Claymore-class destroyer

The Claymore class was a group of thirteen contre-torpilleurs (destroyers) built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. All of the ships survived the First World War and were scrapped after the war.

A postcard of Obusier at anchor
Class overview
Name	Claymore class
Operators	French Navy
Preceded by	Arquebuse-class destroyer
Succeeded by	Branlebas-class destroyer
Built	1904–1909
In service	1906–1931
Completed	13
Scrapped	13
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	356 t (350 long tons)
Length	58 m (190 ft 3 in) (waterline)
Beam	6.53 m (21 ft 5 in)
Draft	2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Installed power	2 water-tube boilers 6,800 ihp (5,071 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	2,300 nmi (4,300 km; 2,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	60
Armament	1 × 65 mm (2.6 in) gun 6 × 47 mm (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns 2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes

Ships

• Carquois
• Claymore
• Cognée
• Coutelas
• Fleuret
• Hache
• Massue
• Mortier
• Obusier
• Pierrer
• Stylet
• Trident
• Tromblon

Bibliography

• Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 283–333. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
• Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
• Jordan, John (2025). "The 300-Tonnes: The First French Torpedo Boat Destroyer". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2025. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 111–132. ISBN 978-1-4728-6854-1.
• Osborne, Eric W. (2005). Destroyers - An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio. ISBN 1-85109-479-2.
• Freivogel, Zvonimir (2019). The Great War in the Adriatic Sea 1914–1918. Zagreb: Despot Infinitus. ISBN 978-953-8218-40-8.
• Le Masson, Henri (1967). Histoire du Torpilleur en France [History of the Torpedo-armed Ship in France]. Paris: Académie de marine. OCLC 491016784.
• Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome I 1914–1915 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book I 1914–1915]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 23. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-000-2.
• Prévoteaux, Gérard (2017). La marine française dans la Grande guerre: les combattants oubliés: Tome II 1916–1918 [The French Navy during the Great War: The Forgotten Combatants, Book II 1916–1918]. Collection Navires & Histoire des Marines du Mond. Vol. 27. Le Vigen, France: Éditions Lela presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-001-9.
• Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
• Stanglini, Ruggero & Cosentino, Michelle (2022). The French Fleet: Ships, Strategy and Operations, 1870-1918. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-0131-2.