The Mogador-class large destroyers (contre-torpilleurs) of the French Navy were laid down in 1935 and commissioned in 1939. They were extremely fast, very large destroyers intended to act as scouts for the two fast s. The design evolved from the extremely fast , being 300 tons heavier and carrying eight guns in semi-enclosed twin turrets rather than five guns in single open mounts. With their eight guns they approached a light cruiser in firepower. Both and her sister were present during the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July 1940, but only Volta managed to escape to Toulon. Mogador was struck by a shell in the rear hull that detonated her ready depth charges despite not actually detonating itself. This destroyed most of her stern above water, but she remained afloat and was repaired enough to be sent to Toulon on 1 November 1940 for reconstruction. Both ships were scuttled in Toulon Harbour when the Germans tried to seize them on 27 November 1942. Design The Mogador class was authorized in the 1932 Estimates as an improved version of the with three new twin mounts carrying the same Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1929 gun as the earlier ships, but construction was suspended for a period while France and Italy negotiated some limits on their fleets and because the shipyards were already at full capacity. During this pause time was taken to modify the design to deal with the severe weather and conditions of the North Atlantic and to incorporate developments in propulsion technology that indicated that a larger hull could be used without any requiring any increase in weight. After a proposal for a catapult was abandoned because of insufficient reserve stability, an extra twin turret was decided upon to boost the ship's firepower. Volta was authorized in the 1934 Estimates together with the second . General characteristics Their construction was strengthened to handle the severe weather conditions of the North Atlantic as one of the requirements for their intended role as scouts and escorts for the Dunkerque-class battleships of the Force de Raid. Longitudinal construction was used throughout with frames spaced apart and subdivided by twelve transverse compartments. Stress-bearing parts of the hull used 60 kg/m2 grade steel while the remainder of the hull used 50 kg/m2 grade steel. To save weight all internal partitions used Duralumin as did the sides of the superstructure. The hull was entirely