Marine Nationale (1886-91), Protected cruisers. Troude, Lalande, Cosmao: Service until 1908-22 The Troude class were three light protected cruisers built in the 1880s for the Marine Nationale (French Navy), Troude, Lalande and Cosmao. All three from the same yard, F.C. de la Gironde at Bordeaux. Like the Forbin class built in parallel, they were ordered … Read more
France (1916-1953): Bretagne, Provence, Lorraine Choices made in 1905 meant France only ever had two classes of Dreadnoughts ever: The Courbet and Bretagne, a total of seven ships, all sharing the same hull essentially, and only differing by the artillery type and arrangement. The three Bretagne (4 planned initially, the extra one for Greece) were … Read more
France. Armored Cruiser built 1904-1908, service until 1937. Ernest Renan was the penultimate French armored cruiser, launched the same year as HMS Dreanought and base for the last Edgar Quinet class. In August 1914, she took part in the hunt for the battlecruiser SMS Goeben, joined the Adriatic blockade of the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the … Read more
France. Armored Cruiser built 1904-1908, service until 1937. Jules Michelet was an evoliution of the previous Leon Gambetta armoured cruiser design, fitted with better boilers for more power, extra speed, and more modern marks of guns and revised armament in general. Jules Michelet had a relatively long career. Completed at Lorient Arsenal on the west … Read more
France. Built 1901-1907, service until 1928: Armored Cruiser Léon Gambetta (1903), Jules Ferry (1903), Victor Hugo (1904). The Léon Gambetta class included Léon Gambetta (launched 1901), Jules Ferry (1903), and Victor Hugo (1904), started in 1901-03, completed in 1905-07. They followed the three Gloire class but larger and more powerfully armed. Their 47 mm QF … Read more
French Navy Pre-Dreadnought Battleship: FS République, Patrie (1901-1905) The many shortcomings of the previous classes, born under the Jeune Ecole influence was highlighted and for the first time in 1899 a homogeneous class of battleships was planned, six ships total, but only two first ships, République and Patrie were ordered, the remainder four under a … Read more
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
