During World War II, Great Britain transferred several of its boats to the Free French Navy. Among them was the MTB-96, a Vosper-class torpedo boat of the 1940-1941 series. The MTB-96 was laid down on May 20, 1940, at the Morgan Giles shipyard in Tinmouth. The MTB-96 was commissioned on October 28, 1942, and then handed over to the French. Among its new crew was Philippe, the son of Charles de Gaulle.

Assigned to the 23rd Flotilla, MTB-96 sank the German minelayer M4620 on the night of March 11–12, 1943. The boat then took part in several unsuccessful attacks on German shipping and was ambushed on May 12, 1944. However, on the night of May 19, it found success again when it sank the German patrol ship V 211 Seydlitz together with MTB-90. The boat's subsequent fate was unremarkable. It supported various Allied landings in France, was returned to Great Britain in 1946, and was sold in 1948.

The MTB-96 was introduced in Update 2.39 "Dance of Dragons". Compared to other early French boats, the MTB-96 boasts twice the amount of explosives in its torpedoes and slightly enhanced armament. However, like the VTB-19, it falls short of other French boats in terms of speed and other nations' boats in terms of gun armament.