France (1881-90) – France’s ‘Grand Hotel’ The Hoche is now as then, the supreme ugly ducking in the nest, a testimony of how hard naval engineers of the time tried to push their luck with designs that had to square circles in terms of iron construction, heavy weaponry, stability as a gun platform, seaworthiness, and … Read more
France (1870-1912) – About 60 cruisers The armoured cruiser Condé, from the Gloire class, seen from the Romanov Shtandard Imperial Yacht, from the Romanov family album 2, page 26 (CC) Compared to the relative simplicity of the interwar French lineage, the history of French cruisers goes back to 1860s steam frigates. The first “cruiser” per … Read more
France (1899) – France’s strangest pre-dreadnought Background The French Navy was under the influence of the ‘Jeune Ecole‘ (‘Young School’) during the years 1820-1909. There has been a collection of concepts and experiments to compensate the French inferiority in numbers compared to the arch-rival, the Royal Navy, by innovation. France has been very active in … Read more
WW1 French Escorts France (1893) French ASW warfare during the great war Because of the considerable maritime traffic amount between the British Empire and its colonies, as with the USA, we often forget that many other belligerent nations had a sizeable trade fleet at the start of the war, and that German submarine warfare impacted … Read more
WW1 French Submarines About 80 submersibles 1865-1919 Introduction As a matter of fact, submarines like aviation had many fathers. Although Clement Ader claimed to have “flown” his Eole in 1890, a small hop of about 50 m at 20 cm off the ground, it remained unofficial. The feat would have to wait 1903’s Wright brothers … Read more
France (1890) – Armoured Cruiser The cruiser Dupuy de Lôme was not only the first French armoured cruiser, but also one of the most revolutionary of her time. She was named after French engineer Dupuy de Lôme, a visionary that -among others- created the first steam battleship, seagoing ironclad, and submarine. The cruiser was also … Read more
WW1 French Destroyers France (1899-1918), about 90 destroyers Foreworld After having turned hundreds of torpedo boats in two decades under the influence of the “Young School”, France started creating destroyers in 1900, at first 300 tons, short range ships, but soon from 1908, 500+ tons, and eventually 800 tons ships in 1911, true fleet destroyers … Read more
France (1891-95) Brennus, Charles Martel, Jauréguiberry, Carnot, Masséna, Bouvet “A navy of prototypes” Prior to 1890, France, still Britain’s main naval rival at that point, paused its battleship construction because of the influence of the Jeune Ecole doctrine. The latter blindly and radically favoured torpedo boats and torpedo-carrying ships in general, at the expense of … Read more
WW1 French Torpedo Boats 350 Torpedo Boats (1870s-1914) Introduction: French doctrine about TBs The French did not invented the torpedo boat, which was, for all purposes, merely a British crossed invention. Robert Whitehead indeed invented the modern torpedo concept in 1866, later refined by French and German innovations. John Thornycroft brings the turbine with her … Read more
WW1 French Battlecruisers (Projects) Paper projects (1913) French what-if battlecruisers A bit provocative in its title, this article is dedicated to French prewar battlecruisers paper projects, proposed by officers Durant-Viel and P.Gille. These were part of the ambitious 1912 naval plan that gets rid of the noxious Jeune Ecole school of thought, to concentrate on … Read more
