Name Bouclier class Preceded by Chasseur class Built 1909–13 | Operators French Navy Succeeded by Bisson class In commission 1911–33 | |
 | ||
The Bouclier class, or Casque class, was a class of twelve destroyers of the French Navy built between 1910 and 1912, four of which were lost during the First World War.
This 800-tonne class were built by various shipyards to a general specification that included oil-fired boilers and steam turbines. This allowed for some variations in size (from 237–256 ft (72–78 m) in length) and machinery (Bouclier and Casque had three shafts, all the others had two, while Casque has three funnels, all the rest had four). Speeds also varied, Bory was the slowest at only 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), while Bouclier achieved 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph) in trials.
All ships of the class received the standard armament of two 100 mm (3.9 in) 1893 Model guns, four 65 mm (2.6 in) 1902 Model guns and two twin trainable 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes. During World War I, a 45 mm (1.8 in) or 75 mm (3.0 in) anti-aircraft gun, two 8 mm (0.31 in) machine guns, and eight or ten Guiraud-type depth charges were added.
All but three (Bouclier, Capitaine Mehl and Francis Garnier) of the ships in the class served in the Mediterranean Sea between 1914 and 1918.