The ''Suffren'' class were two anti-air

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, designed to protect a fleet against air threats, surface ships, and submarines. They were the first French ships to be built specifically as

guided missile frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s. Ordered in 1960, the class was intended to be more numerous, but budget pressure from the French nuclear weapons program limited their number. The

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

, , entered service in 1967 and the second ship, , in 1970. They remained in service until the 2000s when they were replaced by ships of the .

Background and description

The two ships were designed as anti-air and

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...

escorts for the s and were similar in concept to the British Type 82 destroyer. They were ordered in 1960 as part of France's new naval policy of deterrence/intervention/defence following the election of

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

president of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

. The French designation for the class was ''frégates lance-engins'' (FLE 60). They were designated as

s by the

but were considered

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s by publications. They were later re-designated ''frégates lance-missiles'' (FLM 60). The vessels measured long overall and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with a beam and a maximum draught of . They had a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of and at

full load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weig ...

. By 1990 the ships had a standard displacement of and at full load. The ships were powered by four multi-tube, automatic control boilers capable of at creating steam for two sets of Rateau double-reduction

geared turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s turning two propellers. They were rated at . They created a total of 3,440 kW of electrical power through two 1,000 kW

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...

s and three 480 kW diesel alternators. They had a maximum speed of and a range of at . The frigates had a complement of 355 sailors including 23 officers. For increased stabilisation as a weapons platform, the frigates were outfitted with three pairs of non-retractable fin stabilisers. They were considered extremely seaworthy vessels. The ''Suffren'' class were armed with a twin launcher situated on the

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

for the

Masurca The Masurca missile was a first-generation naval surface-to-air missile system developed and used by the French Navy. Planned as the primary air defence missile system of the first generation of French guided missile ships, it was used only aboa ...

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

. 48 missiles were carried. The Mark 2 Mod 3 Masurca missiles had a range of and carried a warhead. The frigates were also equipped with two single-mounted Modèle 1953 naval guns in positions 'A' and 'B' along the centreline. These were later upgraded to the Modèle 1964. The

dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...

s could fire an anti-surface shell with a warhead of or an anti-air shell . The guns could fire 80 rounds per minute. The frigates also mounted a Malafon anti-submarine missile system. Each ship carried 13 missiles and the

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

was situated in the aft

deckhouse A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a deckhouse. Sailing ships In sailing ships, the officers and paying passengers wou ...

. Furthermore, the ''Suffren'' class had four launchers for L5

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es, two to each side of the ship, housed in the deckhouse between the

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

and the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

. Each ship carried ten torpedoes. They were the first French warships to deploy torpedoes using fixed catapults. Fire control was via the DRBI 23

3D radar 3D radar provides for radar ranging and direction in three dimensions. In addition to range, the more common two-dimensional radar provides only azimuth for direction, whereas the 3D radar also provides elevation. Applications include weather rada ...

for air search/tracking housed in a massive

radome A radome (a portmanteau of "radar" and "dome") is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna (radio), antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weathe ...

that dominated the ship's silhouette. The ''Suffren'' class also mounted DRBN 32, DRBV 50, two DRBR 51 and DRBC 32A radars. For anti-submarine warfare, they were equipped with DUBV 23 hull-mounted

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

and DUBV 43 towed

variable depth sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

. For electronic defence, the vessels initially mounted the Syllex

chaff Chaff (; ) is dry, scale-like plant material such as the protective seed casings of cereal grains, the scale-like parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil ...

system. The SENIT I tactical data system coordinated sensor data.

Modifications

In 1977 to 1979, the MM38 Exocet

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

system was fitted to the ships. Each ship carried four missiles. The Masuraca system was upgraded between 1982–1985. In 1985, ''Duquesne'' had its DRBV 50 radar replaced with the advanced DRBV 15 system. ''Suffren'' underwent the same radar swap-out in 1989–1990 while also having its DRBC 32A gunfire control radar replaced with the newer DRBC 33A system. Furthermore during that refit, the Syllex outfit was replaced with the Dagaie and Sagaie electronic countermeasures systems. Additionally four single-mounted cannon were fitted two to each side of the ship abaft the DRBC 33A radar. ''Duquesne'' was similarly modernised beginning in 1990.

Ships

Construction and career

The two ships of the class were both named after French admirals. Three ships were initially planned with more in a follow-on group, but budgetary constraints caused by building the nuclear deterrent submarines caused the programme to be terminated at two ships. They accompanied the ''Clemenceau''-class aircraft carriers on deployments and as a result were based with them as part of the French Atlantic Fleet upon entering service. In 1975, when the ''Clemenceau''s were transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, the ''Suffren''s went with them and were based at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

. ''Suffren''s service-life extension refit was delayed due to the ship's deployments to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

. ''Suffren''s refit took place from 1989 to 1990. ''Duquesne'' underwent its service-life extension refit from 1990 to 1991. ''Duquesne'' underwent a further refit in September 1998 to July 1999. ''Suffren'' was retired on 2 April 2001. The ''Suffren'' class was replaced by the s. ''Suffren'' departed Toulon in October 2023 for scrapping at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

Notes

Citations

References

* * * {{Suffren class frigate Suffren class Suffren class Ship classes of the French Navy