French battleship Danton (1909)
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| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Georges Danton |
| Builder: | Brest shipyard |
| Laid down: | 1906 |
| Launched: | 4 July 1909 |
| Commissioned: | 1 June 1911 |
| Fate: | Sunk by the U-64 on 19 March 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Danton class battleship |
| Displacement: | 18,318 tonnes standard, 19763 tonnes full load |
| Length: | 144.9 m |
| Beam: | 25.8 m |
| Draught: | 9.2 m |
| Propulsion: | 4 shaft Parsons turbines, 26 Bellville or Niclausse coal fired boilers, 22,500 hp |
| Speed: | 19.2 knots |
| Complement: | up to 923 |
| Armament: |
4 × 305mm/45 Modèle 1906 guns in twin mounts |
| Armour: |
270 mm Belt |
The Danton was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. A week after it was completed it was sent to the United Kingdom in honor of the Coronation of George V in 1911.
Danton served in World War I the French Mediterranean Fleet, helping to protect French troop and supply ships from attack by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. It also helped keep the Turkish battlecruiser TCG Yavuz Sultan Selim bottled up in the Black Sea.
Danton was torpedoed by Lt. Cdr. Robert Moraht of U-64 at midday on 19 March 1917 in the Tyrrhenian Sea 30 miles south of Sardinia. The battleship was returning to duty from a refit in Toulon and was bound for Corfu off western Greece to join the blockade of the Strait of Otranto. Danton was carrying a greater number of men than normal and had been zig-zagging to foil enemy submarines; the tactic failed. 806 men were able to abandon the ship in the 45 minutes that passed before it sank. Survivors were rescued by the destroyer Massue and nearby patrol boats. 296 men were lost. Moraht and U-64 survived counterattack and escaped.
