French destroyer La Railleuse

The French destroyer La Railleuse was one of 14 L'Adroit-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the 1920s. During World War II, she was destroyed when one of her torpedoes exploded on 23 March 1940.

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. They were powered by two 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 enough fuel oil to give them a range of 3000 nmi at 15 kn.

The main armament of the L'Adroit-class ships consisted of four Canon de 130 mm Modèle 1924 guns in single mounts, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of a pair of Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925 guns. 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 depth charge throwers were fitted for which six 100 kg depth charges were carried.

Construction and career
La Railleuse was laid down on 1 August 1925, launched on 9 September 1926 and completed on 15 March 1928. She was cut in half by an accidental explosion of one of her torpedoes on 23 March 1940 at Casablanca, French Morocco, killing 28 and wounding 24 crewmen. Her main guns were removed from the wreck and installed as coast-defense guns at Safi, French Morocco. Her remains were sold for scrap in April 1942.