similar N°130 1890
|
Names |
Libellule |
|
Builders |
F C de la Méditerranée, Granville: Libellule |
|
Completed |
1905: Libellule |
|
Losses |
none |
|
Transfers |
none |
|
Discarding |
1911: Libellule |
|
Displacement normal, t |
39 |
|
Displacement full, t |
|
|
Length, m |
36.4 pp |
|
Breadth, m |
3.40 |
|
Draught, m |
1.90 |
|
No of shafts |
1 |
|
Machinery |
1 Rateau steam turbine, 1 Renard boiler |
|
Power, h. p. |
1000 |
|
Max speed, kts |
13 |
|
Fuel, t |
coal |
|
Endurance, nm(kts) |
|
|
Armament |
1 x 1 - 380 TT |
|
Complement |
Project history: Ordered on the initiative of Émile Bertin on 10.3.1898, this vessel was a 'torpilleur-vedette' although the hull form was based on the Normand 34-metre type. Built by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, Libellule was designed as a test-bed for the revolutionary Renard steam generator. This device, although theoretically offering high power almost instantly, was immensely complex and capricious in the extreme, and the prototype took 6 years to construct. On trials it was very disappointing, 15.2kts being Libellule's best speed, and the boat was decommissioned as soon as the trials were over and never again employed.
Modernizations: None.
Naval service: She was stricken in 1911.
© Ivan Gogin, 2014