|
| Class overview |
|---|
| Name | Voltigeur class |
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Preceded by | Spahi class |
| Succeeded by | Chasseur class |
| Built | 1908–10 |
| In service | 1910–21 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics |
|---|
| Type | Destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 63–65.5 m (206 ft 8 in – 214 ft 11 in) (p/p) |
| Beam | 6.4–6.8 m (21 ft 0 in – 22 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 2.9–3.1 m (9 ft 6 in – 10 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion | 3 shafts; 1 triple-expansion steam engine and 2 steam turbines |
| Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range | 1,520 nmi (2,820 km; 1,750 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 76–77 |
| Armament | |
The Voltigeur class was a pair of destroyers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Both ships survived the First World War and were scrapped afterwards.
Design and description
The Voltigeur class was based on the preceding Spahi-class destroyer, albeit with a different arrangement of propulsion machinery.[1] They had a length between perpendiculars of 63–65.5 meters (206 ft 8 in – 214 ft 11 in), a beam of 6.4–6.8 meters (21 ft 0 in – 22 ft 4 in),[2] and a draft of 2.9–3.1 meters (9 ft 6 in – 10 ft 2 in). Designed to displaced 450 metric tons (443 long tons), the ships displaced 590 t (581 long tons) at deep load.[1]
The destroyers were powered by one triple-expansion steam engines and two direct-drive steam turbine. The steam engines drove the center propeller shaft while the turbine powered the two outer shafts, all using steam provided by four water-tube boilers of two different types. The engines were designed to produce 7,500 indicated horsepower (5,600 kW) which was intended to give the ships a speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). The ships carried 118 t (116 long tons) of coal which gave them a range of 1,520 nautical miles (2,820 km; 1,750 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[2]
The primary armament of the Voltigeur-class ships consisted of six 65-millimeter (2.6 in) Modèle 1902 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and the others were distributed amidships. They were also fitted with three 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. One of these was in a fixed mount in the bow and the other two were on single rotating mounts amidships.[1]
