French battleship Courbet (1911)

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Courbet before 1922
History
France
NameCourbet
NamesakeAdmiral Amédée Courbet
Operator
Ordered11 August 1910
Builder
Arsenal de Lorient
CostF57,700,000
Laid down1 September 1910
Launched23 September 1911
Completed8 October 1913
Commissioned19 November 1913
Fate
Operation Neptune
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeCourbet-class battleship
Displacement
  • 23,475 t (23,104 long tons) (normal)
  • 25,579 t (25,175 long tons) (
    full load
    )
Length166 m (544 ft 7 in) (
o/a
)
Beam27 m (88 ft 7 in)
Draught9.04 m (29 ft 8 in)
Installed power
Propulsion4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Endurance4,200 nmi (7,800 km; 4,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement1,115 (1,187 as flagship)
Armament
Armour

Courbet was the

dreadnought battleships, the first ones built for the French Navy. She was completed shortly before the start of World War I in August 1914. She spent the war in the Mediterranean, where she helped to sink an Austro-Hungarian cruiser, covered the Otranto Barrage that blockaded the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, and often served as a flagship. Although upgraded several times before World War II, she was not considered to be a first-line battleship by the 1930s and spent much of that decade as a gunnery training ship
.

A few weeks after the

accommodation ship there. Courbet was disarmed in early 1941 and was used as a target ship during 1943. Her engines and boilers were removed in 1944 to prepare her for use as a breakwater during the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune) in June 1944. She was scrapped in situ
after the war.

Background and description

Brassey's Naval Annual
1912

By 1909, the French Navy was convinced of the superiority of the

kW; 27,617 shp).[4] The ships had a designed speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph), although Courbet only reached 20.8 knots (38.5 km/h; 23.9 mph) during her sea trials.[5] The Courbet-class ships carried enough coal and fuel oil to give them a range of 4,200 nautical miles (7,800 km; 4,800 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[6]

Courbet's forward gun turrets, about 1919

The

Canon de 47-millimetre (1.9 in) mle 1902 Hotchkiss guns were fitted, two on each broadside in the superstructure. They were also armed with four 450-millimetre (17.7 in) submerged torpedo tubes, a pair on each broadside,[4] and could stow 10 mines below decks. The ships' waterline belt ranged in thickness from 140 to 250 mm (5.5 to 9.8 in) and was thickest amidships. The gun turrets were protected by 250–360 millimetres (9.8–14.2 in) of armour and 160-millimetre (6.3 in) plates protected the casemates. The curved armoured deck was 40 mm (1.6 in) thick on the flat and 70 mm (2.8 in) on the outer slopes. The conning tower had 266 mm (10.5 in) thick face and sides.[7]

Construction and career

Courbet at anchor, 1914

Courbet was ordered on 11 August 1910

Vice-Admiral (Vice-amiral) Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère, commander of the 1st Battle Squadron, on 5 January 1914.[10]

World War I

By the time that France declared war on Germany on 2 August, Courbet had been relieved of her assignment to the 1st Division because Boué de Lapeyrère had become commander of the 1st Naval Army and the ship was now the fleet flagship. Since the whereabouts of the German

Bougie, French Algeria, in Courbet before rendezvousing with her sisters Jean Bart and France off Valencia, Spain, to escort them to Toulon because the guns of the former were malfunctioning and the latter was so new that she did not have any ammunition aboard. On 7 August, Courbet and the battleship Condorcet took over the escort of a convoy from Algiers and then re-coaled in Toulon.[11]

When France declared war on Austria-Hungary on 12 August, Boué de Lapeyrère decided on a

Courbet at anchor in Toulon harbour, 24 September 1916

On 11 January 1915, the French were alerted that the Austro-Hungarian fleet was going to sortie from its base at

75 mm (3 in) Mle 1891 G guns on anti-aircraft mounts. On 27 April 1916, the French began using the port of Argostoli on the Greek island of Cephalonia as a base. Around this time, many men from the battleships' crews were transferred to anti-submarine ships. At the beginning of 1917, the French began to use the Greek island of Corfu as well, but shortages of coal severely limited the battleships' ability to go to sea. In 1918, they were almost immobile, leaving Corfu only for maintenance and repairs. On 1 July, the Naval Army was reorganised with Courbet, Paris and Jean Bart assigned to the 2nd Battle Division of the 1st Battle Squadron. At some point during the year, Courbet's mainmast was shortened and a motorised winch was installed to allow her to operate a kite balloon, but this was not a success.[15]

