French battleship Voltaire (1911)


Launching of Voltaire
Career (France)
Namesake: Voltaire
Builder: FC de la Méditerranée, La Seyne
Laid down: 20 July 1907
Launched: 1 August 1911
Decommissioned: 1935
Fate: Broken up 1939
General characteristics
Class and type: Danton-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement: 18,318 tonnes standard, 19,763 tonnes full load
Length: 144.9 m
Beam: 25.8 m
Draught: 9.2 m
Propulsion: 4-shaft Parsons turbines, 26 Belleville 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
12 × 240mm/50 Modèle 1902 guns in twin mounts
16 × 75mm/65 Modèle 1906 guns in single mounts
10 × 47 mm guns (single)

2 × 450 mm Torpedo tubes (M12D until 1920, M18 afterwards)
Armour:

270 mm Belt
48 mm upper deck
45 mm lower deck
300 mm main turrets

200 mm secondary turrets

The Voltaire was a Danton-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy.[1]

During the First World War, she was hit by two torpedoes launched by the UB-48, but survived thanks to the compartments of her hull. At the end of the war, on November 13, 1918, Voltaire and other French ships anchored off Constantinople.

Contents

Design

Although the Danton-class battleships were "a major step forward" from the preceding Liberté class, especially with the 3,000-ton displacement increase, they were outclassed by the advent of the dreadnought well before they were completed. This, combined with other poor traits, including the great weight in coal they had to carry, made them rather unsuccessful ships, though their rapid-firing guns were of some use in the Mediterranean.[2] They had a main armament of four 305mm/45 Modèle 1906 guns in two twin turrets and a secondary armament of twelve 240mm/50 Modèle 1902 guns in six twin turrets.[2] Most of the design of the Voltaire was gleemed from facts that surfaced during the Russo-Japanese War.[3]

Service history

After commissioning, Voltaire left to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. There she was damaged by two torpedoes from UB-48, the same sub that sunk Gaulois a year earlier while sailing to Mudros with the remainder of the Danton class and Liberte class to defend convoys and persuade Greece to enter on the allied side.[4][5] Near the end of the war, on November 13, 1918, Voltaire and other French ships anchored off Constantinople.[4] She was scrapped in 1948.[6]

References

  1. ^ .Miller, David (2001); Illustrated Directory of Warships from 1860 to the Present; Salamander, Osceola, WI. ISBN 0-7603-1127-7. See p.90.
  2. ^ a b Gardiner and Gray, p. 196
  3. ^ Journal of the ASNE
  4. ^ a b http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyFrench.htm
  5. ^ http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/voltaire_french_battleship.htm
  6. ^ http://www.cityofart.net/bship/danton.html

Bibliography

Condorcet · Danton · Diderot · Mirabeau · Vergniaud · Voltaire