the french destroyer "vauquelin" was the lead ship of her class of six large destroyers () built for the french navy () during the 1930s. the ship entered service in 1934 and spent most of her career in the mediterranean. during the spanish civil war of 1936–1939, she was one of the ships that helped to enforce the non-intervention agreement. when france declared war on germany in september 1939, all of the "vauquelin"s were assigned to the high sea forces ( (fhm)) which was tasked to escort french convoys and support the other commands as needed. "vauquelin" escorted a pair of heavy cruisers to french west africa, but otherwise remained in the mediterranean for the duration of the war.