Six Ways to Say 'Barracuda' in French

Here are the names of the six Barracuda-class nuclear powered submarines to be built by France (see DTI January/Febraury 2007 issue, page 14 for more details) in the order in which they will be built (according to reliable sources):

• Suffren
• Duguay Trouin
• Dupetit-Thouars
• Duquesne
• Tourville
• De Grasse

Metal for the Suffren will be cut before this summer with the aim of having it operational in by 2016 or 2017. The last of the series should be delivered to the French navy by 2027.

For those amongst you whose French history might be a little rusty, here's a little lesson:

Pierre André de Suffren de Saint-Tropez (1729-1788) was vice-admiral of the French fleet who beat the English in battle off the Indian coast in 1782-83.

René Duguay-Trouin (1673-1736) was a French privateer who made a name for himself in, guess what, more battles against the English (and the Dutch) and who took Rio de Janeiro in 1711.

Aristide Aubert Dupetit-Thouars (1760-1798) was captain of the Tonnant at the battle of Abukir (Napoleon Bonaparte's final victory in Africa), in which he died.

The Marquis Abraham Duquesne (1610-1688) was the Lieutenant General of the naval forces in 1667 and yes, he too, won battles against the English and the Dutch.

Anne Hilarion de Cotentin, Count of Tourville (1642-1701), despite his feminine first name was vice-admiral of France who beat, this is getting boring, the English and the Dutch, most notably off the Isle of Wight in 1690 (but who got beaten by them two years later). This didn't stop him from being made a field marshal in 1693.

François Joseph Paul, Count de Grasse (1722-1788) took part in the American War of Independence, contributing to the victory at Yorktown in 1781.

--Christina Mackenzie

Comments

[bigfoot]

I'm a little confused. The ship class is named "Barracuda"...but none of the ships are actually named "Barracuda".

On the other hand, you have to hand it to the French: naming ships after some of the more unpleasant aspects of your national history (such as leaders in colonial wars, or seagoing thieves) has fallen out of disfavor in most European countries. I wonder what the Brazilian Navy would think about it when the Dugay-Trouin comes to exercise with them.

Comte de Grasse is a nice gesture. The American de Grasse was a Spruance-class destroyer retired in '98.