Gloire-class cruiser
The Gloire class consisted of five armored cruisers built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) during the first decade of the 20th century.
 Gloire in 1913 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Gloire |
| Operators: |
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| Preceded by: | Dupleix class |
| Succeeded by: | Léon Gambetta class |
| Built: | 1899–1904 |
| In commission: | 1904–1933 |
| Completed: | 5 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Scrapped: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Armored cruiser |
| Displacement: | 9,996 t (9,838 long tons) |
| Length: | 139.78 m (458 ft 7 in) (o/a) |
| Beam: | 20.2 m (66 ft 3 in) |
| Draft: | 7.55 m (24.8 ft) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | 3 shafts, 3 triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range: | 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 615 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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Design and description
The Gloire-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Gueydon class by the naval architect Emile Bertin. The 1896 Naval Programme had authorized five armored cruisers, three of which became the Gueydons and the remaining pair the first Gloires. The other three ships of the class were among those authorized by the 1898 Naval Programme.[1]
The ships measured 139.78 meters (458 ft 7 in) overall, with a beam of 20.2 meters (66 ft 3 in) and a draft of 7.55 meters (24 ft 9 in). They displaced 9,996 metric tons (9,838 long tons). Their crew numbered 25 officers and 590 enlisted men.[2]
The ships had three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft. The engines were rated at a total of 20,500 metric horsepower (15,100 kW), using steam provided by 24 Belleville water-tube boilers, except for Condé and Gloire, which had 28 Niclausse boilers. They had a designed speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph).[3] They carried up to 1,590 long tons (1,620 t) of coal and could steam for 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[3]
Armament and armor
The main battery of the Gloire class consisted of two quick-firing (QF) 194 mm (7.6 in) Modèle 1893–1896 guns mounted in single-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. Their secondary armament comprised eight QF 164.7 mm (6.5 in) Modèle 1893–1896 guns and six QF Canon de 100 mm (3.9 in) Modèle de 1893 guns. Half of the 164.7 mm guns were in two singe-gun wing turrets on each broadside and all of the remaining guns were on single mounts in casemates in the hull.[4] For defense against torpedo boats, they carried eighteen 47-millimeter (1.9 in) and four 37-millimeter (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns, all of which were in single mounts. The sisters were also armed with five 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, of which two were submerged and three above water. Two of these were on each broadside and the fifth tube was in the stern. All of the above-water tubes were on pivot mounts. The ships could carry between 10 and 14 naval mines.[5]
The Gloire class were the first French armored cruisers to have their waterline armored belt made from Harvey face-hardened armor plates. The belt was arrayed in two strakes, the lower of which had a maximum thickness of 150 millimeters (5.9 in) amidships and thinned to 90 millimeters (3.5 in) towards the bow and 80 millimeters (3.1 in) towards the stern. The upper strake of armor was 130 millimeters (5 in) thick amidships and reduced to 80 millimeters at the bow and 70 millimeters (2.8 in) at the stern. Because of manufacturing limitations, the end plates of both strakes were nickel steel. Behind the belt was a cofferdam, backed by a longitudinal watertight bulkhead.[6]
The main-gun turrets were protected by 161 millimeters (6.3 in) of Harvey armor, but their barbettes used 174-millimeter (6.9 in) plates of ordinary steel. The face and sides of the secondary turrets were 92 millimeters (3.6 in) thick and the plates protecting their barbettes were 102 millimeters (4 in) thick. The casemates protecting the 100-millimeter guns also had a thickness of 102 millimeters. The face and sides of the conning tower were 174 millimeters thick.[7]
Ships
| Name | Builder[8] | Laid down[8] | Launched[8] | Commissioned[8] | Fate[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloire | Arsenal de Lorient | 5 September 1899 | 27 June 1900 | 28 April 1904 | Sold for scrap, 1923 |
| Marseillaise | Arsenal de Brest | 10 January 1900 | 14 July 1900 | October 1903 | Sold for scrap after 13 February 1932 |
| Sully | Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer | 24 May 1899 | 4 June 1901 | January 1904 | Wrecked, 30 September 1905 |
| Amiral Aube | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes | February 1901 | 9 May 1902 | 1 April 1904 | Sold for scrap, 1924 |
| Condé | Arsenal de Lorient | 29 January 1901 | 12 March 1902 | 12 August 1904 | Sunk as a target, 1944
Scrapped, 1954 |
References
- Jordan & Caresse, pp. 115–116
- Jordan & Caresse, p. 123
- Silverstone, p. 80
- Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 305
- Jordan & Caresse, pp. 125–126
- Jordan & Caresse, pp. 127–128
- Jordan & Caresse, pp. 128–130
- Jordan & Caresse, p. 117
- Jordan & Caresse, p. 257
Bibliography
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gloire class armoured cruisers. |
- Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- "French Armored Cruiser Sully". Warship International. Naval Records Club. V (4): 324–326. 1968. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations: An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (2014). The Great War at Sea: A Naval History of the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-03690-1.