French cruiser D'Estrées

Destrées was a protected cruiser of the French Navy, named in honour of Victor-Marie d'Estrées, and lead ship of her class.

Destrées
D'Estrées in Shanghai in around 1920
History
France
Name: Destrées
Builder: Arsenal de Rochefort
Laid down: March 1897
Launched: 27 October 1897
Completed: 1899
Struck: October 1922
Fate: Broken up, 1924
General characteristics
Class and type: Destrées-class cruiser
Displacement: 2,428 long tons (2,467 t)
Length: 95 m (311 ft 8 in) loa
Beam: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Draft: 5.39 m (17 ft 8 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
  • 2 × triple-expansion steam engines
  • 2 × screw propellers
Speed: 20 to 20.5 knots (37.0 to 38.0 km/h; 23.0 to 23.6 mph)
Range: 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 235
Armament:
Armor: Deck: 38 to 43 mm (1.5 to 1.7 in)

Design
Main article: D'Estrées-class cruiser
Profile and plan drawing of D'Estrées

In the 1880s and 1890s, factions in the French Navy's officer corps argued over the types of cruiser that best served France's interests. Some argued for a fleet of small but fast protected cruisers for commerce raiding, another sought ships useful for patrolling the country's colonial possessions, while another preferred vessels more suited to operations with the home fleet of battleships. The two cruisers of the D'Estrées class were ordered under the construction program of 1896 at the behest of the colonialists for use in the French overseas empire.[1]

D'Estrées was 95 m (311 ft 8 in) long overall, with a beam of 12 m (39 ft 4 in) and a draft of 5.39 m (17 ft 8 in). She displaced 2,428 long tons (2,467 t). Her crew numbered 235 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by eight coal-burning Normand-type water-tube boilers that were ducted into two widely-spaced funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 8,500 indicated horsepower (6,300 kW) for a top speed of 20 to 20.5 knots (37.0 to 38.0 km/h; 23.0 to 23.6 mph).[2] She had a cruising range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[3]

The ship was armed with a main battery of two 138 mm (5.4 in) 45-caliber guns. They were placed in individual pivot mounts with gun shields, one forward and aft on the centerline. These were supported by a secondary battery of four 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, which were carried in sponsons. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried eight 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder guns. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 38 to 43 mm (1.5 to 1.7 in) thick.[2]

Service history

Destrées was built at the Arsenal de Rochefort in Rochefort, France; her keel was laid down in March 1897 and she was launched on 27 October 1897. The ship was completed in 1899,[2][4] less her armament, and thereafter underwent sea trials and received her armament at the Arsenal. After her trials she was sent to Brest in February 1900,[5] where she joined the Northern Squadron, which at that time, consisted of two pre-dreadnought battleships, four older ironclads, two armored cruisers, and the protected cruiser Guichen, among other smaller vessels.[6] She took part in the squadron maneuvers in June and July that year, which were held off Cherbourg.[7]

She was assigned to the Atlantic Training Division in 1902, along with the armored cruiser Jeanne d'Arc and the protected cruiser Châteaurenault.[8] During that period, she operated on the Newfoundland station,[9] serving along with the cruisers Tage, Suchet, and Descartes.[10] The next year, she was transferred to the Atlantic Squadron, which had previously been amalgamated with the Northern Squadron. At that time, the unit consisted of the cruisers Tage, Troude, and D'Estrées.[11] In 1908, the Naval Division of the Atlantic was amalgamated with the Northern Squadron, and D'Estrées was transferred to that command. By that time, the squadron consisted of eight armored cruisers and four other protected cruisers.[12] That year, D'Estrées was sent to patrol the West Indies.[13]

World War I

At the start of World War I in August 1914, D'Estrées was stationed in the English Channel as part of the 2nd Light Squadron, which at that time consisted of the armored cruisers Marseillaise, Amiral Aube, Jeanne d'Arc, Gloire, Gueydon, and Dupetit-Thouars. The unit was based in Brest and along with D'Estrées, the squadron was strengthened by the addition of several other cruisers over the following days, including the armored cruisers Kléber and Desaix, the protected cruisers Châteaurenault, Lavoisier, Friant, and Guichen, and several auxiliary cruisers. The ships then conducted a series of patrols in the English Channel in conjunction with a force of four British cruisers. On 25 August, many of the cruisers were detached for other purposes,[14] and D'Estrées was reassigned to the Division de Syrie (Syrian Division).[15]

