The Pertuisane/Rochefortaise group continued the small-batch experiments, then the 1900 and 1901 budgets ordered twenty Arquebuse-class ships. Their broadly shared boilers, triple-expansion engines, 28-knot speed, guns, torpedo tubes, and 2,300-nautical-mile range allowed them to operate as a coherent force. The new ships brought the force to thirty-two destroyers within about five years. That was enough to organize flotillas for both the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, although other navies were expanding as quickly or faster.
Notable Point · 7:07-10:47
The Arquebuse program creates a two-coast destroyer force
Twenty Arquebuse-class ships move France from small experimental batches to a coherent destroyer force for Atlantic and Mediterranean flotillas.