Forbin-class cruiser
Coëtlogon at anchor
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Forbin class |
Operators | French Navy |
Preceded by | Suchet |
Succeeded by | Troude class |
Built | 1886–1894 |
In service | 1889–1921 |
Completed | 3 |
Retired | 3 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Protected cruiser |
Displacement | 1,857 t (1,828 long tons; 2,047 short tons) |
Length | 96.1 m (315 ft 3 in) loa |
Beam | 9.33 m (30 ft 7 in) |
Draft | 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion |
|
Sail plan | Schooner rig |
Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Range | 2,400 nmi (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 209 |
Armament |
|
Armor | Deck: 40 mm (1.6 in) |
The Forbin class was a group of three protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The class comprised Forbin, Coëtlogon, and Surcouf. They were ordered as part of a fleet program that, in accordance with the theories of the Jeune École, proposed a fleet based on cruisers and torpedo boats to defend France. The Forbin-class cruisers were intended to serve as flotilla leaders for the torpedo boats, and they were armed with a main battery of four 138 mm (5.4 in) guns.
Forbin spent most of her career in the
Design
By the late 1870s, the unprotected cruisers and avisos the French Navy had built as fleet scouts were becoming obsolescent, particularly as a result of their low speed of 12 to 14 knots (22 to 26 km/h; 14 to 16 mph), which rendered them too slow to be effective scouts. Beginning in 1879, the Conseil des Travaux (Council of Works) had requested designs for small but fast cruisers of about 2,000 long tons (2,032 t) displacement that could be used as scouts for the main battle fleet or to lead squadrons of torpedo boats. The naval engineer Louis-Émile Bertin had advocated for just such a vessel since 1875, and his design became the cruiser Milan. Bertin's design would eventually be developed into the Forbin-type of protected cruisers.[1][2]
In the early 1880s, the
The first two vessels of the 1887 budget—Forbin and Surcouf—were built in government shipyards according to de Bussy's plans, but for the third vessel, he issued the requirements prepared in February to private shipyards for competing designs. Five yards responded by 30 April 1886, and the proposal from Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde was selected; this vessel became Troude, the first member of the Troude class. By this time, an extraordinary budget was passed for 1887 that included three more small cruisers. One of these, Coëtlogon, was ordered to de Bussy's design, while the other two became Troude-class cruisers. As work on the Forbin-class ships progressed, the design was altered. The ships were intended to have five torpedo tubes, but on 23 June 1887, the fifth tube, which was to have been placed in the stern, was deleted. Forbin was completed in 1888 with the original armament, but just two main battery guns was found to be insufficient, particularly compared to foreign counterparts, and so another pair of guns was added before Forbin entered active service and the other two vessels were completed.[3]
Characteristics
The ships of the Forbin class were 95 m (311 ft 8 in)
The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal, 2-cylinder
The ships were armed with a main battery of four 138 mm (5.4 in) 30-
Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 40 mm (1.6 in) thick. The deck was
Modifications
The members of the class underwent repeated and differing refits over the course of their careers. Almost immediately after entering service, all three ships had an armored
In 1895, the navy ordered that the bow torpedo tubes be removed from all three ships, and the work was carried out the following year. At the same time, the gun shields for the 47 mm and 37 mm guns were removed. Another major refit was carried out between 1905 and 1906. The remaining sailing rigs were removed from all three ships, and the armament was revised again. Forbin retained her main battery, but her light guns were standardized to nine 47 mm guns. Surcouf was the same, though she carried just seven of the 47 guns. Both ships kept a pair of 37 mm guns for their boats. Coëtlogon, which had been decommissioned in 1905, was not updated. All three ships had their remaining torpedo tubes removed at that time.[9] At some point during their careers, Forbin and Surcouf had their boilers modified to accept mixed coal and oil fuel.[6]
In 1916, Surcouf, the sole remaining member of the class still in active service, received two 47 mm
Construction
Coëtlogon had serious problems with her propulsion system, which significantly delayed her completion. She began
Name | Shipyard[6] | Laid down[6][13] | Launched[13] | Commissioned[13] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Forbin | Rochefort
|
May 1886 | 14 January 1888 | 1 February 1889 |
Surcouf | Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg
|
4 October 1886 | 9 October 1889 | 10 October 1890 |
Coëtlogon | Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët, Saint-Nazaire | 27 May 1887 | 3 December 1888 | 20 September 1894 |
Service history
Forbin was initially placed in the
Surcouf remained in service with the Northern Squadron through 1899.
Forbin was reactivated in 1906 for service in the Northern Squadron.
Notes
- ^ Ropp, pp. 129–130.
- ^ Campbell, p. 320.
- ^ a b Roberts, p. 247.
- ^ Ropp, pp. 158–159, 172.
- ^ a b c d e f g Roberts, p. 248.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Campbell, p. 309.
- ^ Roberts, pp. 247–248.
- ^ Friedman, p. 221.
- ^ a b Roberts, pp. 248–249.
- ^ a b Smigielski, p. 193.
- ^ Dorn & Drake, p. 50.
- ^ Brassey 1895a, p. 24.
- ^ a b c Roberts, pp. 248–248.
- ^ a b c d Roberts, p. 249.
- ^ Brassey 1893, p. 70.
- ^ Barry, pp. 208–212.
- ^ Brassey 1895b, p. 50.
- ^ Weyl, p. 96.
- ^ Thursfield, pp. 140–143.
- ^ Brassey 1899, p. 71.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse 2017, p. 219.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse 2017, p. 234.
- ^ Brassey 1902, p. 51.
- ^ Garbett, p. 709.
- ^ Brassey 1908, p. 49.
- ^ Brassey 1906, p. 39.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse 2019, p. 227.
References
- Barry, E. B. (1895). "The Naval Manoeuvres of 1894". The United Service: A Monthly Review of Military and Naval Affairs. XII. Philadelphia: L. R. Hamersly & Co.: 177–213. OCLC 228667393.
- OCLC 496786828.
- Brassey, Thomas A. (1895a). "Ships Building In France". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 19–28. OCLC 496786828.
- Brassey, Thomas A. (1895b). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 49–59. OCLC 496786828.
- Brassey, Thomas A. (1899). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 70–80. OCLC 496786828.
- Brassey, Thomas A. (1902). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 47–55. OCLC 496786828.
- Brassey, Thomas A. (1906). "Chapter III: Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 38–52. OCLC 496786828.
- Brassey, Thomas A. (1908). "Chapter III: Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 48–57. OCLC 496786828.
- 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.
- Dorn, E. J. & Drake, J. C. (July 1894). "Notes on Ships and Torpedo Boats". Notes on the Year's Naval Progress. XIII. Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Naval Intelligence: 3–78. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Thursfield, J. R. (1898). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "II: French Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 138–143. OCLC 496786828.
- Weyl, E. (1896). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter IV: The French Navy". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 61–72. OCLC 496786828.