List of battleships of France
This is a list of French battleships of the period 1859-1970. Note that the dates given are the ships' launch date.
The French Navy pursued three main lines of development with these ships:
- Large sea-going battleships. The first generation were broadside ironclads; the next generation were central battery ships with some guns in barbettes to give all round fire. The French then abandoned the central battery in favour of a narrow armoured belt and a main armament in barbettes. Two French battleships Brennus and Charles Martel were abandoned in the 1880s, in part because it was believed that more money should be spent on high-technology weapons such as torpedo boats.[1] The French adopted the lozenge layout in the 1880s and 1890s, and only adopted the 'pre-dreadnought' layout in the late 1890s. Like other powers the French laid down 'dreadnoughts' before the First World war, but their dreadnought programmes were cut short by the war. During the 1930s, the French laid down new fast battleships; the Dunkerque class were rivals of the German Scharnhorst class, the Richelieu class were rivals of the German Bismarck class. The last French battleship was scrapped in 1970.
- Stationnaire battleships. These were smaller versions of the large battleships, and were often used on foreign stations where they did the job of a battleship. Development of this type was abandoned in the 1880s in favour of armoured cruisers.[1]
- Coastal service ships. The first of these was the steam-powered ironclad 'floating batteries' used to attack Russian fortifications in the Crimean War. More were built in the early 1860s; then they built a series of low freeboard turret and barbette ships, some of which were arguably sea-going battleships.[1]
Sea-going battleships
Broadside ironclads
- Gloire class 5,603 tons.[2]
- Provence class 5,700 - 6,122 tons.[2]
- Provence (1863) - stricken 1884.[2]
- Savoie (1863) - stricken 1888.[2]
- Héroïne (1863) - hulked 1894.[2]
- Flandre (1864) - stricken 1886.[2]
- Magnanime (1864) - stricken 1882.[2]
- Surveillante (1864) - stricken 1890.[2]
- Valeureuse (1864) - stricken 1886.[2]
- Gauloise (1865) - stricken 1883.[2]
- Guyenne (1865) - stricken 1882.[2]
- Revanche (1865) - BU (broken up) 1893.[2]
Stationnaire broadside ironclads
Central battery ships with barbettes
- Richelieu (1873) 8,984 tons - sold 1901, sank in the Bay of Biscay after sale.[2]
- Redoutable (1876) 9,224 tons, first warship in the world to use steel as the principal building material - stricken 1910.[2]
Stationnaire central battery ships with barbettes
Barbette ships
- Amiral Duperré (1879) 11,030 tons. Though this ship was designed for sail as well as steam power, her sails were removed before completion.[1] - stricken 1909.[2]
- Hoche (1886) 10,820 tons, turrets & barbettes - target 1913.[2]
- Charles Martel class 10,600-10,650 tons, slightly enlarged Marceaus.[5]
- Charles Martel (-) laid down 1883, construction suspended 1886.[1][6]
- Brennus (-) laid down 1884, construction suspended 1886.[1][6]
Stationnaire barbette ships
- Bayard class 5,915-6,260 tons.[2] Smaller versions of Amiral Dupperré, with full sail power.[1]
- Bayard (1880) - hulked 1899.[2]
- Turenne (1879) - stricken 1901.[2]
- Vauban class 6,112 tons. Improved Bayards.[2]
- Duguesclin (1883) - stricken 1904.[2]
- Vauban (1882) - stricken 1905.[2]
Turret ships
- Brennus (1891) 11,190 tons, the first large ship with Belleville boilers,[4] - BU 1922.[2]
- Iéna (1898) 11,860 tons - sank after explosion 1907.[2]
- Danton class ("semi-Dreadnoughts") 18,318 tons normal, 19,763 tons full load.[7]
Experimental turret ships
Dreadnoughts
- Courbet class 22,189 tons normal, 25,000-26,000 tons full load.[7]
- Jean Bart (1911) - renamed Océan 1936, disarmed for use as a training ship 1938, used for explosives trials by the Germans and sank 1944,[8] sold for BU 1945,[7] broken up (BU) 1946-47.
