Aventurier-class destroyer

The Aventurier-class destroyers were a group of four destroyers built during the early 1910s. Originally ordered by Argentina, they were taken over by the French Navy when the First World War began in August 1914, completed with French armament and renamed.

Design and description
The Aventurier-class ships were significantly larger and more heavily armed than other French destroyers of the period. The ships had an overall length of 88.5 m, a beam of 8.6 m, and a draft of 3.1 m. They displaced 930 t at normal load and 1250 t at deep load. Their crew numbered 140 men.

The ships were powered by a pair of Rateau steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by five mixed-firing Foster-Wheeler boilers. The engines were designed to produce 18000 shp which was intended to give the ships a speed of 32 kn. The ships carried 230 t of coal and 72 t of fuel oil that gave them a range of 1850 nmi at a cruising speed of 10 kn.

The primary armament of the Aventurier-class ships consisted of four 100 mm guns in single mounts, one on the forecastle, one between the funnels, and two on the quarterdeck, in front and behind the searchlight platform. They were fitted with a 47 mm AA gun for anti-aircraft defence. The ships were also equipped with four single mounts for 450 mm torpedo tubes amidships.