Aventurier counter torpedo boat class, Aventurier

Mathll · February 26, 2026, 8:05pm

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Hello everyone and welcome to this new feature.

Today I’m introducing you to a new class of French warship with a rather unique origin: the Aventurier class. Today I’ll be presenting the first ship of this class, the Aventurier.

Laid down in 1911 in Bordeaux, the Aventurier was initially named the Mendoza and was intended for delivery to the Argentine fleet, like the rest of its class. However, due to the outbreak of the First World War, the ships were requisitioned by the French government to bolster the French Navy. Completed in 1914, the ship immediately joined the French forces.

From the moment it entered service, the Aventurier was engaged in the French Navy’s priority missions during the Great War. It operated primarily in the Mediterranean, where it escorted convoys, protected major battleships, patrolled shipping lanes, and engaged enemy torpedo boats and submarines. Like most destroyers of this period, its activity was sustained but rarely publicized, as these vessels were mainly employed in a screening and close-range protection role.

After the 1918 armistice, the Aventurier remained in service with a French Navy undergoing significant reorganization. During the interwar period, it underwent several technical modifications, particularly to its propulsion systems, to address reliability issues and premature boiler wear. These problems were common to the entire class. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Aventurier was gradually relegated to secondary missions, then to a second-line role, as newer, more modern destroyers entered service. It was finally struck from the fleet lists in the late 1930s and scrapped shortly afterwards, shortly before or at the beginning of the Second World War, bringing to an end a career of about twenty-five years under the French flag.

Characteristics

Length : 88.5 m

Width : 8.6 m

Draft : 3.1 m

Mass : 1250 tons

The ship is powered by two Rateau steam turbines (a common model on many French ships) fed by five boilers, giving it a total power of 18,000 hp and allowing it to reach a top speed of 32 knots. Its range is 1,850 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots. Its crew consists of 140 sailors.

Weapons

The ship’s armament is particularly significant, being far more heavily armed than other classes of French destroyers of the period.

Guns:

4 x 100mm Mle1893
1 x 47mm Mle1902

Torpedoes:

4 x 1 450mm Torpedo tubes

In this scenario, this ship would provide the French forces with a fast vessel possessing substantial armament, enabling it to engage all types of targets, thus intelligently complementing the French naval tree.

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