Dupleix-class cruiser
 Kléber at anchor at the Jamestown Exposition, June 1907
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dupleix class |
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Preceded by | Template:Sclass- |
| Succeeded by | Template:Sclass- |
| Built | 1897–1904 |
| In commission | 1904–1921 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Armored cruiser |
| Displacement | 7,600 t (7,480 long tons) |
| Length | 132.1 m (433 ft 5 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 17.8 m (58 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 7.46 m (24 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 3 shafts, 3 triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 6,450 nmi (11,950 km; 7,420 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| 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 and armed with four 164-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the three sister ships were smaller and less powerfully armed than their predecessors. They alternated service in home waters and overseas before the start of World War I in 1914.
Background
French cruiser policy during the decade from the mid-1880s was incoherent as three different factions of the navy fought amongst themselves in four forums, the Navy Ministry (Ministre de la Marine), the Budgetary Committee of the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des députés), the Superior Naval Council (Conseil supérieur de la Marine) that proposed shipbuilding programs and ship characteristics to the Navy Minister and the Conseil des travaux that was responsible for evaluating ship designs. The partisans of the Jeune École (Young School) wanted fast, lightly armed ships for commerce raiding, the traditionalists who wanted cruisers to defend the colonies and the modernists who believed in armored cruisers and small scout cruisers to operate with the battle fleet.[1]
A traditionalist Navy Minister, Vice Admiral (Vice admiral) Armand Besnard, succeeded the liberal politican Édouard Lockroy in April 1896, after the latter had authorized construction of the very large armored cruiser Jeanne d'Arc in the 1896 budget proposal, despite opposition from the Conseil des travaux. After rejecting a repeat 8,000-metric-ton (7,874-long-ton) protected cruiser like D'Entrecasteaux in the 1896 budget, Lockroy and his allies in the Budget Committee were willing to accept smaller cruisers in the following year's budget. The Conseil des travaux rejected Besnard's proposal for a 5,700-metric-ton (5,610-long-ton) protected cruiser in late 1896,[2] saying that the navy "needed ships that can deal out and withstand punishment",[3] but Besnard authorized construction of Jurien de la Gravière a few weeks later in the 1897 budget proposal anyway.[2]
In the meantime, the Superior Naval Council had produced a new naval program that included an additional three each armored and protected cruisers for overseas service and five armored cruisers for service with the battle fleet. For the 1898 budget, Besnard proposed one battleship, two armored cruisers and two protected cruisers, but Lockroy and his allies, probably influenced by the ideas of Vice Admiral François Ernest Fournier, who believed that most cruiser tasks, including commerce raiding, would be better performed by armored cruisers smaller than Jeanne d'Arc, deleted the battleship and offered him 120 million francs for armored cruisers. Besnard initially proposed adding an enlarged version of Jeanne d'Arc, but this was rejected by the Conseil des travaux in early 1897. He countered with a revised program of three armored cruisers for overseas duties, which became the Dupleix class, and three Template:Sclass- armored cruisers for the fleet. This satisfied the Superior Naval Council's objectives and all three factions as Fourier's ideas showed that armored cruisers could accomplish the Jeune École's preferred strategy of commerce raiding. It also neatly consumed the Budget Committee's 120 million francs as each of the Dupleixs cost about 19 million francs and the Gueydons 21 million francs.[4]
Preliminary design work in December 1896 was for a 7,300-metric-ton (7,185-long-ton) ship armed with ten 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, two in single-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure and the remaining eight in casemates, protected by a 70-millimeter (2.8 in) waterline armor belt. The Conseil de travaux thought that the belt protection was too weak and that it needed more endurance. The naval architect Louis-Émile Bertin, recently appointed as the Director of Naval Construction (Directeur centrale des constructions navales), agreed and revised the design, sacrificing one pair of guns for more armor and additional coal, which increased its displacement. The Conseil accepted his revised design on 4 May 1897, although complaining about the deleted guns.[5]
Dupleix was ordered from one of the naval dockyards on 18 December and orders for the other two followed on 28 December. Six months later, the Conseil proposed revising the armament, exchanging the single-gun turrets and the casemated guns for four twin-gun turrets, two replacing the turrets on the centerline and two wing turrets, one on each broadside, and adding four 100-millimeter (3.9 in) guns in casemates. By this time, preliminary work had already begun on Dupleix and Lockroy, recently returned to office, suggested suspending work on the ships while studies were done. Bertin opposed the changes, but produced drawings by early March 1899, despite the work load on his designers who were focused on other projects, and they were approved by the Minister on 6 April. The changes greatly retarded the progress on the two ships ordered from private dockyards, which had already been laid down in early 1899.[6]
Design and description
The Dupleix-class ships were much smaller and more lightly armed than Jeanne d'Arc. They measured 132.1 meters (433 ft 5 in) long overall[7] 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 (7,578 long tons) as designed. To reduce biofouling, their hulls were sheathed in teak. The ships normally had a crew of 19 officers and 550 enlisted men, but accommodated 24 officers and 583 enlisted men when serving as flagships.[8]
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 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).[9]
Armament
The ships of the Dupleix class had a main armament that consisted of eight quick-firing (QF) 45-caliber Canon de 164 mm 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.[10] The guns fired 54.9-kilogram (121 lb) shells at muzzle velocities ranging from 865 meters 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.[11]
The cruisers' secondary armament consisted of four 45-caliber QF Canon de 100 mm Modèle de 1893 guns on single mount in unprotected casemates in the hull. Their 16-kilogram (35 lb) shells were fired at muzzle velocities of 710 meters 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, all of which were on single mounts.[12] The ship were also equipped with two above-water 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside.[7]
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[13] and covered the entire length of the ship except for 18.9 meters (62 ft)[10] 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.[14]
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) Harvey face-hardened armor plates, although their roofs were only 20 millimeters (0.79 in) thick. The armor plates of the gun barbettes was 120 millimeters (4.7 in) thick. The sides of the elliptical conning tower were 100 to 120 millimeters thick.[15]
Ships
| Name | Builder[16] | Laid down[16] | Launched[16] | Commissioned[16] | Fate[17] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 77; Ropp, p. 284
- ^ a b Ropp, p. 286
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 77
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 77–78; Ropp, pp. 286, 288
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 79–80
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 81–82
- ^ a b Silverstone, p. 79
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 82, 91
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 82, 94
- ^ a b Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 305
- ^ Friedman, p. 223; Jordan & Caresse, pp. 85, 87, 89
- ^ Friedman, pp. 226–227; Jordan & Caresse, pp. 82, 89–90
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 91
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 91–92
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 92
- ^ a b c d Jordan & Caresse, p. 81
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp.
Bibliography
- 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.