On 31 January 1915, French naval forces in the region were reorganized as the 3e Escadre (3rd Squadron).[16] In late April, fears that the Ottoman Empire was planning an attack on the Suez Canal prompted the French to send D'Estrées, the protected cruiser D'Entrecasteaux, and Jeanne d'Arc to Port Said to reinforce the warships supporting the land defenses of the canal.[17] No attack materialized, and the ships were sent to bombard Ottoman positions along the coast to force them to disperse their units rather than make attacks on the Suez Canal. D'Estrées and Jeanne d'Arc shelled fuel depots at Alexandretta and Mersina and a factory in Jaffa in May. They also bombarded the German consulates in the first two cities, along with the one in Haifa. Vice Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet, the commander of the unit, declared a blockade of the coast on 25 June.[15]

D'Estrées was assigned to patrol duty in company with the armored cruiser Amiral Charner and the pre-dreadnought Jauréguiberry. D'Estrées assisted in the evacuation of some 4,000 Armenians from Antakya on 12 and 13 September, along with Amiral Charner, Guichen, Desaix, and the seaplane tenders Foudre and HMS Anne. As additional forces arrived in the region, the French reorganized the squadron into two divisions, D'Estrées being assigned to the 3rd Squadron on 8 November.[18] On 20 September 1916, the ship was transferred to the Red Sea, based at Jeddah. She remained there on patrol duty for the rest of the conflict; during this period, she also escorted convoys from Madagascar to Djibouti through May 1917.[19][20]

After the war, the ship was refitted at La Ciotat and was sent to French Indochina, where she remained for the rest of her active career. She was struck from the naval register in October 1922 and was sold to ship breakers two years later.[21]

Notes
  1. Ropp, pp. 284, 286.
  2. Gardiner, p. 313.
  3. Garbett 1904, p. 563.
  4. Gardiner & Gray, p. 193.
  5. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36072). London. 22 February 1900. p. 10.
  6. Leyland, p. 64.
  7. Section III, pp. 412–414.
  8. Jordan & Caresse, p. 74.
  9. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36764). London. 10 May 1902. p. 8.
  10. Brassey 1902, p. 52.
  11. Brassey 1903, pp. 58–60.
  12. Brassey 1908, pp. 49, 51–52.
  13. Garbett 1908, p. 100.
  14. Meirat, p. 22.
  15. Jordan & Caresse, p. 235.
  16. Jordan & Caresse, p. 233.
  17. Corbett, p. 369.
  18. Jordan & Caresse, p. 236.
  19. Gardiner & Gray, p. 194.
  20. Jordan & Caresse, pp. 235, 240, 247.
  21. Gardiner & Gray, pp. 193–194.

References
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1902). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 47–55. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1903). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 57–68. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1908). "Chapter III: Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 48–57. OCLC 496786828.
  • Corbett, Julian Stafford (1921). Naval Operations: From the Battle of the Falklands to the Entry of Italy Into the War in May 1915. II. London: Longmans, Green & Co. OCLC 924170059.
  • Fisher, Edward C., ed. (1969). "157/67 French Protected Cruiser Isly". Warship International. Toledo: International Naval Research Organization. VI (3): 238. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Garbett, H., ed. (May 1904). "Naval Notes: France". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. London: J. J. Keliher & Co. XLVIII (315): 560–566. OCLC 1077860366.
  • Garbett, H., ed. (January 1908). "Naval Notes: France". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. London: J. J. Keliher & Co. LLI (359): 100–103. OCLC 1077860366.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
  • Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9.
  • Leyland, John (1900). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter III: Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 63–70. OCLC 496786828.
  • Meirat, Jean (1975). "Details and Operational History of the Third-Class Cruiser Lavoisier". F. P. D. S. Newsletter. Akron: F. P. D. S. III (3): 20–23. OCLC 41554533.
  • Ropp, Theodore (1987). Roberts, Stephen S. (ed.). The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871–1904. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.
  • "Section III: France". Notes on Naval Progress. Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Naval Intelligence. 20: 412–415. July 1901. OCLC 699264868.
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