At roughly 1,857 tons and 96 meters long, the Forbins were close to the scale later associated with a destroyer leader. Six fire-tube boilers supplied two compound engines driving twin screws, while a schooner rig supplemented a 2,400-nautical-mile range at 10 knots. The battery combined 138.6 mm guns, quick-firing light weapons, and four 14-inch torpedo tubes; four tubes exceeded the armament of many contemporary torpedo boats and made the leader tactically useful. The armament was well balanced for directing small craft. The contradiction lay in a nominal 20-knot speed and a sail plan optimized for cruising when the mission demanded a faster reactive ship able to remain with its flotilla. The visually prominent ram bow had no intended ramming role, an example of late-nineteenth-century hull form outliving its tactical purpose.
Chapter · 11:56-15:38
Forbin armament balanced well, but speed and sail did not
The class put a useful gun-and-torpedo battery into a destroyer-leader-sized hull, but its machinery, sail plan, and conspicuous ram bow did not all serve the intended flotilla role.