Le Terrible was a French destroyer launched in 1933, belonging to the class Le Fantasque. The ships of this class could easily exceed their projected
propulsion power and top speed. Unlike the most part of foreign destroyers, they could as well sustain these extremely high speeds during long periods, allowing them to
quickly pass along the Italian and German coasts in the dark hours. Le Terrible, along with the other three surviving ships of her class, was refitted
in Unites States in 1943 with modern antiaircraft cannons and antisubmarine equipment, and also with radar, being subsequently reclassified the ships as
light cruisers, despite of their absolute lack of armor, which was their biggest defect.
The illustrations show the destroyer Le Terrible as she was in 1944 after the refit in United States; note the position of the torpedo tubes and the abundant
antiaircraft armament crowned by a quadruple 40-millimeters Bofors mounting. Le Terrible served as escort ship for aircraft carriers until 1956, when she was
transferred to the role of training ship. She was eventually scrapped in June 1962.
Class: Le Fantasque (6 units - L'Audacieux, Le Fantasque, L'Indomptable, Le Malin, Le Terrible, Le Triomphant)
Type: Destroyer
Length: 132.4 meters
Beam: 11.98 meters
Draught: 4.3 meters
Displacement (standard): 2610 tonnes
Propulsion: 2 x shaft, 2 x steam turbine Parsons/Rateau, 4 x boiler Penhoet, 100000 horsepower
Speed: 45.25 knots (83.8 kilometers/hour) as built; 37 knots (68.5 kilometers/hour) after 1943 refit
Range: 3560 nautical miles (6600 kilometers) at 17 knots
Complement: 220
Armament (as built): 5 x 138-millimeter cannon, 4 x 37-millimeter cannon, 4 x 13.2-millimeter machine gun,
9 x 550-millimeter torpedo tube, 40 x depth charge
Armament (in 1944): 5 x 138-millimeter cannon, 6 x 40-millimeter cannon, 10 x 20-millimeter cannon,
6 x 533-millimeter torpedo tube, 40 x depth charge
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