- Courbet (1911) - training ship 1939, taken over by Royal Navy 3 July 1940, transferred to Free French and used as AA guardship, scuttled on 9 June 1944 as part of a Mulberry harbour during the Normandy landings.[7][8]
- Paris (1912) - training ship 1939, taken over by Royal Navy 3 July 1940, transferred to Free French and used as accommodation ship, towed to Brest August 1944, used as a pontoon from 1950, sold for BU December 1955,[7][8] BU 1956
- France (1912) - wrecked 1922.[7]
- Bretagne class 25,000 full load.[7]
- Provence (1913) - sunk at Mers-el-Kébir 3 July 1940, refloated, and repaired at Toulon, scuttled November 1942, refloated 1943, scuttled 1944, refloated and BU 1949.[7][8]
- Bretagne (1913) - sunk at Mers-el-Kébir 3 July 1940, salvaged 1952 and BU.[7][8]
- Lorraine (1913) - interned by the British at Alexandria June 1940 - May 1943, then used by Free French, used as training ship 1945-1953, stricken February 1953, BU 1954.[7][8]
- Normandie class 25,230 full load (all except Béarn were cancelled and scrapped after launching).[7]
- Gascogne (1914) - BU 1923-24.[7]
- Normandie (1914) - BU 1924-25.[7]
- Flandre (1914) - BU 1924.[7]
- Languedoc (1916) - BU 1929.[7]
- Béarn (1920) converted to aircraft carrier 1923-27 - BU 1967.[7]
- Lyon class 29,000 tons full load, planned under 1912 programme, it was intended to place orders with builders in January–April 1915.[7]
- Duquesne (-) not started.[7]
- Lille (-) not started.[7]
- Lyon (-) not started.[7]
- Tourville (-) not started.[7]
Fast battleships
- Dunkerque class 26,500 tons standard, 30,750-31,400 tons normal, 35,500 tons deep load.[8]
- Dunkerque (1935) - damaged at Mers-el-Kébir 1940, underwent temporary repairs enabling her to returned to Toulon in February 1942, scuttled November 1942, refloated 1945, sold for BU 1958.[8]
- Strasbourg (1936) - scuttled November 1942, refloated 1943, sunk 1944, refloated 1945, used as experimental hulk, sold for BU 1955.[8]
- Richelieu class 35,000 tons standard, 43,293-46,500 tons standard, 47,548-49,850 tons deep load.[8]
- Richelieu (1939) - BU 1964.[8]
- Jean Bart (1940) - BU 1970.[8]
- Clemenceau (1943) - launched incomplete 1943, hull sunk by bombing 27 August 1944.[8]
- Gascogne never laid down - cancelled.[8]
- Alsace class (not begun)
- Alsace (-)
- Normandie (-)
- Flandre (-)
- Bourgogne (-)
Coastal service ships
Broadside ironclad coastal service ships
- Palestro class floating batteries 1,508-1,539 tons.[2]
- Paixhans (1862) - stricken 1871.[2]
- Palestro (1862) - stricken 1871.[2]
- Peiho (1862) - stricken 1871.[2]
- Saïgon (1862) - stricken 1871.[2]
- Arrogante class floating batteries 1,412-1.490 tons.[2]
- Arrogante (1864) - stricken 1881.[2]
- Implacable (1864) - stricken 1884.[2]
- Opiniâtre (1864) - stricken 1885.[2]
- Embuscade class floating batteries 1,426-1,589 tons.[2]
- Embuscade (1865) - stricken 1885.[2]
- Imprenable (1867) - stricken 1882.[2]
- Protectrice (1867) - stricken 1889.[2]
- Refuge (1866) - stricken 1884.[2]
- Rochambeau (1865) ex-USS Dunderberg 7,800 tons, purchased 1867 - stricken 1872.[2]
Barbette and turret coastal service ships
- Taureau (1865) barbette ship ram 2,433 tons - stricken 1890.[2]
- Onondaga (1863) ex-USS Onondaga 2,551 tons, purchased 1867 - stricken 1904.[2]
- Cerbère class turret rams 3,532 tons.[2]
- Bélier (1870) - stricken 1896.[2]
- Bouledogue (1872) - stricken 1897.[2]
- Cerbère (1868) - stricken 1887.[2]
- Tigre (1871) - stricken 1892.[2]
- Tonnerre class turret ships 5,765-5,871 tons.[2]
- Tonnerre (1875) - stricken 1905.[2]
- Fulminant (1877) - stricken 1908.[2]
- Tempête class turret ships 4.635-4,793 tons.[2]
- Tempête (1876) - stricken 1907.[2]
- Vengeur (1878) - stricken 1905.[2]
- Tonnant (1880) barbette ship 5,010 tons. Originally intended to be similar to Tempête, but redesigned as a small battleship with increased freeboard and a gun at each end in barbettes.[1] - stricken 1903.[2]
- Furieux (1883) barbette ship 5,925 tons. Similar to Tonnant for the same reasons.[1] - stricken 1913.[2]
- Terrible class barbette ships 7,530 tons.[2] Small battleships based on the Amiral Baudin, and intended for operating in the Baltic in case of war with Germany.[1] The British sometimes considered these to be sea-going battleships,[9] and sometimes coastal service warships.[3]
- Caïman (1885) - BU 1927.[2]
- Indomptable (1883) - BU 1927.[2]
- Requin (1885) - stricken 1920.[2]
- Terrible (1887) - stricken 1911.[2]
- Jemmapes class turret ships 6,476 tons.[2]
- Jemmapes (1892) - hulked 1911.[2]
- 'Valmy (1892) - stricken 1911.[2]
- Bouvines class turret ships 6,681 tons.[2]
- Amiral-Tréhouart (1893) - stricken 1922.[2]
- Bouvines (1892) - stricken 1920.[2]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ropp, Theodore, The Development of a Modern Navy, French Naval Policy 1871-1904, pub US Naval Institute, 1987, ISBN 0-87021-141-2
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw Chesnau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-83170-302-4
- ^ a b Brassey, Lord, The Naval Annual 1890, pub Griffin, 1890.
- ^ a b Hovgaard, William, Modern History of Warships, originally published 1920, pub Conway, 1978, ISBN 0-85177-040-1
- ^ Brassey, Lord, The Naval Annual 1886, pub Griffin, 1886.
- ^ a b Page 86, Brassey, Lord, The Naval Annual 1886,
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Gardiner, Robert (ed), Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921, pub Conways, 1985, ISBN 0-85177-245-5
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gardiner, Robert (ed), Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, pub Conways, 1980, ISBN 0-84177-146-7
- ^ Brassey, Lord, The Naval Annual 1887, pub Griffin, 1887.
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