La Foudre
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 Foudre, first seaplane carrier in history, with hangar and cranes. |
|
| Warship |  |
|---|---|
| Shipyard: | Chantiers de la Gironde, France |
| Laid down: | 9 June 1892 |
| Launched: | 20 Oct 1895 |
| Completed: | 1896 (as a torpedo boat depot ship) |
| Modified: | 1907 (as a repair ship) |
| Modified: | 1910 (as a minelayer) |
| Modified: | December 1911 (as a seaplane tender: depot ship/ transport/ launcher) |
| Modified: | November 1913 (addition of a launch platform) |
| Decommissioned: | 1 Dec 1921 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5,791 tonnes |
| Dimensions: | 389.5 x 51 x 23.5 feet/18.8 x 15.5 x 7 meters |
| Armament: | 8 3.9-inch (99 mm) SP, 4 65 mm SP, 4 47 mm AA |
| Armour: | 4.6 inch deck |
| Propulsion: | TE engines, 24 boilers, 2 shafts, 11,500 ihp (8,600 kW), 19 knots (35 km/h) |
| Aircraft: | 4 seaplanes |
| Complement: | 430 |
The Foudre was a French seaplane carrier, and the first seaplane carrier in history [1][2]. Her development followed the invention of the seaplane in 1910 with the French Le Canard.
The Foudre was first commissioned in 1896 as a torpedo boat depot ship, then modified as repair ship in 1907, as a minelayer in 1910, as a seaplane carrier in 1911 (depot, transport, and launch by crane), and seaplane carrier with lift-off platform in 1913. She was initially converted to carry torpedo-carrying planes under hangars on the main deck, from where they were lowered on the sea with a crane.[3]
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[edit] First seaplane carrier
In April 1910, Vice-Amiral Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère, Navy Minister, established a committee to study the usage of balloons and planes by the Navy.
On November 29, 1911, a Navy airbase was established at Fréjus Saint-Raphaël, and the torpedo boat tender Foudre was sent to the arsenal in Toulon to be converted as a seaplane tender. The ship was fit out in a totally new way: a flat surface would be installed at the bow for the seaplane to take off, the seaplane would land on the water once its mission finished, and it would be craned onboard for stowing.
A float-equipped Canard Voisin seaplane was bought by the Navy for this purpose in December 1911. The Foudre would be stationed at Fréjus, working as a seaplane tender, allowing for stowage, repair and supply of the seaplanes. The ship was armed on April 15th, 1912, and trials with the Canard Voisin then started.
On May 1st 1912, the Navy Ministry purchased several more seaplanes, a monoplane Breguet with a single float, a Nieuport with double float, and a converted Farman biplane.
Experiments at sea started with the Foudre in July 1912 during tactical exercises in the Mediterranean. The Canard Voisin, and a new foldable Nieuport were used. During the exercises, in which a wargame simulated the fight of two rival navies, the use of the Nieuport allowed to uncover a surprise attack by the "adversary". During the summer 1912 many flights of the Canard Voisin from the Foudre were accomplished in the bay of Saint-Raphaël.
By the middle of 1913, the Navy had 11 seaplane pilots. The Foudre was again used in large-scale naval exercises. One of its planes, a Nieuport used for observations, foiled a "surprise attack" by a group of warships. Five more seaplanes were ordered following these exercises.
In November 1913, a 10 meters lift-off platform was installed on La Foudre, with the objective of using it for a Caudron G3 seaplane. The plane successfully lifted off from the ship on May 8th, 1914.
At the beginning of the war, the platform was dismantled, and further experiments postponed to a later date.
[edit] World War I
During World War I her roles were numerous, ranging from submarine tender to seaplane/aircraft transport, and headquarters ship in 1916. She was employed as an aviation school ship after the war.
She disputes the honor of being the first seaplane carrier with HMS Hermes, which was temporarily converted as an experimental seaplane carrier for two months in April-May 1913, and is more often considered as the first seaplane carrier. HMS Hermes was originally also laid down as a merchant ship, but was converted on the building stocks to be a seaplane carrier for a few trials in 1913, before being converted again to a cruiser, and back again to a seaplane carrier in 1914. She served in the Dardanelles campaign and was sunk by a German submarine in October 1914.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "The first ship to be transformed into a seaplane-carrier was the auxiliary cruiser Foudre in August 1912" (Fr: "le premier navire transformé en " porte-hydravions " est le croiseur auxiliaire Foudre en août 1912") French Defense Ministry
- ^ "Le premier navire à être transformé en porte hydravion a été le croiseur auxiliaire Foudre en août 1911" "The first ship to be transformed into a seaplane carrier was the auxiliary cruiser Foudre in August 1911" [1]
- ^ Description of Foudre
