France (1899-1927) – Armored Cruisers: Dupleix, Desaix, Kléber The Dupleix class consisted armored cruisers of the Marine Nationale were designed for overseas service (hence three ships for three stations, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Far East). They were armed with eight 164.7 mm (6.5 in) guns, smaller and less powerful compared to their predecessors but with a … Read more
France (1893-1927) – Armored Cruiser The French Armoured cruiser Pothuau was built in the 1890s as a one-off derivative of the Dupuy de Lôme. Laid down on 25 May 1893 at FCM in Granville, she was completed 9 July 1897, commissioned a month earlier. Like the previous armoured cruiser, she had a prominent plough bow, … Read more
Marine Nationale, 1899-1954: Gloire, Marseillaise, Sully, Amiral Aube, Condé The Gloire class consisted of five armored cruisers built for the French Marine Nationale in 1901-1904, designed after a long internal debate in the Navy staff between three factions to determine the best type of cruiser in the next decade. A compromise was found and the … Read more
French Navy Pre-Dreadnought Battleship (1899-1916) Design of the class The Suffren was the last “classic” French pre-dreadnought. The next Republique class would indeed be of a modernized design, leaving no trace of the Jeune Ecole theories. Suffren was designed amost as a sister ship of Iéna, and improved Charlemagne design, whereas Suffren was at first … Read more
Marine Nationale, 1899-1944: Gueydon, Montcalm, Dupetit-Thouars Design development of the Gueydon class Following the success of the Jeanne d’Arc, the French admiralty tasked chief engineer Emile Bertin to create a simplified and cheaper version, to be built in series. However they still were intended to fill the same commerce-raiding strategy in line with the “Jeune … Read more
Marine Nationale, 1896-1920 The cruiser “Jeanne d’Arc” was the largest French cruiser in 1899, first oceangoing armoured cruiser and prototype for all following French armoured cruisers until 1907. Designed initially in 1892 as protected cruiser for overseas service, this was changed later and the design was modified by Engineer Emile Bertin as an armoured cruiser. … Read more
France (1891-1926) Admiral Charner, Bruix, Chanzy, Latouche-Tréville Follow-up cruisers of the Dupuy de Lôme. The previous Dupuy de Lôme was considered a prototype, an experimental armoured cruiser tailored for commerce warfare. The admiralty recoignised the merits of the design, innovative for them in the line of the young school, and it was decided to create … Read more
French Navy Pre-Dreadnought Battleship (1898-1907) Iéna was ordered in April 1897, and completed in 1902, based on the relatively successful previous Charlemagne class. Although still caracteristic of the earlier designs with a pronounced tumblehome, Iéna adopted the classic international two 12-in (305 mm) gun turrets configuration of the time, but was still relatively slow, and … Read more
France (1894-1900) Charlemagne, Saint Louis, Gaulois The Charlemagne class Battleships were three French “pre-dreadnoughts” ordered in 1894 over a new design, in an attempt to rationalize and standardize capital ships in France. Charlemagne, Saint Louis, Gaulois were originally intended for the Atlantic but were soon in service in the Mediterranean, taking part notably during WWI … Read more
WW1 French Battleships France, 40 Battleships (1888-1917) The Design of French Battleships France invented the concept of sea going ironclad back in 1859 with the armoured frigate “Gloire”, immediately answered by the British Navy with the first all-iron armoured frigate, the Warrior, twice her size. From then on, the old rivalry went on under Napoleon … Read more
