The potential of France's large destroyers

Were France's large 2,400-ton destroyers useful designs?

Yes; large destroyers were a sensible concept, and the French ships could have become more effective with continued development.

A two-to-three-thousand-ton Second World War destroyer could be large enough for useful weapons and endurance without becoming an outright cruiser. The French designs had room to mature further. Their size band offered a plausible balance between destroyer agility and the weapons carried by a much larger ship. Their historical reputation is therefore inseparable from the abrupt collapse that prevented normal development and service.