French destroyer Branlebas
1907 Branlebas-class destroyer
Branlebas was the name ship of her class of destroyers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.
During World War I, Branlebas struck a mine and sank in the North Sea between Dunkirk, France, and Nieuwpoort, Belgium, on 30 September 1915.
Design
The Branlebas-class was a development of the previous Claymore class, and was the final evolution of the 300-tonne type which the French had built since 1899, with their first destroyer class, the Durandal-class. Like all the 300-tonne destroyers, the Branlebas class had a turtledeck forecastle with a flying deck, raised above the hull, aft.
They were 58 metres (190 ft 3 in) long between perpendiculars and 59.06 m (193 ft 9 in) overall, with a beam of 6.28 metres (20 ft 7 in) and a maximum draught of 2.37 metres (7 ft 9 in). Displacement was 350 tonnes (344 long tons). Two coal-fired Normand or Du Temple boilers fed steam to two triple-expansion steam engines, rated at 6,800 indicated horsepower (5,100 kW), and driving two propeller shafts, giving a design speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph). The ships had a range of 2,100 nautical miles (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).
A 20 millimetres (0.79 in) belt of armour was fitted to protect the ship's boilers and machinery from splinters. The class was built with the standard gun armament for the 300-tonne destroyers, with a single 65 mm (2.6 in) forward, backed up by six 47 mm (1.9 in) guns, while two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes were carried.
The public source identifies “French destroyer Branlebas” as 1907 Branlebas-class destroyer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around French, destroyer and Branlebas.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “French destroyer Branlebas”, the useful work is to connect “1907 Branlebas-class destroyer” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9179013. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1915 and 1899.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “French destroyer Branlebas”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow French destroyer Branlebas primary sources, French destroyer Branlebas archive and French research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “French destroyer Branlebas”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “French destroyer Branlebas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.