Tourville-class frigate
French Navy guided-missile frigate
The F67 type, also known as the Tourville class, consisted of three guided-missile frigates built for the French Navy during the 1970s. They were designed as convoy escorts during the Cold War.
Design and description
The Tourville-class ships were designed as anti-submarine (ASW) escorts for convoys in the North Atlantic and are enlarged versions of the older Aconit, designed around a requirement to accommodate two Westland Lynx helicopters and Exocet anti-ship missiles. They have an overall length of 152.8 metres (501 ft 4 in), a beam of 15.3 m (50 ft 2 in) and a draught of 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in). The ships have a standard displacement of 4,580 tonnes (4,510 long tons) and 5,745 tonnes (5,654 long tons) at full load. The Tourvilles were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four boilers. The turbines were rated at 54,400 shaft horsepower (55,200 PS; 40,600 kW) to give the ships a maximum speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) and a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). The frigate had a complement of 292 sailors including 17 officers.
The primary anti-ship weapon of the Tourvilles consisted of six single box launchers for MM38 Exocet missiles, located to the rear of the bridge with three launchers on each broadside. The frigates were designed with three 100-millimetre (3.9 in) Modèle 1968 guns in single-gun turrets; one superfiring pair forward of the bridge and the third gun positioned atop the rear superstructure.
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