L'Adroit class destroyer

The "Adroit" class was a group of fourteen French navy destroyers ("torpilleur") laid down in 1925-6 and commissioned from 1928 to 1931. They were the successors to the "Bourrasque" class, with the same armament, but being slightly heavier overall.

The class saw varied service in the Second World War.

"La Railleuse" was the first French destroyer casualty of the War, on 24 March 1940, being blown up in Casablanca harbour by an accidental torpedo explosion. "L'Adroit" was sunk by a bomb from a German He-111 bomber on 21 May 1940 near Dunkirk, but her entire crew were able to escape and served in shore batteries until the French capitulation. "Le Foudroyant" was sunk in similar circumstances, but with more loss of life, on 1 June 1940.

"Basque", "Forbin" and "Fortuné" were part of the French Alexandria squadron, which were disarmed by the British on 22 June 1940 following French capitulation. They were rearmed under Free French auspices in December 1943.

"Boulonnais", "Brestois", "Le Fougueux" and "Le Frondeur" were all sunk by Allied ships off Casablanca, as part of Operation Torch. "L'Alcyon" survived the attack and joined the Allies.

"Bordelais", "Palme" and "Mars" joined many other French warships in scuttling at Toulon to stop their being taken over by the German navy.

Ships

* "Adroit" (Hull symbol: T2, 11, 21, 42, 41, 23, T23)
* "Basque" (Hull symbol: 55, 11, 57, 97, 43, 42, 23, 91, 92, T92, T91, T33)
* "Bordelais" (Hull symbol: 117, 112, 22, 81, T81, T11)
* "Boulonnais" (Hull symbol: 11, 99, 73, 33, 53, T53, T52)
* "Brestois" (Hull symbol: 12, 97, 14, 31, 51, T51)
* "Forbin" (Hull symbol: 98, 15, 12, 3, 92, 91, T91, T92, T32)
* "Frondeur" (Hull symbol: 119, 115, 23, 22, T22)
* "Alcyon" (Hull symbol: 116, 112, 71, 83, T83, T23, T63)
* "Palme" (Hull symbol: 74, 11, 1, T11, T13)
* "Railleuse" (Hull symbol: 73, 12, 5, 2, T32)
* "Fortuné" (Hull symbol: 72, 75, 32, 4, 1, T31)
* "Mars" (Hull symbol: 71, 72, 14, 2, T12)
* "Foudroyant" (Hull symbol: 99, 96, 44, 43, 52, T52)
* "Fougueux" (Hull symbol: 118, 114, 21, T21)

References

* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/class.html?ID=286&navy=FR "L'Adroit" class on uboat.net]
* [http://users.swing.be/batnaval/+navires/3208.html Classe: Adroit]