The Le Hardi class was designed to escort the fast
battleships of the
Dunkerque class and to counter the large destroyers of the
ItalianNavigatori and
JapaneseFubuki classes.[1] The ships had an
overall length of 117.2 meters (384 ft 6 in), a
beam of 11.1 meters (36 ft 5 in),[2] and a
draft of 3.8 meters (12 ft 6 in). The ships displaced 1,800
metric tons (1,772
long tons) at
standard and 2,577 t (2,536 long tons) at
deep load. They were powered by two geared
steam turbines, each driving one
propeller shaft, using steam provided by four
Sural-Penhöetforced-circulation boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 58,000
metric horsepower (42,659
kW; 57,207
shp), which was intended to give the ships a maximum speed of 37
knots (69 km/h; 43 mph). Le Hardi, the only ship of the class to run
sea trials, comfortably exceeded that speed during her trials on 6 November 1939, reaching a maximum speed of 39.1 knots (72.4 km/h; 45.0 mph) from 60,450 metric horsepower (44,461 kW; 59,623 shp). The ships carried 470 metric tons (463 long tons) of
fuel oil which gave them a range of 3,100
nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The crew consisted of 10 officers and 177 enlisted men.[3]
Ordered on 4 May 1936, Lansquenet was
laid down by
Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde at their
shipyard in
Bordeaux on 17 December 1936. She was
launched on 20 May 1939 and entered service in 1940. The ship had been manned for trials on 1 June and was still
fitting out when she steamed, for the first time under her own power, from Bordeaux to
Casablanca, French Morocco on 27 June, despite being unsuccessfully engaged by German artillery on her way up the
Gironde River. The following months saw five of the Le Hardi-class ships ordered to Oran to escort the battleship
Provence; Lansquenet arrived there on 5 November. Departing that day, they arrived at
Toulon three days later after which she was placed in reserve, still not fully completed.[5]
When the Germans attempted to capture the French ships in Toulon intact on 27 November 1942 during the occupation of Vichy France, Lansquenet was in nearby
La Seyne-sur-Mer in reserve and was scuttled by her crew. The Italians refloated her on 24 April 1943 and redesignated her as FR34. After the Italian armistice of 9 September, the ship was captured by the Germans at
Imperia, Italy,[6] and renamed TA34.[7] She was scuttled in
Genoa, Italy, on 24 April 1945.[8] Salvaged and towed back to Toulon on 19 March 1946, the ship was renamed Cyclone. Despite never have been repaired, she was not stricken from the
Navy List until 22 September 1958 and was then subsequently scrapped.[6]
Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press.
ISBN0-85177-146-7.
Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. 1: Major Surface Warships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN0-87021-790-9.
Jordan, John & Moulin, Jean (2015). French Destroyers: Torpilleurs d'Escadre & Contre-Torpilleurs 1922–1956. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.
ISBN978-1-84832-198-4.
Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN1-59114-119-2.
Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN0-87021-326-1.