Interwar years

After the war ended on 11 November, Courbet returned to Toulon for a refit; the ship was briefly placed in reserve before she became Vice-Admiral Charlier's flagship between 6 June 1919 and 20 October 1920. On 10 February 1920, the 1st Naval Army was disbanded and replaced by the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron (Escadre de la Méditerranée orientale) and its Western counterpart (Escadre de la Méditerranée occidentale); all of the Courbets assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the latter unit, with Courbet, Jean Bart and Paris in the 1st Battle Division and France in the 2nd Battle Division. Charlier commanded both the 1st Division and the Western Mediterranean Squadron at this time. The two squadrons were combined into the Mediterranean Squadron (Escadre de la Méditerranée) on 20 July 1921.[16]

The following year, she became a gunnery training ship at Toulon,

rangefinder was positioned on the roof of the fire-control position and an experimental Barr & Stroud FX2 7.6-metre (24 ft 11 in) coincidence rangefinder was installed on the roof of the aft superfiring turret, replacing the 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) instrument inside the turret. She had another boiler fire on 1 August 1924, burning 13 men, of whom 3 later died of their wounds, and remained under repair for the rest of the year.[17]

Courbet and the battleship

Mers-el-Kebir, French Algeria, for manoeuvres in the Bay of Biscay with the Atlantic-based ships that began on the 26th. Afterwards, the assembled ships were reviewed by the President of France, Gaston Doumergue at Cherbourg, and the Mediterranean-based ships returned to Toulon on 12 August. On 1 January 1927, the Mediterranean Squadron was renamed the 1st Squadron. Two weeks later, Courbet began a lengthy modernisation that lasted until 12 January 1931.[18]

This was much more extensive than her earlier refit as all of her boilers were replaced or

director-control tower (DCT) on the top of the tripod mast, and all of her original rangefinders were replaced with the exception of the 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) rangefinders in each turret. The DCT was fitted with a 4.57-metre coincidence rangefinder, and a 3-metre (9 ft 10 in) stereo rangefinder was added to the DCT to measure the distance between the target and shell splashes. Additional 4.57-metre rangefinders were added in a duplex mounting atop the conning tower and another at the base of the mainmast. The Barr & Stroud 7.6-metre instrument was removed, and a traversable 8.2-metre (26 ft 11 in) rangefinder was fitted to the roof of the forward superfiring turret. Directors with 2-metre rangefinders were also added to control the secondary guns. The ship's Mle 1918 AA guns were exchanged for seven Canon de 75 mm modèle 1922 guns, and they were provided with a pair of high-angle 1.5-metre (4 ft 11 in) rangefinders, one on top of the duplex unit on the conning tower and one in the aft superstructure.[19]

On 25 March 1931, Courbet had a breakdown in one of her turbines and had to return to the shipyard for repairs. After running her sea trials on 9–12 June, she was assigned to the Training Division as part of the gunnery school. The ship conducted several gunnery exercises from 4 February to 27 May 1932 before she returned to the shipyard to have her

French Morocco, before arriving in Brest on 11 July where the division was assigned to the 2nd Maritime Region which was headquartered there, retaining their role as gunnery training ships.[20]

World War II

From the beginning of World War II in September 1939, Courbet and Paris continued training until after the German invasion of France on 10 May 1940. They were mobilised on 21 May with augmented crews and assigned to the command of Vice-Admiral Jean-Marie Abrial for the defence of the French ports on the English Channel.[21] Courbet provided gunfire support to the defenders of Cherbourg on 19 June against the advancing 7th Panzer Division and then covered the evacuation of the town by the Allies during Operation Aerial. The ship sailed for Portsmouth, England, the following day.[22][23]

HM Dockyard, Devonport
, July 1940

Courbet was seized there, as part of

manned torpedoes during the nights of 15–16 and 16–17 August.[22] As such, she was probably the only ship ever attacked by secret weapons of both sides during the conflict.[27] She was slowly scrapped in place after the war; the demolition was completed in 1970.[28]

Citations

  1. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 139–140
  2. ^ Dumas, p. 223
  3. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 143
  4. ^ a b c Whitley, p. 36
  5. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 159
  6. ^ Dumas, p. 224
  7. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 143, 150, 156–158
  8. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 142
  9. ^ Silverstone, p. 94
  10. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 142, 243
  11. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 252, 254
  12. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 244, 254–257
  13. ^ Halpern, p. 19
  14. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 257–258
  15. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 258, 260, 275, 277, 280–281, 283
  16. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 288–289
  17. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 290, 299
  18. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 287, 290, 299–300
  19. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 299–300
  20. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 293–295, 301
  21. ^ a b Jordan & Caresse, p. 311
  22. ^ a b c Whitley, p. 38
  23. ^ Rohwer, p. 29
  24. ^ Murray, Appendix 4
  25. ISSN 1756-1248
    .
  26. .
  27. ^ Murray, p. 274
  28. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 320

Bibliography

Further reading

External links