Fauconneau was one of four s built for the French Navy in the late 1890s.
Design and description The Durandals had an overall length of , a beam of , and a maximum draft of .Couhat, p. 82 They displaced at deep load. The two triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, were designed to produce a total of , using steam provided by two Normand boilers.Caresse, p. 97 The ships had a designed speed of , but Fauconneau reached during her sea trials. The ships carried enough coal to give them a range of at . Their original complement consisted of four officers and forty-eight enlisted men, but the number of enlisted men increased to sixty in 1899.Caresse, p. 97
The Durandal-class ships were armed with a single gun forward of the bridge and six Hotchkiss guns, three on each broadside. They were fitted with two single torpedo tubes, one between the funnels and the other on the stern. Two reload torpedoes were also carried; their air flasks, however, had to be charged before they could be used, a process that took several hours. The Modèle 1887 torpedo that they used had a warhead weight of .
Construction and career Fauconneau was ordered from Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand on 14 April 1897 and was laid down on 29 April at its shipyard in Le Havre. The ship was launched on 2 April 1900 and conducted her sea trials in May–July. She was commissioned upon their conclusion and assigned to the Northern Squadron.Roberts, p. 375
When the First World War began in August 1914, Fauconneau was one of the leaders () in the 1st Submarine Flotilla () of the 2nd Light Squadron ()Prévoteaux, Tome I, p. 35 based at Cherbourg.
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