French destroyer Frondeur

The French destroyer Frondeur was one of 14 L'Adroit-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the 1920s.

Design and description
The L'Adroit class was a slightly enlarged and improved version of the preceding Bourrasque class. The ships had an overall length of 107.2 m, a beam of 9.9 m, and a draft of 3.5 m. The ships displaced 1380 t at standard load and 2000 t at deep load. Fougueux was powered by two Zoelly-Schneider geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by three du Temple boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 31000 PS, which would propel the ships at 33 kn. The ships carried 386 t of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3000 nmi at 15 kn. The crew numbered 8 officers and 134 crewmen in peacetime and 9 officers and 153 crewmen during wartime.

The main armament of the L'Adroit-class ships consisted of four Canon de 130 mm mm Modèle 1924 guns in single mounts, one superfiring pair each fore and aft of the superstructure. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of a pair of Canon de 37 mm mm Modèle 1925 guns, one mount on each broadside abreast the rear superstructure. For defense against strafing aircraft the ships were equipped with a pair of mounts for two or four 8 mm Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine guns abreast the bridge. The ships carried two above-water triple sets of 550 mm torpedo tubes. A pair of depth charge chutes were built into their stern; these housed a total of sixteen 200 kg depth charges. In addition two Thornycroft depth-charge throwers were fitted at the end of the forecastle for which six 100 kg depth charges were carried.

Construction and career
Frondeur was laid down on 9 November 1927, launched on 20 June 1929 and completed on 20 October 1931.

After France surrendered to Germany in June 1940 during World War II, Frondeur served with the naval force of Vichy France. She was at Casablanca, French Morocco, when Allied forces invaded French North Africa in Operation Torch in November 1942. Resisting the invasion, she was sunk by gunfire from the American cruiser USS Brooklyn off Casablanca during the Naval Battle of Casablanca.