French battleship Charles Martel
A postcard of Charles Martel underway before 1914
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Class overview | |
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Preceded by | Brennus |
Succeeded by | Carnot |
History | |
France | |
Name | Charles Martel |
Namesake | Charles Martel |
Ordered | 10 September 1890 |
Builder | Arsenal de Brest |
Laid down | 1 August 1891 |
Launched | 29 August 1893 |
Commissioned | 20 February 1897 |
Decommissioned | 1 April 1914 |
Reclassified | As a barracks ship, 1 April 1914 |
Stricken | 30 October 1919 |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 20 December 1920 |
General characteristics (as completed) | |
Type | Pre-dreadnought battleship |
Displacement | |
Length | 121.59 m (398 ft 11 in) ( o/a ) |
Beam | 21.71 m (71 ft 3 in) |
Draft | 8.4 m (27 ft 7 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Range | 2,218 nmi (4,108 km; 2,552 mi) at 13.81 knots (25.58 km/h; 15.89 mph) |
Complement | 651; 751 as a flagship |
Armament |
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Armor |
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Charles Martel was a
Charles Martel spent her active career in the
Design
In 1889, the British
The basic design for the ships was based on the previous battleship
An earlier vessel, also named
The new Charles Martel and her half-sisters were disappointments in service; they generally suffered from stability problems, and Louis-Émile Bertin, the Director of Naval Construction in the late 1890s, referred to the ships as chavirables (prone to capsizing). All five of the vessels compared poorly to their British counterparts, particularly their contemporaries of the Majestic class. The ships suffered from a lack of uniformity of equipment, which made them hard to maintain in service, and their mixed gun batteries comprising several calibers made gunnery in combat conditions difficult, since shell splashes were hard to differentiate. Many of the problems that plagued the ships in service, particularly their stability and seakeeping, were a result of the limitation on their displacement.[6]
General characteristics and machinery
Charles Martel was 115.49 meters (378 ft 11 in)
Charles Martel had two vertical, three-cylinder
Armament
Charles Martel's main armament consisted of two 45-
The ship's intermediate armament consisted of a pair of 45-caliber
Her secondary armament consisted of eight 45-caliber Canon de 138 mm (5.4 in) Modèle 1888-91 guns which were mounted in single-gun turrets at the corners of the superstructure. The turrets had an elevation range of from -5° to +15°. The guns could fire their 35 kg (77 lb) shells at a rate of fire of four rounds per minute. They had a muzzle velocity of 730 m/s (2,400 ft/s) and a range of 9,400 m (10,300 yd).[12][15]
Defense against torpedo boats was provided by six
Her armament suite was rounded out by four 450 mm (17.7 in)
Armor
Charles Martel's armor weighed 4,569 t (4,497 long tons), 38.5% of the ship's displacement, and was constructed from a mix of
The faces and sides of the main and intermediate turrets were protected by armor plates 370 mm (14.6 in) in thickness and they had 70 mm (2.8 in) roofs. Their barbettes had 320 mm (13 in) of nickel-steel armor. The secondary turrets had 100 mm sides and 20 mm (0.8 in) roofs. The conning tower had walls 230 mm (9.1 in) thick and its communications tube was protected by 200 mm (7.9 in) of armor. The curved armored deck was 70 mm on the flat and 100 mm on its slope.[20]
Service history
Active career
Charles Martel was laid down on 1 August 1891 by the
During a gunnery exercise on 29 March 1898,[24] Charles Martel, together with her half-sisters Carnot, Jauréguiberry, and the older battleships Brennus and Marceau, sank the aviso Pétrel. Faure came aboard Charles Martel to observe a training exercise on 14–16 April and the ship visited Corsica between 21 and 31 May. She participated in the annual fleet maneuvers beginning on 8 July and made port visits in French North Africa before returning to Toulon on 30 July. The ship was assigned to the 2e Division cuirassée (Second Battleship Division) of the Escadre de la Méditerranée in mid-September and Contre-amiral Germain Roustan hoisted his flag aboard, replacing Dieulouard, on 25 September. As tensions rose during the Fashoda Incident with Great Britain, the fleet mobilized on 18 October and sortied to Les Salins d'Hyères. It stood down on 5 November and Charles Martel was docked for maintenance from 11 to 24 November.[25]
In February and March 1899, the squadron visited French Mediterranean ports and
The year 1901 passed uneventfully for Charles Martel, except for the fleet maneuvers conducted that year.
