French destroyer Protet

Protet was one of six Bisson-class destroyers built for the French Navy during the 1910s. The ship was condemned in 1933 and sold for scrap in 1933.

Design and description
The Bisson class were enlarged versions of the preceding Bouclier-class destroyer built to a more standardized design. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 78.1 m, a beam of 8.6 m, and a draft of 3.1 m. Designed to displace 850 - 880 t, they displaced 756 - 791 t at normal load. Their crew numbered 80–83 men.

Protet was powered by a pair of Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four Indret water-tube boilers. The engines were designed to produce 15000 shp which was intended to give the ships a speed of 30 kn. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 1450 nmi at cruising speeds of 14 kn.

The primary armament of the Bisson-class ships consisted of two 100 mm Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and four 65 mm Modèle 1902 guns distributed amidships. They were also fitted with two twin mounts for 450 mm torpedo tubes amidships.

Construction and career
Protet was ordered from the Arsenal de Rochefort and was launched on 15 October 1913. The ship was completed the following year. When the First World War began in August 1914, Protet was assigned to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla (6e escadrille de torpilleurs) of the 1st Naval Army (1ère Armée Navale). During the preliminary stages of the Battle of Antivari, Montenegro, on 16 August, the 1st, 4th and 5th Destroyer Flotillas were tasked to escort the core of the 1st Naval Army while the 2nd, 3rd and 6th Flotillas escorted the armored cruisers of the 2nd Light Squadron (2e escadre légère) and two British cruisers. After reuniting both groups and spotting the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser SMS Zenta and the destroyer SMS Ulan, the French destroyers played no role in sinking the cruiser, although the 4th Flotilla was sent on an unsuccessful pursuit of Ulan. Having broken the Austro-Hungarian blockade of Antivari (now known as Bar), Vice-Admiral (Vice-amiral) Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère, commander of the 1st Naval Army, decided to ferry troops and supplies to the port using a small requisitioned passenger ship, SS Liamone, escorted by the 2nd Light Squadron, reinforced by the armored cruiser FRENCH CRUISER Ernest Renan, and escorted by the destroyer FRENCH DESTROYER Bouclier with the 1st and 6th Destroyer Flotillas under command while the rest of the 1st Naval Army bombarded the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro, Montenegro, on 1 September. Four days later, the fleet covered the evacuation of Danilo, Crown Prince of Montenegro, aboard Bouclier, to the Greek island of Corfu. The flotilla escorted multiple small convoys loaded with supplies and equipment to Antivari, beginning in October and lasting for the rest of the year, always covered by the larger ships of the Naval Army in futile attempts to lure the Austro-Hungarian fleet into battle. Amidst these missions, the 1st and 6th Flotillas were led by the FRENCH DESTROYER Dehorter as they conducted a sweep south of Cattaro on the night of 10/11 November in an unsuccessful search for Austro-Hungarian destroyers.

The torpedoing of the FRENCH BATTLESHIP Jean Bart on 21 December caused a change in French tactics as the battleships were too important to risk to submarine attack. Henceforth, only the destroyers would escort the transports, covered by cruisers at a distance of 20 – from the transports. The first convoy of 1915 to Antivari arrived on 11 January and more were made until the last one on 20–21 April. After Italy signed the Treaty of London and declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 23 May, the ship was still assigned to the 6th Flotilla when the unit was transferred to the 1st Division of Destroyers and Submarines (1ère division de torpilleurs et de sous-marines) of the 2nd Squadron (escadre) based at Brindisi, Italy.

On 12 July, the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, including Protet, was part of the force that raided the island of Lastovo off the Austrian coast of the Adriatic (now part of Croatia), destroying oil stores and the telegraph station. This attack was simultaneous with the Italian occupation of Palagruža.