Dumas, Robert/Magueur, Bertrand Les Escorteurs Rapides

18 French escort ships, named after the inhabitants of a French province or town, carry out numerous missions over a period of more than 30 years in a time marked mainly by the Cold War. In a troubled world, the fast escorts, together with the squadron escorts, helped to represent France's maritime interests in the world. These 18 ships exist only in the memory of those who manned them.

They were quite unstable in crosswinds, but their overall seaworthiness was considered very good, considering their low displacement. The steam-powered propulsion was also appreciated for its simplicity and robustness. The ships were equipped with good sensors and were quite heavily armed relative to their size and sailed well. Everything would have been perfect if bad weather had not been the main concern of the crew on board: the light, slender ships danced like a jig in heavy swells, and in the doldrums things were going high ... In heavy seas, life on board became hard, every little job a torture ... So many memories remain, which this book aims to awaken! After an introduction to the technical details of each class or series, the career of each ship is traced. The history of the French Navy from the 1950s to the 1980s is illustrated with previously unpublished documents and reports.