The Adroit class destroyer was a group of fourteen 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...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s (torpilleur) laid down in 1925-6 and commissioned from 1928 to 1931. They were the successors to the Bourrasque class, with the same armament, but being slightly heavier overall.

The class saw varied service in the Second World War.

La Railleuse was the first French destroyer casualty of the War, on 24 March 1940, being blown up in Casablanca harbour by an accidental torpedo explosion. Adroit was sunk by a bomb from a German He-111 bomber on 21 May 1940 near Dunkirk, but her entire crew were able to escape and served in shore batteries until the French capitulation. Foudroyant was sunk in similar circumstances, but with more loss of life, on 1 June 1940.

Basque, Forbin and Fortuné were part of the French Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

 squadron, which were disarmed by the British on 22 June 1940 following French capitulation. They were rearmed under Free French auspices in December 1943.

Boulonnais, Brestois, Fougueux and Frondeur were all sunk by Allied ships off Casablanca

Casablanca

Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

, as part of 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....

. Alcyon survived the attack and joined the Allies.

Bordelais, Palme and Mars joined many other French warships in scuttling at Toulon

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 :...

 to stop their being taken over by the German navy.

Ships

• Adroit (Hull symbol: T2, 11, 21, 42, 41, 23, T23)
• Basque (Hull symbol: 55, 11, 57, 97, 43, 42, 23, 91, 92, T92, T91, T33)
• Bordelais (Hull symbol: 117, 112, 22, 81, T81, T11)
• Boulonnais (Hull symbol: 11, 99, 73, 33, 53, T53, T52)
• Brestois (Hull symbol: 12, 97, 14, 31, 51, T51)
• Forbin (Hull symbol: 98, 15, 12, 3, 92, 91, T91, T92, T32)
• Frondeur (Hull symbol: 119, 115, 23, 22, T22)
• Alcyon (Hull symbol: 116, 112, 71, 83, T83, T23, T63)
• Palme (Hull symbol: 74, 11, 1, T11, T13)
• Railleuse (Hull symbol: 73, 12, 5, 2, T32)
• Fortuné (Hull symbol: 72, 75, 32, 4, 1, T31)
• Mars (Hull symbol: 71, 72, 14, 2, T12)
• Foudroyant
  French ship Foudroyant (1929)
  The Foudroyant was an Adroit class destroyer of the French Navy. She was laid down on 28 July 1927, launched on 24 April 1929 and commissioned on 10 October 1930....
  
   (Hull symbol: 99, 96, 44, 43, 52, T52)
• Fougueux (Hull symbol: 118, 114, 21, T21)