French ironclad Formidable


Formidable displayed beside an antique galley for size comparison
Career (France)
Name: Formidable
Ordered: 13 December 1878
Builder: Lorient, France. Plans by Gordon
Laid down: 10 January 1879
Launched: 16 April 1885
Commissioned: 29 December 1888
Decommissioned: 9 February 1909
Fate: Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type: Amiral Baudin-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement: 12,350 t (12,150 long tons)
Length: 98 m (321 ft 6 in)
Beam: 21.2 m (69 ft 7 in)
Draft: 7.9 m (25 ft 11 in)
Installed power: 9,700 ihp (7,200 kW)
Propulsion: Steam engines
Speed: 16 kn (18 mph; 30 km/h)
Complement: 650
Armament: 3 × 370 mm (15 in) guns
4 × 163 mm (6.4 in) guns
10 × 138 mm (5.4 in) guns
6 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armor: 450 mm

The Formidable was an Amiral Baudin-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Marine nationale (French Navy).

In 1890, Formidable was used to experiment captive balloons usage in the Navy.[1] In May 1891, she became the flagship of the Mediterranean squadron. In 1898, she was transferred to the Atlantic squadron, based in Brest.

Images

Notes and references

  1. ^ La Nature. Revue des sciences et de leurs applications aux arts et à l'industrie, pp. 312–314. From Le Conservatoire numérique des Arts & Métiers

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