Ordered on 17 November 1930 as part of the 1930 Naval Program, ''L'Audacieux
was laid down on 16 November 1931 by Arsenal de Lorient. She was launched on 15 March 1934, commissioned on 1 August 1935, completed on 27 November and entered service on 7 December. Completion was delayed when her boilers had to be rebuilt because of defective firebricks. When the Le Fantasque
s entered service they were assigned to the newly formed 8th and 10th Light Divisions () which were later redesignated as scout divisions (); both divisions were assigned to the 2nd Light Squadron () at Brest. As of 1 October 1936 L'Audacieux
, Le Terrible
and Le Fantasque'' were assigned to the 10th Light Division while , and belonged to the 8th. The ship departed Brest on 4 December 1935 to represent the
Marine Nationale at the celebration of the
tercentenary of the French colonization of the
Antilles where she joined the cruiser and the submarine in making port visits to
Pointe-à-Pitre,
Guadeloupe, and
Fort de France,
Martinique.
Albert Lebrun,
President of France, inaugurated the new building of the Naval Academy () in Brest and reviewed the 2nd Squadron on 30 May 1936, including ''L'Audacieux
, L'Indomptable
, Le Fantasque
, and Le Terrible
. Between 15 January and 26 February 1937, the 2nd Light Squadron cruised as far south as Conakry, French West Africa. On 27 May, Alphonse Gasnier-Duparc, Minister of the Navy, reviewed the fleet, including the Le Fantasque
s. L'Audacieux'' briefly served as flagship of the 2nd Light Squadron from 9 August 1938 until she was relieved on 7 November.
World War II Both the 8th and 10th Scout Divisions were assigned to the , which was tasked to hunt down German commerce raiders and blockade runners, when war was declared in September 1939; it made only a single sortie as a complete unit on 2–6 September when it responded to an erroneous report that German ships had left port. Afterwards it was dispersed into smaller groups to better execute its mission. The 10th Scout Division, which consisted of ''L'Audacieux
, Le Terrible
, and Le Fantasque
, together with British ships, was assigned to Force X that was based in Dakar, French West Africa, from 10 October to 18 November. During 21–30 October, the , including all of the Le Fantasque
s, screened Convoy KJ 4 against a possible attack by the heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee. The ships of the 10th Scout Division escorted the and the British aircraft carrier as they searched for German ships in the Central Atlantic between 7 and 13 November, then escorted Strasbourg'' and the heavy cruiser back to France on 18 November. ''L'Audacieux
was one of the escorts for Strasbourg
and her sister as the reassembled at Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, in late April 1940 in an effort to intimidate the Italians from entering the war. She took part in a sortie by the into the Western Mediterranean on 12–13 June, after Italy declared war on the Allies on the 10th. L'Audacieux
then began escorting convoys evacuating personnel from mainland France to French North Africa and screened cruisers fruitlessly searching for Italian cruisers on 23–24 June after an erroneous report that they were at sea. After the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July, the ship escorted the cruisers that failed to rendezvous with Strasbourg'', which escaped to Toulon. By the end of August, all of French Equatorial Africa had joined
Free France, with the exception of
French Gabon. In response, the Germans and Italians authorized the Vichy French to send ships to the
Gulf of Guinea to bring the rebellious colonies back under control. The 4th Cruiser Division () of three light cruisers, escorted by the 10th Scout Division, was chosen and the ships were designated as Force Y. They departed on 9 September and departed
Casablanca,
French Morocco, on the 12th after refueling. The destroyers lacked enough range to reach Dakar at the ordered by (
Rear Admiral)
Célestin Bourragué and were forced to return to Casablanca. They finally reached Dakar on 19–20 September. A powerful British and Free French force was already en route to Dakar; their mission was to rally it to the Free French or to conquer it. The Vichy French garrison refused General
Charles de Gaulle's appeal to join the Free French and opened fire on the British ships on 23 September. The French destroyers were tasked to make a continuous
smoke screen to protect the cruisers as they maneuvered to avoid British shells. The heavy fog reduced the ability of the French ships to spot the British and ''L'Audacieux
was ordered to venture forth on a reconnaissance mission. The ship was soon spotted by the Australian heavy cruiser and was quickly hit at close range. Her bridge was destroyed by shells that also knocked out her power and set her on fire. The destroyer drifted ashore shortly afterwards near Rufisque. L'Audacieux'' lost 81 crewmen dead or missing during the battle. She was refloated on 11 March 1941 and was slowly repaired so that she was able to sail to
Bizerte, French Tunisia, on 7 August 1942 where she arrived on the 22nd; when the Germans occupied Bizerte on 8 December, the ship was in a
dry dock and was not
scuttled. ''L'Audacieux'' was damaged by Allied bombing and was sunk on 7 May 1943 when the Germans destroyed the dock's gate during their evacuation of the city. Her
hulk was refloated on 14 December 1943, after she had been repaired enough to get her out of the dock. Deemed a
constructive total loss, the ship was cannibalized for spare parts for
Le Triomphant,
Le Fantasque and
Le Terrible. Her remains were scrapped in August 1947. ==References==