De Grasse
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Class overview | |
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Name: | Tourville class |
Operators: | French Navy |
Preceded by: | Aconit |
Succeeded by: | Georges Leygues class |
Completed: | 3 |
Retired: | 3 |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Destroyer |
Displacement: | |
Length: | 152.75 m (501 ft 2 in) |
Beam: | 15.80 m (51 ft 10 in) |
Draught: | 6.60 m (21 ft 8 in) |
Propulsion: |
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Speed: | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
Range: |
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Complement: |
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Sensors and processing systems: |
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Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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Armament: |
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Aircraft carried: | 2 × Lynx WG13 anti-ship helicopters |
The F67 type, also known as the Tourville class is a class of large high-sea (blue water) destroyers of the French Navy specialised in anti-submarine warfare. They have anti-air and anti-surface capabilities.
Between 1994 and 1996, Tourville and De Grasse were refitted with the modern SLASM anti-submarine system, and active Very Low Frequency (VLF) sonar.
The ships are an enlarged version of the frigate Aconit. They have two shaft steam turbine machinery and a double hangar for two Lynx WG13 helicopters. They were the first ships fitted with the marine version of the Crotale surface-to-air missile system. A Malafon anti-submarine missile system was fitted when the ships were built but this was removed during refits in the late 1980s.
Optimized for anti-submarine warfare, and carrying towed as well as hull-mounted sonar arrays, the Tourvilles were typically placed in the destroyer category of warship and carry destroyer pennant numbers. Similar in many regards to the unmodified Spruance-class destroyers, they carried a similar combination of sensors, naval guns, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons, aircraft and surface-to-air missiles. Additionally, they were well-regarded for their seakeeping, serving much of their careers in the Atlantic rather than with France's Mediterranean fleet.
The three ships of the class, D612 De Grasse, D611 Duguay-Trouin and D610 Tourville, are named major figures from French naval history. De Grasse and Tourville were French admirals and Duguay-Trouin coming to fame as a privateer.
The three ships of the class were all constructed by Arsenal de Lorient.