Name Suffren Laid down 21 December 1962 Decommissioned 2008 Launched 15 May 1965 Weight 5,335 tons Draft 7.25 m | Builder Lorient arsenal Commissioned 1 October 1967 Construction started 21 December 1962 Length 158 m Displacement 5.335 million kg Beam 16 m | |
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Namesake Pierre André de Suffren | ||
Suffren was a Suffren-class frigate of the French Navy, designed to protect a fleet against air threats, surface ships, submarines, and, to a lesser extent, provide firepower against land objectives. She is the sister-ship of Duquesne, and was decommissioned in 2001. She was the seventh French vessel named after the 18th century admiral Pierre André de Suffren; her artillery turrets are named after ships commanded by the marquis of Suffren: turret n°1 is named Héros ("hero") after the ship of the line Héros, and turret n°2 is named Fantasque, after the ship of the line Fantasque.
The French navy doesn't use the term "destroyer" for its ships; thus some large ships, such as Suffren, referred to as "frigates", are registered as destroyers. With her sister-ship, she was the first missile-launching destroyer of the French Navy. She was designed to protect the French aircraft carriers Foch and Clemenceau against air and submarine threats. In 2001, Suffren was put in the reserve, her machinery becoming too expensive to maintain.
The dome-like structure surrounding the DRBI23 radar is reminiscent of the Dutch Tromp-class guided missile frigates and has on occasion led to confusion when identifying between the two ship classes.