Suffren-class

Suffren (D602) was the lead ship of the Suffren-class guided-missile frigates of the French Navy, together with her sister ship Duquesne (D603). Ordered in 1960 as part of France's new deterrence and intervention naval policy under President Charles de Gaulle, the class was designed as anti-air and anti-submarine escorts for the Clemenceau-class aircraft carriers. Officially rated as frigates (frégates lance-missiles, FLM 60), they were considered destroyers by many publications and were comparable in concept to the British Type 82.

Built at the Arsenal de Lorient, Suffren was laid down on 21 December 1962, launched on 15 May 1965 and commissioned on 1 October 1967. She displaced 5,335 tonnes standard (6,780 t at full load), measured 157.6 m overall, and was powered by four boilers feeding two sets of Rateau double-reduction geared steam turbines that delivered 72,500 shp to two propellers for a top speed of 34 knots and a range of 5,100 nautical miles at 18 knots. Her air-defence armament centred on a twin quarterdeck launcher for 48 Masurca surface-to-air missiles, backed by two 100 mm guns, the Malafon anti-submarine missile system and L5 torpedoes; four MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles were added during a 1977-1979 refit.

Named after the 18th-century admiral Pierre André de Suffren, the frigate escorted the Clemenceau-class carriers, transferring with them to the Mediterranean Fleet at Toulon in 1975, and deployed to the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War. Following a 1989-1990 modernisation of her radars and countermeasures, Suffren was decommissioned on 2 April 2001 and the class was replaced by the Horizon-class frigates.