D'Assas-class cruiser
 D'Assas; note her yards tilted in opposite directions, a sign of mourning
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | D'Assas class |
| Builders |
|
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Preceded by | Descartes class |
| Succeeded by | Catinat class |
| Built | 1894–1898 |
| In service | 1898–1924 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Retired | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 3,944.6 to 3,957.1 t (3,882.3 to 3,894.6 long tons; 4,348.2 to 4,362.0 short tons) |
| Length | 99.65 m (326 ft 11 in) loa |
| Beam | 13.68 m (44 ft 11 in) |
| Draft | 5.8 m (19 ft) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 370–392 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
The D'Assas class comprised three protected cruisers of the French Navy built in the early 1890s; the ships were D'Assas, Cassard, and Du Chayla. They were ordered as part of a naval construction program directed at France's rivals, Italy and Germany, particularly after Italy made progress in modernizing its own fleet. The plan was also intended to remedy a deficiency in cruisers that had been revealed during training exercises in the 1880s. As such, the D'Assas-class cruisers were intended to operate as fleet scouts and in the French colonial empire. The ships were armed with a main battery of six 164 mm (6.5 in) guns supported by four 100 mm (3.9 in) guns and they had a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). A fourth ship, designated "G3" in the 1894 budget, was authorized but was canceled the following year.
All three ships began service in the
Background
In the late 1880s, the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) accelerated construction of ships for its fleet and reorganized the most modern ironclad battleships—the Duilio and Italia classes—into a fast squadron suitable for offensive operations. These developments provoked a strong response in the French press. The Budget Committee in the French Chamber of Deputies began to press for a "two-power standard" in 1888, which would see the French fleet enlarged to equal the combined Italian and German fleets, then France's two main rivals on the continent. This initially came to nothing, as the supporters of the Jeune École doctrine called for a fleet largely based on squadrons of torpedo boats to defend the French coasts rather than an expensive fleet of ironclads. This view had significant support in the Chamber of Deputies.[2]
The next year, a war scare with Italy led to further outcry to strengthen the fleet. To compound matters, the visit of a German squadron of four ironclads to Italy confirmed French concerns of a combined Italo-German fleet that would dramatically outnumber their own. Training exercises held in France that year demonstrated that the slower French fleet would be unable to prevent the faster Italian squadron from bombarding the French coast at will, in part because it lacked enough cruisers (and doctrine to use them) to scout for the enemy ships.[3]
To correct the weaknesses of the French fleet, on 22 November 1890, the Superior Council authorized a new construction program directed not at simple parity with the Italian and German fleets, but numerical superiority. In addition to twenty-four new battleships, a total of seventy cruisers were to be built for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire. The D'Assas class were ordered to as part of the program, and were very similar to the earlier Friant-class cruisers.[3][4]
Design
The design for the D'Assas class was prepared by
General characteristics and machinery
The D'Assas-class cruisers were 99.25 m (325 ft 7 in)
The ships'
The ships' propulsion system consisted of a pair of 4-cylinder vertical
Armament and armor
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The ships were armed with a main battery of six
For close-range defense against torpedo boats, they carried ten
Armor protection consisted of a curved armor
Modifications
The ships underwent a series of changes to their armament over the course of their careers. In 1898, around the time Cassard and Du Chayla were placed in full commission, the light armament was revised to six 47 mm guns, and a third 37 mm QF gun was added and by 1902, the Hotchkiss revolvers were removed from both vessels. For D'Assas, another three 37 mm guns had been added in 1901, but she retained her revolver cannon until 1906. That year, Cassard lost her torpedo tubes, and Du Chayla had hers removed in 1908.[1]
