French battleship France
 France in Toulon harbour
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | France |
| Namesake | France |
| Ordered | 1 August 1911 |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire |
| Laid down | 30 November 1911 |
| Launched | 7 November 1912 |
| Completed | 1 July 1914 |
| Fate | Foundered , 26 August 1922 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type | Courbet-class battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 166 m (544 ft 7 in) ( o/a ) |
| Beam | 27 m (88 ft 7 in) |
| Draught | 9.04 m (29 ft 8 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 4 × Shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets |
| Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Endurance | 4,200 nmi (7,800 km; 4,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 1,115 (1,187 as flagship) |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
France was the last of four
Background and description
By 1909, the French Navy was finally convinced of the superiority of the
The
Career
France, the seventh ship of her name to serve in the French Navy,
World War I
When France declared war on Germany on 3 August, the sisters were in
On 11 January 1915, the French were alerted that the Austro-Hungarian fleet was going to sortie from its base at
On 27 April 1916, the French began using the port of Argostoli on the Greek island of Cephalonia as a base. Dartige du Fornet transferred his flag to the battleship Provence on 23 May. 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 growing shortages of coal severely limited the battleships' ability to go to sea.[13] The situation was so bad that Vice-Admiral Gabriel Darrieus wrote in 1917:
The military capabilities of the Armée Navale, which has already been badly affected by the shortages of personnel and constant changes in the general staff, need to be maintained by frequent exercises, and although from March to June we were able to follow a normal pattern, the coal crisis is currently preventing any manoeuvres or gunnery training, even for the ships returning from repairs. The big ships have lost 50 per cent of the capability they had several months ago.[14]
In 1918, they were almost immobile, leaving Corfu only for maintenance and repairs. On 1 July, the 1st Naval Army was reorganised with France assigned to the 1st Battle Division (1ère Division de ligne) of the 1st Battle Squadron (1ère Escadre de ligne).[14]
Post-war activities
After the
On 1 July, all the Courbets were assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Squadron. 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 the sisters were 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, with
France and the battleship
Footnotes
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 139–140
- ^ a b Gardiner & Gray, p. 197
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 143
- ^ a b Whitley, p. 36
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 143, 150, 156–158
- ^ Roche, Tome 1, pp. 213–214; Tome 2, p. 215
- ^ Dumas, p. 162
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 142, 243–244
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 244, 254, 257
- ^ Halpern, p. 19
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 257–258
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 258, 260, 280, 283
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 260, 274–275, 277
- ^ a b Jordan & Caresse, p. 277
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 285, 288; Masson, pp. 88–92, 96–97, 99
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 288–290
- ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 289–290
Bibliography
- Dumas, Robert (1985). "The French Dreadnoughts: The 23,500 ton Courbet Class". In John Roberts (ed.). Warship. Vol. IX. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 154–164, 223–231. OCLC 26058427.
- Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
- ISBN 978-0-253-34379-6.
- Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2017). French Battleships of World War One. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-639-1.
- Masson, Philippe (2003). "The French Naval Mutinies, 1919". In Bell, Christopher M. & Elleman, Bruce A. (eds.). Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective. Cass Series: Naval Policy and History. Vol. 19. London: Frank Cass. ISBN 978-0-7146-5456-0.
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours [Dictionary of French Warships from Colbert to Today] (in French). Vol. Tome 2: 1871–2006. Toulon: Group Retozel-Maury Millau. OCLC 470444756.
- ISBN 978-1-55750-184-4.
Further reading
- Dumas, Robert & Guiglini, Jean (1980). Les cuirassés français de 23,500 tonnes [The French 23,500-tonne Battleships] (in French). Grenoble, France: Editions de 4 Seigneurs. OCLC 7836734.
47°27′6″N 3°2′0″W / 47.45167°N 3.03333°W
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1922 | |
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