The Aigle class destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) of the French navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

 were laid down between 1928 and 1929 and commissioned in 1931 and 1932. They were very similar to the previous Guepard class, the only difference being improved machinery with higher pressure boilers, offering an additional 0.5 kn (0.979919999216064 km/h) of speed and a new model 138mm gun with a sliding breech block giving a higher rate of fire. The ships were named after birds.

Ships

• Aigle (Eagle
  Eagle
  Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
  
  ; pennant numbers 5, 6 and X13)

Built by At & Ch de France Dunkirk

Launched 19 February 1931

Completed 10 October 1932

Scuttled 27 November 1942

• Vautour (Vulture
  Vulture
  Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
  
  ; pennant numbers 6, 5, 73, X71) -

Built by F & Ch de la Méditerranée, Le Harve

Launched 26 August 1930

Completed 2 May 1932

Scuttled 27 November 1942

• Albatros (3, 2, 5, 72, X73, X77, F762, D614) -

built by At & Ch de la Loire, Nantes

Launched 27 June 1930

Completed 25 December 1931,

Decommissioned 9 September 1959

• Gerfaut (Gyrfalcon
  Gyrfalcon
  The Gyrfalcon — Falco rusticolus — is the largest of the falcon species. The Gyrfalcon breeds on Arctic coasts and the islands of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is mainly resident there also, but some Gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter.Individual vagrancy...
  
   - 4, 71, X72) -

Built by At & Ch de Bretagne, Nantes,

Launched 14 June 1930

Completed 30 January 1932 -

Scuttled 27 November 1942

• Milan (Kite
  Kite (bird)
  Kites are raptors with long wings and weak legs which spend a great deal of time soaring. Most feed mainly on carrion but some take various amounts of live prey.They are birds of prey which, along with hawks and eagles, are from the family Accipitridae....
  
   - 1, 4, X113, X111) -

Built by Arsenal de Lorient,

Launched 13 October 1931

Completed 20 April 1934 -

On 8 November 1942, she suffered a 406 mm hit off Casablanca from the US fleet

USS Massachusetts (BB-59)

USS Massachusetts , known as "Big Mamie" to her crewmembers during World War II, was a battleship of the second South Dakota-class. She was the seventh ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the sixth state, and one of two ships of her class to be donated for use as a museum ship...

 and had to be beached.

• Épervier (Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 2, 5, X112)-

Built by Arsenal de Lorient,

Launched 14 August 1931

Completed 1 April 1934 - On 9 November 1942,

She was sunk by HMS Aurora

HMS Aurora (12)

HMS Aurora was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard , with the keel being laid down on the 27 July 1935. She was launched on the 20 August 1936, and commissioned 12 November 1937....

 off Oran. She was raised, and eventually broken up in 1946.

Three of the ships (Albatros, Épervier and Milan) were stationed in Morocco as part of the Vichy French

Vichy France

Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...

 navy, and engaged Allied forces during Operation Torch

Operation Torch

Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

. Along with the unfinished battleship Jean Bart

French battleship Jean Bart (1940)

The Jean Bart was a French battleship of World War II named for the seventeenth-century seaman, privateer, and corsair Jean Bart.Derived from the Dunkerque class, Jean Bart were designed to counter the threat of the heavy ships of the Italian Navy...

, they engaged the Allied 'Covering Group', a taskforce based on the battleship Massachusetts

USS Massachusetts (BB-59)

USS Massachusetts , known as "Big Mamie" to her crewmembers during World War II, was a battleship of the second South Dakota-class. She was the seventh ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the sixth state, and one of two ships of her class to be donated for use as a museum ship...

. Milan and Épervier both ran aground after being damaged in the battle; Albatros was damaged but, after her capture, repaired and used as an Allied gunnery training vessel.

Three ships of the class - Aigle, Gerfaut and Vautour - were scuttled in Toulon harbour

Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon

The French fleet in Toulon was scuttled on 27 November 1942 on the order of the Admiralty of Vichy France to avoid capture by Nazi German forces during Operation Lila of the Case Anton takeover of Vichy France.- Context :...

on 27 November 1942, to prevent them falling into German hands. All were later refloated by the Italians, but none were repaired, and all were eventually sunk by Allied air attack.