French destroyer Mousqueton

Mousqueton was a Arquebuse-class destroyer contre-torpilleur d'escadre built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1904, the ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron (Escadre de la Méditerranée).

A postcard of Mousqueton underway
History
France
Name	Mousqueton
Namesake	Musketoon
Ordered	1901
Builder	Schneider et Cie, Chalon-sur-Saône
Laid down	1901
Launched	4 November 1902
Stricken	10 May 1920
General characteristics
Class & type	Arquebuse-class destroyer
Displacement	357 t (351 long tons) (deep load)
Length	56.58 m (185 ft 8 in) (o/a)
Beam	6.38 m (20 ft 11 in)
Draft	3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) (deep load)
Installed power	2 water-tube boilers 6,300 ihp (4,698 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	4 officers and 58 enlisted men
Armament	1 × single 65 mm (2.6 in) gun 6 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 2 × single 381 mm (15 in) torpedo tubes

Design and description

The Arquebuse class was designed as a faster version of the preceding Durandal class. The ships had an overall length of 56.58 meters (185 ft 8 in),^[1] a beam of 6.3 meters (20 ft 8 in), and a maximum draft of 3.2 meters (10 ft 6 in).^[2] They normally displaced 307 metric tons (302 long tons) and 357 t (351 long tons) at deep load. The two vertical triple-expansion steam engines each drove one propeller shaft using steam provided by two du Temple Guyot or Normand boilers. The engines were designed to produce a total of 6,300 indicated horsepower (4,700 kW)^[1] for a designed speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph),^[3] all the ships exceeded their contracted speed during their sea trials, although Mousqueton was the slowest ship of her class at 28.8 knots (53.3 km/h; 33.1 mph).^[1] They carried enough coal to give them a range of 2,300 nautical miles (4,300 km; 2,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).^[2] Their crew consisted of four officers and fifty-eight enlisted men.^[1]

The main armament of the Arquebuse-class ships consisted of a single 65-millimeter (2.6 in) gun forward of the bridge and six 47-millimeter (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns in single mounts, three on each broadside. They were fitted with two single rotating mounts for 381-millimeter (15 in) torpedo tubes on the centerline, one between the funnels and the other on the stern.^[1]

Construction and career

Mosqueton (Musketoon) was ordered from Schneider et Cie on 29 May 1901 and the ship was laid down later that year at its shipyard in Chalons-sur-Saône. She was launched on 4 November 1902 and conducted her sea trials from September 1903 to May 1904. The ship was commissioned (armée definitif) after their completion and was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron.^[4]

On 7 July 1914, Mousqueton collided with and sank the French submarine Calypso in the Mediterranean Sea off Toulon, France. Calypso's entire crew of 26 was rescued.^[5]

When the First World War began in August 1914, Mousqueton was a leader (divisionnaire) in the 2nd Submarine and Destroyer Flotilla (2^e escadrille sous-marins et torpilleurs) of the 1st Naval Army (1^ère Armée navale),^[6] based at Bizerte, French Tunisia.^[4]

According to a British report of 5 June, Mousqueton and the destroyers Voltigeur and Hache were assigned to patrol the area around Cape Matapan, Greece.^[7]