The T 53 class were the second group of destroyers built for the French Navy after World War 2. These ships were a modified versionof the T 47 class destroyers. The main difference with the preceding ships was the provision of improved air warning and tracking radars as well as an anti-submarine mortar. The ships were built between 1957 and 1958 and were decommissioned in the late 1970s or early 1980s. A single modified ship the La Galissonnière was built as a trials ship for a new generation of French weapons. This ship was designated as type T56.