French destroyer Somali

The French destroyer Somali was one of a dozen Arabe-class destroyers built for the French Navy in Japan during the First World War.

Design and description
The Arabe-class ships had an overall length of 82.26 m, a length between perpendiculars of 79.4 m a beam of 7.33 m, and a draft of 2.39 m. The ships displaced 865 t at normal load. They were powered by three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four mixed-firing Kampon Yarrow-type boilers. The engines were designed to produce 10000 PS, which would propel the ships at 29 kn. During their sea trials, the Arabe class reached 29.16 - 30.44 kn. The ships carried enough coal and fuel oil which gave them a range of 2000 nmi at 12 kn. Their crew consisted of 5 officers and 104 crewmen.

The main armament of the Arabe-class ships was a single Type 41 12 cm gun, mounted before the bridge on the forecastle. Their secondary armament consisted of four Type 41 76 mm guns in single mounts; two of these were positioned abreast the middle funnel and the others were on the centerline further aft. One of these latter guns was on a high-angle mount and served as an anti-aircraft gun. The ships carried two above-water twin mounts for 450 mm torpedo tubes. In 1917–1918, a rack for eight 75 kg depth charges was added.

Construction and career
Somali was ordered from Kawasaki Dockyard Co. and was laid down in its Kobe shipyard in 1917. The ship was launched on 21 July and completed on 8 November of that year. She was stricken on 27 August 1935 and subsequently broken up for scrap.