French destroyer Commandant Rivière

Commandant Rivière was one of a dozen Bouclier-class destroyers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

History
France
Name: Commandant Rivière
Builder: Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux
Laid down: 1910
Launched: 2 October 1912
Completed: 1913
Stricken: June 1933
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type: Bouclier-class destroyer
Displacement: 720–756 t (709–744 long tons)
Length: 72.3–78.3 m (237 ft 2 in–256 ft 11 in) (o/a)
Beam: 7.6–8 m (24 ft 11 in–26 ft 3 in)
Draft: 2.9–3.3 m (9 ft 6 in–10 ft 10 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 2 shafts; 2 steam turbines
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: 1,200–1,600 nmi (2,200–3,000 km; 1,400–1,800 mi) at 12–14 knots (22–26 km/h; 14–16 mph)
Complement: 80–83
Armament:

Design and description

The Bouclier class were designed to a general specification and varied significantly from each other in various ways.[1] The ships had an overall length of 74–78.3 meters (242 ft 9 in–256 ft 11 in), a beam of 7.6–8 meters (24 ft 11 in–26 ft 3 in), and a draft of 2.9–3.1 meters (9 ft 6 in–10 ft 2 in). Designed to displace 800 metric tons (787 long tons), they displaced 720–756 t (709–744 long tons) at normal load. Their crew numbered 80–83 men.[1]

Commandant Rivière was powered by a pair of Breguet steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four water-tube boilers. The engines were designed to produce 13,000 shaft horsepower (9,700 kW) which was intended to give the ships a speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). Commandant Rivière handily exceed that speed, reaching 32.35 knots (59.91 km/h; 37.23 mph) during her sea trials. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 1,200–1,600 nautical miles (2,200–3,000 km; 1,400–1,800 mi) at cruising speeds of 12–14 knots (22–26 km/h; 14–16 mph).[2]

The primary armament of the Bouclier-class ships consisted of two 100-millimeter (3.9 in) Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and four 65-millimeter (2.6 in) Modèle 1902 guns distributed amidships. They were also fitted with two twin mounts for 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes amidships.[1]

During World War I, a 45-millimeter (1.8 in) or 75-millimeter (3 in) anti-aircraft gun, two 8-millimeter (0.31 in) machine guns, and eight or ten Guiraud-type depth charges were added to the ships. The extra weight severely overloaded the ships and reduced their operational speed to around 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph).[1]

Construction and career

Commandant Rivière was ordered from Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde and was launched from its Bordeaux shipyard on 2 October 1912. The ship was completed the following year.[3]

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gollark: Maybe you can make it smaller if you strip out all the random historical retroviruses and retrotransposons. Unless it's analogous to really poorly written code and needs all of it or it'll break mysteriously on line 173012.
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References
  1. Gardiner & Gray, p. 203
  2. Couhat, pp. 101, 104
  3. Couhat, p. 104

Bibliography
  • Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.

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