French Criquet (AN 96) on 10 June 1957.
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.
Class: French SCARABÉE (AN 94)
Design: AN 94 (Modified version of AN 92)
Displacement (tons): Light 680 (Italian) and 630 (Spanish), standard 770 (French) and 763 (Spanish), 850 full (all except Spanish, 837)
Dimensions (feet): 165.5' (50.45m) with bow horns, 151.84' (46.28m) oa, 146' (44.50m) pp x 33.5' (10.20m) x 10.5' (3.21m) mean, 13.6' (4.16m) full
Armament: 1-40mmS aft (60 cal Mk.3 in the Spanish ship), 4-20mmS (Mk.10 in the Spanish ship)
Accommodations: 1 officer, 44 enlisted
Speed (kts.): 12 (14 trials)
Propulsion (HP): 1,600 (1,470 Italian)
Machinery: Geared diesel electric, 1 screw
Construction:
| AN | Name | Ord | Builder | Keel | Launch | Compl |
| 94 | French SCARABÉE | 5 Sep 1952 | CN Penhoët, Grand Quévilly | 15 May 1953 | 21 Nov 1953 | 9 Jun 1954 |
| 95 | French GRILLON | 5 Sep 1952 | CN Penhoët, Grand Quévilly | 7 Sep 1953 | 18 Feb 1954 | 23 Dec 1954 |
| 96 | French CRIQUET | 29 Sep 1952 | AC Seine Mar. Le Trait | 27 Aug 1953 | 3 Jun 1954 | 2 Dec 1954 |
| 97 | French FOURMI | 29 Sep 1952 | AC Seine Mar. Le Trait | 11 Sep 1953 | 6 Jul 1954 | 26 Feb 1955 |
| 98 | French CIGALE | 29 Sep 1952 | CN La Pallice | 10 Nov 1953 | 23 Sep 1954 | 24 Mar 1955 |
| 99 | Italian ALICUDI | 10 Dec 1952 | Cant. Ansaldo Livorno | 22 Apr 1954 | 11 Jul 1954 | 20 May 1955 |
| 100 | Italian FILICUDI | 10 Dec 1952 | Cant. Ansaldo Livorno | 19 Jul 1954 | 26 Sep 1954 | 20 May 1955 |
| 101 | Spanish CR 1 (CÍCLOPE) | 18 Feb 1953 | CN Penhoët, Grand Quévilly | 17 Mar 1954 | 28 Sep 1954 | 2 May 1955 |
| 102 | Not built | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Disposition:
| AN | Name | T | US Decomm | US Strike | US Disposal | US Fate | MA Sale |
| 94 | French SCARABÉE | -- | -- | 18 Nov 1954 | Trf | -- | |
| 95 | French GRILLON | -- | -- | 24 Mar 1955 | Trf | -- | |
| 96 | French CRIQUET | -- | -- | 24 Mar 1955 | Trf | -- | |
| 97 | French FOURMI | -- | -- | 24 Jun 1955 | Trf | -- | |
| 98 | French CIGALE | -- | -- | 24 Jun 1955 | Trf | -- | |
| 99 | Italian ALICUDI | -- | -- | 20 May 1955 | Trf | -- | |
| 100 | Italian FILICUDI | -- | -- | 20 May 1955 | Trf | -- | |
| 101 | Spanish CR 1 (CÍCLOPE) | -- | -- | 29 Jul 1955 | Trf | -- | |
| 102 | Not built | -- | -- | 11 Jun 1954 | Canc. | -- |
Class Notes:
On 12 April 1951 the Machinery Arrangement Branch of the BUSHIPS Design Division notified its associated sections that special specifications and contract plans were to be prepared for six new net layers, AN 94-99, that were to be built under the new Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP). The design work was to be completed by 15 June 1951. The specifications and plans were to be based on the present AN 78 class (specifically AN 92 with all modifications to date) with changes limited to a change in main propulsion engines as in AN 93 (q.v.), a change from government to contractor furnished material, and changes necessary due to the inability to procure some equipment specified in the AN 78 class. The memo noted that the AN 78 class had operated satisfactorily and that, except as indicated, the new class was to duplicate it as closely as possible in order to avoid costly and time-consuming preparation of new working plans by the building yards. Planning on this basis, including discussions with General Motors on the engines, was in progress in late June 1951, at which time it was expected that there would be very little difference between AN 93 and AN 94-99.
