Pertuisane-class destroyer

The Pertuisane class (sometimes referred to as the Rochefortais class as they were all built in Rochefort) was a group of four destroyers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. They survived the First World War only to be scrapped afterwards.

Flamberge underway in a harbor
Class overview
Name	Pertuisane class
Builders	Arsenal de Rochefort
Operators	French Navy
Preceded by	Framée class
Succeeded by	Arquebuse class
Built	1899–1901
In service	1900–1921
In commission	1900–1921
Completed	4
Scrapped	4
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	301 long tons (306 t)
Length	57.64 m (189 ft 1 in) (o/a)
Beam	6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
Draft	3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)
Installed power	4,800 ihp (3,579 kW) 2 water-tube boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 Triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Range	2,300 nmi (4,300 km; 2,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	52
Armament	1 × single 65 mm (2.6 in) gun 6 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 2 × single 380 mm (15 in) torpedo tubes

Ships

• Pertuisane - launched 5 December 1900, stricken 16 March 1923.
• Escopette - launched 20 December 1900, stricken 4 April 1921.
• Flamberge - launched 28 October 1900, stricken 1 October 1920.
• Rapière - launched 16 July 1901, stricken 27 October 1921.

Escopette was sent by the French government on 25 July 1909 as a seaborne escort for Louis Blériot's English Channel-crossing flight.

Bibliography

• Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 283–333. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
• Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
• Osborne, Eric W. (2005). Destroyers - An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio. ISBN 1-85109-479-2.
• Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome I 1914–1915 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book I 1914–1915]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 23. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-000-2.
• Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome II 1916–1918 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book II 1916–1918]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 27. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-001-9.
• Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours [Dictionary of French Warships from Colbert to the Present Day]. Vol. II: 1870–2006. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.