| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | André Masséna |
| Laid down: | September 1892 |
| Launched: | July 1895 |
| Commissioned: | June 1898 |
| Fate: | Scuttled 10 November 1915 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Pre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement: | 12,000 tonnes |
| Length: | 110 metres |
| Beam: | 22 metres |
| Draft: | 8.84 metres |
| Propulsion: | 3 propellers |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Armament: |
2 × 305 mm/40 (12", 2×1) Modèle 1893 guns |
| Armour: | Belt: 450 mm (17 3/4") |
Masséna was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy, launched in July 1895 at Ch. de la Loire. She was named in honour of Marshal of France André Masséna. Lucien Lacaze was her captain.
She was an advanced version of the Charles Martel, progenitor of a class of four roughly similar ships (Jauréguiberry and Bouvet were the other members of the pseudo-class), but she was not considered very successful as she was 900 tons overweight.
She was hulked at Toulon in 1915, later being towed to Turkey where on 10 November 1915 she was scuttled at Sedd-el-Bahr, at the end of the Gallipoli Peninsula, to create a breakwater for the French landing force there.
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The Charles Martel group of battleships all shared the same layout for their main and secondary armament—a design that minimised the cramped upper decks produced by the pronounced tumblehome favoured by French designers, and capitalised on the bulging sides of the vessels. The bow and stern turrets had only a single gun and were placed uncomfortably close to the extremities of the ship in Masséna because she was 4 metres (13 ft) to 7 metres (23 ft) shorter than the other ships in the group. The single turrets of the secondary armament were mounted on the ship's beam, while the 138-millimetre (5.4 in) guns were mounted in eight single turrets sited symmetrically behind and outboard of the main gun turrets.[1]
Masséna was 110 metres (360 ft 11 in) long overall. She had a maximum beam of 22 metres (72 ft 2 in) and a draught of 8.84 metres (29 ft 0 in). She displaced 11,924 tonnes (11,736 long tons) at normal load and 12,007 tonnes (11,820 long tons) at full load.[2]
Masséna had three vertical triple expansion steam engines. On trials they developed 14,200 indicated horsepower (10,589 kW) and drove the ship to a maximum speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph). Twenty-four Belleville water-tube boilers provided steam for the engines at a pressure of 15 kg/cm2 (1,471 kPa; 213 psi). She normally carried 750 tonnes (738 long tons) of coal, but could carry a maximum of 980 tonnes (965 long tons). This gave her a radius of action of 3,520 nautical miles (6,520 km; 4,050 mi).[2]
Masséna's main armament consisted of two 305-millimetre (12.0 in) 45-calibre Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893 guns in two single-gun turrets, one each fore and aft. Each turret had an arc of fire of 250°.[3] The guns could probably be depressed to −5° and elevated to 15°. They fired 340-kilogram (750 lb) projectiles at the rate of 1 round per minute at a muzzle velocity of 780 metres per second (2,600 ft/s) which gave a range of 12,000 m (13,000 yd) at maximum elevation.[4]
Her secondary armament consisted of two Canon de 274 mm Modèle 1893 guns in two single-gun turrets, one amidships on each side, sponsoned out over the tumblehome of the ship's sides. Eight 45-calibre 138 mm Canon de 138.6 mm Modèle 1891 guns were mounted in manually operated twin turrets at the corners of the superstructure with 160° arcs of fire.[3] The guns could depress to -10° and elevate to +25°. They fired 36.5-kilogram (80 lb) armour-piercing shells at a muzzle velocity of 725 metres per second (2,380 ft/s) which gave a range of 15,000 m (16,000 yd) at maximum elevation. Their rate of fire was about 4 rounds per minute.[5]
In 1900, four engineering officers were disassembling a pipe to repair it. However, they disassembled it too quickly, and were severely scalded by escaping steam.[6]
Masséna participated in the Gallipoli invasion along with other French pre-dreadnoughts during the First World War. She was beached at Cape Helles by her crew after hitting mines and was hulked.[7] Along with the old French cargo-liner Saghalien sunk nearby, she formed a breakwater for evacuating Allied troops in January 1916.[8]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:French_battleship_Mass%C3%A9na French battleship Masséna] at Wikimedia Commons
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