Cassard and Du Chayla both lost much of their weaponry during World War I so the guns could be used in other vessels or ashore by the French Army. By 1917, Cassard's armament had been reduced to just two of her 164.7 mm guns. The following year, she had four 90 mm (3.5 in) M1877 guns added. Also in 1918, Du Chayla had her armament reduced to two 164.7 mm guns, four 75 mm (3 in) M1897 guns in her sponsons, and four 47 mm guns. In 1919, two of Du Chayla's 47 mm guns were transferred to Cassard. Cassard was rearmed a final time after the war in 1921, by which time she was serving as a gunnery training ships. For that purpose, she was fitted with a variety of guns, including one 164.7 mm gun aft, one 138.6 mm (5.46 in) gun in the bow position, two 90 mm guns in the forward pair of sponsons, two 75 mm guns in the aft sponsons, and two 47 mm guns.[1]
Construction
| Name | Ordered[10] | Laid down[10] | Launched[10] | Commissioned[10] | Shipyard[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D'Assas | 15 November 1893 | 1 April 1894 | 28 March 1896 | 24 March 1897 | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire |
| Cassard | 17 October 1893 | 22 October 1894 | 27 May 1896 | 21 June 1897 | Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg
|
| Du Chayla | 18 March 1894 | 23 March 1894 | 10 November 1895 | 15 July 1897 | Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg |
| G3 | Included in the 1894 budget but not ordered, ultimately deferred indefinitely | ||||
Service history
D'Assas and Cassard initially served with the
In August 1907, Du Chayla supported an
At the start of World War I in August 1914, Cassard initially operated out of Morocco, patrolling for German U-boats.[21] Du Chayla was also assigned to patrol duty in the Atlantic, but she, too, saw no action.[20] In September, Cassard bombarded local villages in Morocco to suppress challenges to French colonial rule.[21][22] The ship was later transferred to the western Mediterranean and Red Seas, along with a deployment to the Indian Ocean in 1917. By 1918, Du Chayla had been partially disarmed to supply weapons to the French Army. She took part in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in 1919 but was recalled to France in 1920, where she was struck from the naval register in 1921 and sold to ship breakers. In the meantime, Cassard was partially disarmed after World War I and was converted into a gunnery training ship, though she was struck from the register in 1924 and sold for scrap.[23]
Footnotes
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Roberts, p. 244.
- ^ Ropp, p. 195.
- ^ a b Ropp, pp. 195–197.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Campbell, p. 311.
- ^ a b c d Roberts, p. 243.
- ^ Glennon, p. 835.
- ^ France, p. 32.
- ^ Friedman, p. 221.
- ^ Friedman, p. 225.
- ^ a b c d Roberts, pp. 244–245.
- ^ Brassey, p. 71.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse 2017, p. 218.
- ^ Leyland 1899, pp. 210–212.
- ^ Leyland 1902, pp. 119–125.
- ^ Garbett 1904, pp. 708–709.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse 2019, pp. 132–133.
- ^ Alger, p. 705.
- ^ Garbett 1908, p. 257.
- ^ Burgoyne, p. 58.
- ^ a b Smigielski, p. 193.
- ^ a b Jordan & Caresse 2019, pp. 219, 227.
- ^ Corbett, p. 276.
- ^ Smigielski, pp. 193–194.
References
- Alger, Philip R. (1905). "Professional Notes". Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute. XXXI: 701–751. ISSN 0041-798X.
- OCLC 496786828.
- Burgoyne, Alan H. (ed.). "The Dual Alliance: The French Navy". The Navy League Annual, 1908–1909. London: The Navy League: 51–59. OCLC 861240927.
- Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 283–333. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
- OCLC 174823980.
- "France". Notes on the Year's Naval Progress. XV. Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Naval Intelligence: 27–41. July 1896. OCLC 727366607.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Garbett, H., ed. (June 1904). "Naval Notes: France". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. XLVIII (316). London: J. J. Keliher & Co.: 707–711. OCLC 1077860366.
- Garbett, H., ed. (February 1908). "Naval Notes: France". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. LII (360). London: J. J. Keliher & Co.: 257–260. OCLC 1077860366.
- Glennon, J. H., ed. (1894). "The Decennial Programme for Naval Construction in France". Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute. XX (4). Annapolis: Naval Institute Press: 832–838.
- Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2017). French Battleships of World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-639-1.
- Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9.
- Leyland, John (1899). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter IX: Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 210–218. OCLC 496786828.
- Leyland, John (1902). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter VI: Foreign Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 119–129. OCLC 496786828.
- Roberts, Stephen (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.
- Smigielski, Adam (1985). "France". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 190–220. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.