The Destroyer "Maillé-Brézé" is named after Jean Armand de Maillé, Marquis of Brézé, Duke of Fronsac, who lived from 1618 to 1646. He is the son of a Marshal of France and the nephew of Cardinal of Richelieu. he was born in Saumur, which is the sponsor city of the Maillé-Brézé.
Jean Armand de Maillé, was Colonel to 15 years old, General of the Galleys to 20 and Grand Admiral to 24. He participated in eight campaigns of war at sea and was killed at the age of 27 at the naval battle of Orbitello. He carried the offensive spirit to such degree that his death left the French Navy disoriented for a while.
Two warships have already been called "Maillé-Brézé". One during the seventeenth century and the second, a 2 400 tons destroyer, built in 1930 was accidentally destroyed in 1940.
The Maillé-Brézé is part of a series of 18 destroyers built after WW2. He was called active service on March 4, 1957. During its ten first years of service, it had an important activity in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. From 1967 to 1968, it was sent to Lorient to be transformed into an anti-submarine warfare ship. On April 3, 1968, he as assigned to Brest to be part of the Escadre de l'Atlantique.
Disarmed, the building is handed over to the association "Nantes Marine Tradition". It is towed to Nantes in 1988 where it became the first French naval museum of this magnitude.
