Suffren-class frigate
1967 class of French Navy frigates
The Suffren class were two anti-air frigates of the French Navy, 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 frigates. 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, Suffren, entered service in 1967 and the second ship, Duquesne, in 1970. They remained in service until the 2000s when they were replaced by ships of the Horizon class.
Background and description
The two ships were designed as anti-air and anti-submarine escorts for the Clemenceau-class aircraft carriers 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 as president of France. The French designation for the class was frégates lance-engins (FLE 60). They were designated as frigates by the French Navy but were considered destroyers by publications. They were later re-designated frégates lance-missiles (FLM 60).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Suffren-class frigate” is 1967 class of French Navy frigates. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Suffren-class, frigate and class, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1967 class of French Navy frigates” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
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 Jun 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1807768. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1960, 1967 and 1970.
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 “Suffren-class frigate”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Suffren-class frigate primary sources, Suffren-class frigate archive and Suffren-class 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 “Suffren-class frigate”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Suffren-class frigate” 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.