Le Terrible

History

Le Terrible ("The terrible one") was a large destroyer (contre-torpilleur, "Torpedo-boat destroyer") of the French Navy in service during World War II.

Design

With the latest class of large Destroyers, the Vauquelin class, being considered too small for the French needs, design work was done in an effort to create a faster and more powerful class of Destroyers. Given how the current desings with a displacement of 2400 tons did not allow such improvements, it was decided to increase the displacement. The resulting ship displaced 2569 tons standard, 2800 tons under normal load and 3400 tons under a full load. The size increased to an overall length of 132.4m, a beam of 12.35m and a draft of 5m. Despite these enlargements, the complement in fact decreased to only 210, divided into 13 Officers and 197 men.

The main armament of the Le Fantasque class was improved over the previous classes. Whereas the Vauquelin class used a 138.6mm/40 gun, Le Fantasque carried a 138.6mm/50 gun. What this meant was that the barrel was longer, and thus gave the shell a faster velocity and better range. The maximum gun range increased to 20km, so more than a 3km improvement. The theoretical rate of fire of 12 rounds per minute was only possible for a short time, because the 40kg heavy projectiles had to be loaded by hand. The practical rate of fire was noticably lower at only seven rounds per minute. Five of these guns were mounted on the centerline of the ship. A superfiring pair at the bow and stern of the ship, with the last gun being mounted on the after superstructure facing forward.

Torpedo armament featured three triple launchers for the standard 550mm Torpedoes. These were not all mounted on the centerline, but rather saw two triple launchers between the smoke stacks, one on each side of the ship with the third launcher being mounted further astern on the centerline, so that only two launchers could be trained onto a single target. The Torpedo used was the 1923 Model DT, which carried a 415kg warhead filled with TNT, and had two settings for the speed: The first mode would allow a range of 14km at a speed of 35kn, while the second mode would reduce the range to 10km but be faster at 39kn.

Initial anti-aircraft armament of these ships was typical of its time. Four hand-loaded 37mm guns in two twin mounts, and an equal number of 13.2mm machine guns. Two depth charge racks with a total of 16 depth charges would be used to combat submarines, and it was possible to carry up to 50 mines.

Those ships that would escape to the United States would receive a refit that would also improve the AA defenses. One quadruple 40mm Bofors, as well as two twin Bofors would replace the 37mm guns while ten single mounted 20mm Oerlikons would provide an adequate short range defense. This however came at the cost of the centerline Torpedo launcher, which had to be removed in order to maintain stability and to empty up the space required.

The most important of the Le Fantasque class however was in terms of her machinery. Four boilers and two sets of turbines would produce a combined power of 81,400 shp as designed for a design speed of 37kn, but during trials up to 101,800 shp were achieved along with the record speed of 45.03kn. These happened under light loads, but under a full load a respectable speed of 37kn was still achievable. The engines were however prone to machinery defects, which showed themselves in the stripping of the turbine blades and boiler issues. The machinery also caused severe vibrations when used above certain levels of power, which would negatively influence the weapon and optical systems, so during combat a speed of 28kn was deemed the maximum.

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  French destroyer Le Terrible, post-war