Bourrasque-class destroyer

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).[2]

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.[2]

• Bourrasque ("Snowstorm" - 12, 24, 24, 41, T41)

Built by Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk

Completed 23 September 1926

Mined and lost off Nieuwpoort on 30 May 1940 during Operation Dynamo

• Cyclone (51, 52, 56, 61, T61)

Built by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, Le Havre

Completed 1 June 1928

Damaged by E-boat S-24 30 May 1940, scuttled at Brest 18 June 1940

• Mistral ("Mistral" - 52, 53, 62, 63, T63, H03)

Built by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, Le Havre

Completed 1 June 1927

Decommissioned 17 February 1950

• Orage ("Storm" - 13, 16, 12, 22, 43, T43)

Built by Chantiers Navals Français, Caen

Completed 1 December 1926

Lost 23 May 1940

• Ouragan ("Hurricane" - 12, 15, 13, 23, 42, T42, H16)

Built by Chantiers Navals Français, Caen

Completed 19 January 1927

Decommissioned 1949

• Simoun ("Simoom" - 13, 12, 54, 58, 6, 3, T33, T52, T61, T62)

Built by Ateliers et Chantiers de St Nazaire-Penhoet, St. Nazaire

Completed 29 April 1926

Decommissioned 17 February 1950

• Sirocco ("Sirocco" - 53, 57, 52, 63, 62, T62)

Built by Ateliers et Chantiers de St Nazaire-Penhoet, St. Nazaire

Completed 1 July 1927

Sunk by the E-boats S-23 and S-26 on 31 May 1940 during Operation Dynamo

• Tempête ("Tempest" - 11, 13, 31, 58, 7, 3, T13, T62, T61)

Built by Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes

Completed 28 September 1926

Decommissioned 1950

• Tornade ("Tornado" - 31, 33, 73, 76, T73)

Built by Dyle et Bacalan, Bordeaux

Completed 10 May 1928

Sunk 8 November 1942

• Tramontane ("Tramontane" - 34, 31, 83, 75, T71)

Built by Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux

Completed 15 October 1927

Lost 8 November 1942

• Trombe ("Waterspout" - 32, 82, T82, T64)

Built by Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux

Completed 27 October 1927

Decommissioned 17 February 1950

• Typhon ("Typhoon" - 33, 72, T72)

Built by Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux

Completed 27 June 1928

Scuttled 9 November 1942

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.

• Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
• Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2013). "Toulon: The Self-Destruction and Salvage of the French Fleet". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2013. London: Conway. pp. 134–148. ISBN 978-1-84486-205-4.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. 1: Major Surface Warships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-790-9.
• Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-198-4.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

• Bourrasque class on uboat.net
• "Mistral" : Un nom, une histoire