Bisson-class destroyer

300px A profile view of Bisson in harbor
Class overview
Name:	Bisson class
Operators:	French Navy
Preceded by:	Bouclier class
Succeeded by:	Enseigne Roux class
Built:	1911–14
In commission:	1912–34
Completed:	6
Lost:	1
Scrapped:	5
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	768–804 t (756–791 long tons)
Length:	78.1 m (256 ft 3 in) (p/p)
Beam:	8.6 m (28 ft 3 in)
Draft:	3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
Installed power:	15,000 shp (11,185 kW) 4 Indret water-tube boilers
Propulsion:	2 shafts; 2 Steam turbines
Speed:	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range:	1,950 nmi (3,610 km; 2,240 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement:	80–83
Armament:	2 × 100 mm (3.9 in) Mle 1893 guns 4 × 65 mm (2.6 in) Mle 1902 guns 2 × twin 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes

The Bisson class was a group of six destroyers built for the French Navy during the 1910s. One ship was lost during the First World War, but the others survived to be scrapped afterwards.

File:Attaque du ranayotti acte heroique de bisson.jpg

"Assault on the Panayoti. Heroic act of Bisson". circa 1838

The class is named in tribute to the French Admiral Hippolyte Bisson who sacrificed himself aboard the ship Panayoti in 1827 during the Greek War of Independence.

The class carried the same armament of two 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, four 65 mm (2.6 in) guns and four 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes in two trainable mounts as the preceding Bouclier class, while steam turbines delivered 15,000 shaft horsepower (11,000 kW) giving a speed of over 30 knots (56 km/h) (Magnon reached 32.02 knots (59.30 km/h; 36.85 mph) during sea trials, the fastest of the class).

They were laid down between 1911 and 1912 and launched from 1913 from 1914. The class served primarily in the Mediterranean Sea during the First World War, with Bisson sinking the Austrian submarine U-3 on 13 August 1915, with Renaudin being sunk by U-6.

Ships

Name	Builder	Launched	Fate
Bisson	Arsenal de Toulon	12 September 1912	Struck, June 1933
Renaudin		20 March 1913	Torpedoed and sunk by U-6 off Durazzo, 18 March 1916
Commandant Lucas		11 July 1914	Struck, June 1933
Protet	Arsenal de Rochefort	15 October 1913	Struck, 1933
Mangini	Schneider et Cie, Chalon-sur-Saône	31 March 1913	Struck, 1934
Magon	Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne, Nantes	19 April 1913	Struck, 16 February 1926

External links

• The Bisson class on navypedia.org