French destroyer Hallebarde

Hallebarde was one of four Durandal-class destroyers built for the French Navy in the late 1890s.

Design and description
The Durandals had an overall length of 57.64 m, a beam of 6.3 m, and a maximum draft of 3.2 m. They displaced 311 t at deep load. The two triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, were designed to produce a total of 5200 PS, using steam provided by two Normand boilers. The ships had a designed speed of 26 kn, but Hallebarde reached 27.2 kn during her sea trials. The ships carried enough coal to give them a range of 2300 nmi at 10 kn. Their original complement consisted of four officers and sixty enlisted men, but the number of enlisted men increased to 60 in 1899.

The Durandal-class ships were armed with a single 65 mm gun forward of the bridge and six 47 mm Hotchkiss guns, three on each broadside. They were fitted with two single 381 mm torpedo tubes, one between the funnels and the other on the stern. Two reload torpedoes were also carried; their air flasks, however, had to be charged before they could be used, a process that took several hours. The Modèle 1887 torpedo that they used had a warhead weight of 42 kg.

Construction and career
Hallebarde (Halberd) was ordered from Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand on 5 August 1896 and the ship was laid down at its shipyard in Le Havre on 25 August. The ship was launched on 8 June 1899 and conducted her sea trials in July–August. She was commissioned on 12 September.

When the First World War began in August 1914, Hallebarde was a leader (divisionnaire) in the 1st Submarine and Destroyer Flotilla (1ère escadrille sous-marins et torpilleurs) of the 1st Naval Army (1ère Armée navale), based in Toulon.