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Dupleix-class cruiser

Coordinates: 48°17′13″N 4°50′50″W / 48.28694°N 4.84722°W / 48.28694; -4.84722
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Kléber at anchor at the Jamestown Exposition, June 1907
Class overview
NameDupleix class
Operators French Navy
Preceded byTemplate:Sclass-
Succeeded byTemplate:Sclass-
Built1897–1904
In commission1904–1921
Completed3
Lost1
Scrapped2
General characteristics
TypeArmored cruiser
Displacement7,600 t (7,480 long tons)
Length132.1 m (433 ft 5 in) (o/a)
Beam17.8 m (58 ft 5 in)
Draft7.46 m (24 ft 6 in)
Installed power
Propulsion3 shafts, 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range6,450 nmi (11,950 km; 7,420 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement
  • 19 officers and 550 crewmen
  • 24 officers and 583 men as flagship
Armament
Armor

The Dupleix-class cruisers were a group of three armoured cruisers built for the French Navy (Marine Navale) at the beginning of the 20th century. Designed for overseas service, the three sister ships spent significant amounts of time in home waters before the start of World War I in 1914.

Design and description

Designed by the naval architect Emile Bertin, the Dupleix-class ships measured 132.1 meters (433 ft 5 in) long overall[1] with a beam of 17.8 meters (58 ft 5 in) and had a maximum draft (ship) of 7.46 meters (24 ft 6 in). The cruisers displaced 7,700 metric tons (7,600 long tons) as designed. They normally had a crew of 19 officers and 550 enlisted men, but accommodated 24 officers and 583 enlisted men when serving as a flagship.[2]

The ships' propulsion machinery consisted of three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft, using steam provided by water-tube boilers, but the types of machinery differed between them. The first two ships, Dupleix and Desaix, had four-cylinder engines fed by 24 Belleville boilers with a working of pressure of 20 kg/cm2 (1,961 kPa; 284 psi) while the last ship, Kléber, had three-cylinder engines that used 20 Niclausse boilers at 18 kg/cm2 (1,765 kPa; 256 psi). The engines of all three ships were designed to produce a total of 17,100 metric horsepower (12,600 kW) that was intended to give them a maximum speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). Despite exceeding their horsepower rating, only Kléber met or exceeded her designed speed during their sea trials, the ships attaining 20.6–21.5 knots (38.2–39.8 km/h; 23.7–24.7 mph) from 17,177–17,870 metric horsepower (12,634–13,143 kW). The sisters carried up to 1,200 metric tons (1,200 long tons; 1,300 short tons) of coal and could steam for 6,450 nautical miles (11,950 km; 7,420 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[3]

Armament

The ships of the Dupleix class had a main armament that consisted of eight quick-firing (QF) 45-caliber Canon de 164 mm (6.5 in) Modèle 1893–96 guns. They were mounted in four twin gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and a pair of wing turrets amidships.[4] The guns fired 54.9-kilogram (121 lb) shells at muzzle velocities ranging from 865 metres per second (2,840 ft/s). This gave them a range of about 10,800 meters (11,800 yd) at the turrets' maximum elevation of +15 degrees. Each gun was provided with 200 rounds, of which 44 shells were stowed in the turrets, which it could fire at a rate of three rounds per minute.[5]

The cruisers' secondary armament consisted of four 45-caliber QF Canon de 100 mm (3.9 in) Modèle de 1893 guns in casemates in the hull. Their 16-kilogram (35 lb) shells were fired at muzzle velocities of 710 metres per second (2,300 ft/s) at a rate of six rounds per minute. At their maximum elevation of +20 degrees, the guns had a range of 9,000 meters (9,800 yd). The sisters carried 250 rounds for each gun. For defense against torpedo boats, they carried ten 47-millimeter (1.9 in) and four 37-millimeter (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns.[6] The ship were also equipped with two above-water 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes.[1]

Protection

The nickel steel armor belt of the Dupleix-class cruisers extended from 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in) below the waterline to 1.995 meters (6 ft 7 in) above it[7] and covered the entire length of the ship except for 18.9 meters (62 ft)[4] of the stern where it ended in a transverse bulkhead 84 millimeters (3.3 in) thick. The armor was 102 millimeters (4 in) thick, although it reduced to 84 mm in front of the forward turret and thinned to 38 millimeters (1.5 in) at its lower edge.[8]

The curved protective deck had a total thickness of 42 millimeters (1.7 in) on the flat and 70 millimeters (2.8 in) on the upper part of the curved portion where it met the bottom edge of the belt armor. Behind the belt armor was a watertight internal cofferdam, filled with cellulose. The face and sides of the gun turrets were protected by 110-millimeter (4.3 in) armor and the armor of their barbettes was 120 millimeters (4.7 in) thick. The 100-millimeter guns were in unprotected embrasures in the hull. The sides of the elliptical conning tower were 100 to 120 millimeters thick.[9]

Ships

Name Builder[10] Laid down[10] Launched[10] Commissioned[10] Fate[11]
Dupleix Arsenal de Rochefort 18 January 1899 28 April 1900 15 September 1903 Sold for scrap, 1922
Desaix Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes Early 1899 21 March 1901 5 April 1904 Sold for scrap, 1927
Kléber Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux 20 September 1902 4 July 1904 Sunk by a mine, 27 June 1917

References

  1. ^ a b Silverstone, p. 79
  2. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 82
  3. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 82, 94
  4. ^ a b Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 305
  5. ^ Friedman, p. 223; Jordan & Caresse, pp. 85, 87, 89
  6. ^ Friedman, pp. 226–227; Jordan & Caresse, pp. 82, 89–90
  7. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 91
  8. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 91–92
  9. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 92
  10. ^ a b c d Jordan & Caresse, p. 81
  11. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp.

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dupleix class armoured cruisers.
  • Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  • Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations: An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
  • Jordan, John; Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  • Ropp, Theodore (1987). Roberts, Stephen S. (ed.). The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871–1904. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-141-2.
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.

48°17′13″N 4°50′50″W / 48.28694°N 4.84722°W / 48.28694; -4.84722

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