Enseigne Roux-class destroyer

The Enseigne Roux class was the thirteenth class of destroyers to be built for the French Navy during World War I. The first two units of this class, the Enseigne Roux and the Mécanicien Principal Lestin saw use during the war. However, the construction of the third ship of the class &mdash; Enseigne Gabolde &mdash; was suspended in 1914. It was then resumed in 1921, and completed in 1923 to a modified design.

Design and construction
The Ensigne Roux-class was an enlarged derivative of the previous Bisson-class destroyer, themselves an improved Bouclier-class destroyer. Two (FRENCH DESTROYER Enseigne Roux and FRENCH DESTROYER Mécanicien Principal Lestin) were ordered from Rochefort Dockyard to a standard design, while a third FRENCH DESTROYER Enseigne Gabolde was ordered from the Le Havre shipyard of Normand to a modified design, with different machinery.

Enseigne Roux and Mécanicien Principal Lestin were 82.6 m long, with a beam of 8.60 m. They displaced 1075 t. Four boilers fed two sets of direct-drive Parsons steam turbines rated at 17000 shp which drove two propeller shafts, giving a design speed of 30 kn. Enseigne Gabolde was longer, and was fitted with geared steam turbines instead of direct-drive units. These were rated at 20000 shp, with a design speed of 31 kn.

The design armament was as for the previous two classes, i.e. two 100 mm Mle 1893 guns, four 65 mm Mle 1902 guns and two twin 450 mm torpedo tubes. During the First World War, a 75 mm anti-aircraft gun was added, with an anti-submarine armament of ten depth charges and a towed explosive sweep.

Enseigne Roux and Mécanicien Principal Lestin were laid down in late 1913, launched in 1915 and completed in 1916. Construction of Enseigne Gabolde was suspended due to the war, with her boilers used in other ships, with work not restarting until after the end of the war, and she was not completed until 1923.