Reserve fleet
On 10 May Marquis was transferred to a new job
In September 1909 the battleship became the flagship of the Inspector of Flotillas and one of her propellers was damaged by an errant torpedo while the inspector was observing firing exercises by torpedo boats.[39] The following month the Marine nationale was reorganized with the Escadre de la Méditerranée redesignated as the 1re Escadre and the Escadre du Nord as the 2e Escadre, since by then the six République and Liberté-class battleships had entered service. The new ships allowed for the creation of a new 2e Escadre de ligne (Second Battle Squadron) within the 1re Escadre,[40] Charles Martel became the replacement ship for the 2e Escadre on 5 October and departed for Cherbourg on 5 November, sustaining some storm damage en route. After her arrival on the 13th, she welcomed King Manuel II of Portugal to France and then escorted the British royal yacht Victoria and Albert, with King Edward VII aboard, back to Britain. The ship was assigned to 2e Division de ligne of the 2e Escadre du ligne on 16 October 1910. Contre-amiral Achille Adam hoisted his flag aboard the ship on 21 July 1911.[39] When the Danton-class battleships began entering service in that year, the fleet was reorganized again, with Charles Martel and the other older ships being transferred to the new 3e Escadre de ligne on 5 October, which was based in Brest, and Adam becoming commander of its 2e Division de ligne.[28]
The ship's hydraulic reloading machinery for the main and intermediate turrets was replaced by manual-loading gear in August 1911, which generally rendered her combat ineffective. She was present for another naval review off Toulon on 4 September. Adam hauled his flag down on 25 February 1912 and Charles Martel was reduced to reserve status on 1 March. She was reduced to special reserve on 1 July and was transferred to
After the beginning of World War I in August, the ship hosted the headquarters controlling German
Footnotes
- ^ a b Jordan & Caresse, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Ropp, p. 223.
- ^ Ropp, p. 222.
- ^ Brassey 1889, p. 65.
- ^ Campbell, p. 283.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 32, 38–40.
- ^ a b c Caresse, p. 136.
- ^ a b Campbell, p. 293.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 25–26, 28.
- ^ Cooper, p. 802.
- ^ Caresse, pp. 137–139, 142.
- ^ a b c Caresse, p. 137.
- ^ Friedman, p. 210.
- ^ Friedman, p. 216.
- ^ Friedman, p. 224.
- ^ Caresse, pp. 137, 141.
- ^ Friedman, pp. 227–229.
- ^ Caresse, pp. 137–138.
- ^ a b Jordan & Caresse, p. 26.
- ^ Caresse, pp. 136–137.
- ^ Caresse, pp. 141–143.
- ^ Brassey 1898, p. 26.
- ^ Caresse, p. 142.
- ^ a b Caresse, p. 143.
- ^ Caresse, pp. 143–145.
- ^ Caresse, p. 144.
- ^ a b Jordan & Caresse, pp. 217–219.
- ^ a b c Caresse, p. 145.
- ^ Caresse, pp. 145–146.
- ^ "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36764. London. 10 May 1902. p. 8.
- ^ Brassey 1903, pp. 57, 59.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 223.
- ^ a b Caresse, p. 147.
- ^ Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, p. 474.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 223–224.
- ^ Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, p. 88.
- ^ Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, p. 729.
- ^ Palmer, p. 171.
- ^ a b c d Caresse, p. 148.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 232.
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 239.
- ^ Caresse, pp. 148, 151.
References
- OCLC 496786828.
- Brassey, Thomas A., ed. (1898). The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co. OCLC 496786828.
- Brassey, Thomas A., ed. (1903). The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co. 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.
- Caresse, Philippe (2020). "The Fleet Battleship Charles Martel". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2020. Oxford: Osprey. pp. 135–151. ISBN 978-1-4728-4071-4.
- Cooper, George F., ed. (1898). "French Battleship "Charles Martel"". Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute. XXIV (4): 802–803. ISSN 0041-798X.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2017). French Battleships of World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-639-1.
- "Naval Notes". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. LI. London: J. J. Keliher & Co. Ltd. 1907. OCLC 1077860366.
- Palmer, W., ed. (1908). "France". Hazell's Annual Cyclopedia. London: Hazell, Watson & Viney. OCLC 852774696.
- Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.