandal" had a "turtleback" forecastle and a raised flying-deck aft. Two coal-fired Normand water-tube boilers fed steam to two triple-expansion steam engines rated at , giving a design speed of . Two widely separated funnels were fitted. The ships had an operating radius of at and at . "Durandal" had a gun armament of one Canon de 65 mm Modèle 1891 gun on a raised platform around the ship's conning tower, and six /40 M1885 guns on the ship's beams. Two  torpedo tubes were fitted, with two spare torpedoes carried. She had a crew of four officers and 48 other ranks. Construction and service. "Durandal" and sister ship were ordered on 25 August 1896, and "Durandal" was launched at Normand's Le Havre shipyard on 11 February 1899. She reached a speed of during sea trials on 4 July 1899. In July 1902, "Durandal" took part in the 1902 French naval manoeuvres in the Mediterranean. On the outbreak of the First World War, "Durandal" was based in the English Channel, deployed on anti-submarine duties. On 12 October 1914, "Durandal", the  destroyer and the auxiliary cruiser "Pas de Calais" (a converted paddle packet ship), engaged the German submarine off Cap Gris-Nez.