It was soon decided, however, to build the ships by offshore procurement (OSP) in shipyards in allied countries. Five ships for France were covered by a contract between France and the US that was signed in 28 May 1952, the ships to be built in France. Two were soon added for Italy (built in Italy) and one for Spain (built in France). The plans based on AN 92 appear generally to have been followed in the OSP ships, but as built the ships differed in some details including the substitution of a single 40mm gun for the single 3"/50 in AN 92 and AN 93. (The 40mm guns in the French ships were removed soon after entering service and CIGALE and GRILLON also landed their 20mm guns, others doing so occasionally, but the empty gun positions were left in place except in SCARABÉE.) The OSP ships also used foreign-origin propulsion machinery. The French ships had SEMT-Pielstick PA-1 diesels, the Italian ships had Maybach MBA 6H/D650/655 diesels, and the Spanish ship had two SCCM 18/V/16PA diesels, each of 800 bhp (or 900 bhp supercharged for one hour). The Spanish ship also had two Jeumont electric motors rated at 630 hp each that were connected to the single screw by a Messian reduction gear with a ratio of 7.1:1. The French classed their ships as "gabares", a term used in the age of sail for coastal cargo ships when it was generally spelled "gabarres," many of which were harbor service craft. The Italians used the term "nave posareti" and the Spanish used "calarredes" ("calar redes"), both meaning net layer.
On 17 December 1953 the Machinery Arrangement Branch of the BUSHIPS Design Division provided its sections with a list of machinery contract plans needed for another proposed net layer, AN 102. Instructions from the Design Division were to have AN 102 follow AN 93, with the AN 102 plans to be copied from those for AN 93 with references to proprietary material deleted and appropriate title blocks added. The plans and specifications were to be presented in a more general manner with minor details such as pipe sizes omitted to reduce correspondence between the shipbuilder and the Bureau, and they were to be unclassified. On 5 March 1954 a summary of work on AN 102 done in the Machinery Arrangement Branch reported that the AN 93 working drawings had been modified and that title blocks had been changed to AN 102. U.S. records show AN 102 as cancelled on 11 June 1954. The few records located on AN 102 (all from the Machinery Arrangement Branch, BUSHIPS Code 434) are silent on why and for whom the ship was to be acquired and whether she was to be built in the U.S. as a near copy of AN 93 or by OSP as a follow-on to AN 94. Rumors that she was to be a second Spanish ship are not confirmed in known official material but are possible.
AN 94-101 were probably stricken from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register (NVR) when dropped from its main listing during 1959 or 1960 although no formal US strike dates have been found.
Ship Notes:
| AN | Name | MA | Notes |
| 94 | French SCARABÉE | FY 1952 (MDAP). The French ordered G1 (AN 94) under OSP from the Chantiers Normandie Penhoët on 5 Sep 1952. The ship was assigned to France and named 30 Apr 1954. Builder's trials completed 4 Jun 1954 and proceded to Brest for official trials 9 Jun 1954. Transferred by the US to France under OSP at Brest 18 Nov 1954. Admitted to active service 15 Feb 1955 and soon assigned to Toulon. Designated in 1964 as support ship at Toulon for a submersible caisson, NÉMO, used to develop the missile ejection system for the first French SSBN, REDOUTABLE, and modified by the addition of two deckhouses, a scientific one behind the bridge and one for divers over the stern. Decomm process began 1 Nov 1987, flag lowered and to special reserve several weeks later. Sold 5 Dec 1989 by the Domaines (the French government property agency), towed out of Toulon to breakers 21 Mar 1990. | |
| 95 | French GRILLON | FY 1952 (MDAP). The French ordered G2 (AN 95) under OSP from the Chantiers Normandie Penhoët on 5 Sep 1952. The ship was assigned to France and named 30 Apr 1954. Upon completion taken to Brest for trials. Transferred by the US to France under OSP at Brest 24 Mar 1955. Admitted to active service 25 Mar 1955, assigned to Lorient. Decomm process began 1 Feb 1988 and concluded on 26 Feb 1988 when the flag was lowered and the ship placed in special reserve. Briefly used as breakwater at Lorient with former destroyers TARTU and BOUVET, condemned 3 May 1990, sold and towed out of Lorient to breakers in Denmark 13 Jul 1990. | |
