French destroyers at Casablanca

The French in the interwar years departed from the usual destroyer design philosophy of most of the other powers. While most navies had destroyers that were relatively small and expendable evolved upgrades from earlier designs, the French produced a series of classes of larger, more powerful destroyer-type vessels they termed contre-torpilleur, which were significantly larger than the norm. Indeed, they were much more like the larger, late-war classes of destroyers than the typical inter-war type.

The Milan, as depicted in Axis & Allies War at Sea

At Casablanca there were two of these ships, the Milan and the Albatros, both of the Aigle class. They were 2,500 ton ships, 423 feet long and armed with five 5.5-inch guns and four torpedoes. Like all French destroyer designs they were very fast, rated at 36 knots. Unlike foreign practice, which used ships of this size as "Destroyer Leaders' which acted as squadron flagships for smaller ships, these were used in their own Contre-Torpilleur squadrons, in this case the 11th.

 There were also five more typical 1,400 ton destroyers, 331-feet, four 5.1-inch guns, six torpedoes. Like the larger ships they were capable of 36 knots. All five were the L'Adroit Class. The L'Alcyon, Fougueux and Frondeur comprised the 2nd Destroyer Squadron while Brestois and Boulonnais comprised Destroyer Squadron 5.

Together these represented a dangerous force to be reckoned with for the U.S. forces approaching Casablanca in November.

One serious deficiency in the French destroyer classes was a lack of radar, as the armistice cut off the French from developments in that sphere among the Allies and the Germans didn't see fit to share any of their radar sets either.

There were also two Bourrasque class destroyers in the harbor that were there for overhaul and repair.  These were older and smaller (1,300-ton) ships similar to the L'Adroits. They don't seem to have been under effective command of the French fleet commander and did not, in the event, act in concert with the other light ships.