| 96 | French CRIQUET | FY 1952 (MDAP). The French ordered G3 (AN 96) under OSP from the Ateliers et Chantiers de Seine-Maritime on 29 Sep 1952. The ship was assigned to France and named 30 Apr 1954. Left Seine-Maritime 1 Dec 1954 for Brest, conducting builders trials enroute. Transferred by the US to France under OSP at Brest 24 Mar 1955. Admitted to active service 25 Mar 1955 and soon assigned to Toulon. Decomm process began 10 Nov 1987, flag lowered and to special reserve several weeks later. Sold 5 Dec 1989 by the Domaines, towed out of Toulon to breakers 21 Mar 1990. | |
| 97 | French FOURMI | FY 1952 (MDAP). The French ordered G4 (AN 97) under OSP from the Ateliers et Chantiers de Seine-Maritime on 29 Sep 1952. The ship was assigned to France and named 30 Apr 1954. Upon completion taken to Brest for trials. Transferred by the US to France under OSP at Brest 24 Jun 1955. Admitted to active service same date and soon assigned to Bizerte in independent Tunisia in 1956, to Toulon in 1962, and to Brest in 1982. Decomm process began in early 1988 and concluded on 29 Feb 1988 when the flag was lowered and the ship placed in special reserve. Condemned 5 Dec 1989, towed out of Landévennec near Brest 20 Mar 1990 to breakers in Rotterdam. | |
| 98 | French CIGALE | FY 1952 (MDAP). The French ordered G05 (AN 98) under OSP from the Chantier Naval de La Pallice on 29 Sep 1952. The ship was assigned to France and named 30 Apr 1954. Upon completion taken to Brest for trials. Transferred by the US to France under OSP at Brest 24 Jun 1955. Admitted to active service same date and assigned to Brest. Decomm process began in early 1988 and concluded on 29 Feb 1988 when the flag was lowered and the ship placed in special reserve. Condemned 5 Dec 1989, towed out of Landévennec 20 Mar 1990 to breakers in Rotterdam. | |
| 99 | Italian ALICUDI | FY 1952 (MDAP). Upon completion transferred by the US to Italy under OSP 20 May 1955. Decomm 30 Apr 1991. At La Spezia to BU by 18 Mar 1993. | |
| 100 | Italian FILICUDI | FY 1953 (MDAP). Upon completion transferred by the US to Italy under OSP 20 May 1955. Decomm 1 Nov 1977, struck 15 Dec 1978. | |
| 101 | Spanish CR 1 (CÍCLOPE) | FY 1953 (MDAP). Probably ordered as G6 (AN 101) by the French under OSP from the Chantiers Normandie Penhoët. Assigned to Spain, the ship was inscribed on the Spanish fleet list on 11 Apr 1955 and upon completion was transferred by the US to Spain under OSP on 29 Jul 1955 and named and numbered CR-1 (for Calarredes 1, calarredes meaning net tender). She was assigned on 29 Apr 1963 to the Submarine Command at Cartagena where she became a permanent fixture, even retaining her original armament. Her relative inactivity may have been due in part to her diesel-electric propulsion "which did not give all the performance that was expected." She was renamed AC-01 in Sep 1980 and CÍCLOPE on 10 Jan 1983 after it was decided to give names to most auxiliary ships to honor earlier ships. Her side number was then changed from AC-01 to A-13 on 30 Jun 1986. [Or: In September 1983 she received the name Cíclope and a third side number, A-13.] A successful five-day rescue of some fishermen from Almería earned the ship the name "favorite son" of that city. Struck from the Navy on 29 October 1993, she was towed out of the Cartagena Arsenal on 19 August 1999 to the Las Palmas Arsenal for preparation as a target and was sunk on 2 December 1999 off the Canary Islands by Navy and Air Force units in Exercise ALFEX-03/SINKEX-99. | |
| 102 | Not built | Cancelled 11 Jun 1954. |
Page Notes:
Compiled: 5 Oct 2021
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2021
Special sources: NARA: RG 19 Entry UD 1024-A Box 1 (AN 94 and AN 102); Jean-Michel Roche, Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Tome II, 1870-2006 (France, 2005); https://www.netmarine.net/bat/listes/desindfr.htm; Franco Bargoni, Tutte le navi militari d'Italia, 1861-1986, (Rome, 1987); Juan Luis Coello Lillo, Buques de la Armada Española, La ayuda Americana y el programa de modernizacion (Aldaba Ediciones, Madrid, 1984).