French battleship Iéna

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see French ship Iéna.
A postcard of Iéna during her sea trials
Class overview
Operators French Navy
Preceded byCharlemagne class
Succeeded bySuffren
Built1898–1902
In service1902–1907
Completed1
Scrapped1
History
France
NameIéna
Namesake
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
Ordered3 April 1897
Builder
Arsenal de Brest
CostF25.58 million
Laid down15 January 1898
Launched1 September 1898
Completed14 April 1902
Decommissioned3 July 1907
Stricken18 March 1907
Fate
General characteristics
TypePre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement
  • 11,688 t (11,503 long tons) (designed)
  • 12,105 t (11,914 long tons) (
    deep load
    )
Length122.31 m (401 ft 3 in) (
o/a
)
Beam20.81 m (68 ft 3 in)
Draught8.45 m (27 ft 9 in)
Installed power
  • 20
    Belleville boilers
  • 16,500 
    kW
    )
Propulsion3 shafts, 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range4,400 nmi (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at 10.3 knots (19.1 km/h; 11.9 mph)
Complement701
Armament
Armour

Iéna

hulk was used as a gunnery target in 1909, then sold for scrap
in 1912.

Design and description

On 11 February 1897 Navy Minister (Ministre de la Marine)

belt armour above the waterline and to replace the 138.6-millimetre (5.5 in) guns of the Charlemagnes with 164.7-millimetre (6.5 in) guns. Thibaudier submitted his revised design on 9 February and it was approved by the Board of Construction (Conseil des travaux) on 4 March with minor revisions.[1]

Iéna had an

Capitaine de vaisseau) Bouxin's report of November 1905: "From the sea-keeping point of view the Iéna is an excellent ship. Pitching and rolling movements are gentle and the ship rides the waves well."[6] Naval historians John Jordan and Philippe Caresse believe the ship was a good gun platform because she had a long, slow roll and she manoeuvred well.[7]

Iéna was powered by a trio of four-cylinder

kW) to give the ship a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[3] During her sea trials on 16 July 1901, the ship barely exceeded her designed speed, reaching 18.1 knots (33.5 km/h; 20.8 mph) from 16,590 metric horsepower (12,200 kW). Iéna carried a maximum of 1,165 tonnes (1,147 long tons) of coal; this allowed her to steam for 4,400 nautical miles (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at a speed of 10.3 knots (19.1 km/h; 11.9 mph). The ship's 80-volt electrical power was provided by four dynamos, a pair each of 600- and 1,200-ampere capacity.[8]

Armament and armour

Like the Charlemagne-class ships, Iéna carried her main armament of four 40-

armour-piercing, capped (APC) projectiles at the rate of one round per minute at a muzzle velocity of 815 m/s (2,670 ft/s).[9] This gave a range of 12,000 metres (13,000 yd) at the maximum elevation of +15°. The magazines stored 45 shells per gun,[3] and an additional 14 projectiles were stowed in each turret.[9]

The ship's secondary armament consisted of eight 45-calibre Canon de 164.7 mm Modèle 1893 guns, which were mounted in the central battery on the upper deck,[3] and fired 54.2-kilogram (119 lb) APC shells. At their maximum elevation of +15°, their muzzle velocity of 800 m/s (2,600 ft/s)[10] gave them a maximum range of 9,000 metres (9,800 yd). Each gun was provided with 200 rounds, enough for 80 minutes at their sustained rate of fire of 2–3 rounds per minute.[11] She also carried eight 45-calibre Canon de 100 mm (3.9 in) Modèle 1893 guns in single, unprotected, mounts on the shelter deck. These guns fired a 14-kilogram (31 lb) projectile at 740 m/s (2,400 ft/s),[12] which could be trained up to 20° for a maximum range of 9,500 metres (10,400 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was six rounds per minute, but only three rounds per minute could be sustained.[3] Each gun was provided with 240 shells in the ship's magazine.[13]

Iéna's anti-

Rear-Admiral (Contre-amiral) René Marquis criticised the arrangements for the 47 mm guns in a 1903 report: "The number of ready-use rounds is insufficient and the hoists are desperately slow. The 47 mm guns, much more so than the large and medium-calibre guns, will have to fight at night; yet these are the only guns without a fire-control system designed for night operations. This is a deficiency which needs to be corrected as soon as possible."[15] Iéna also mounted four 450-millimetre (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, two on each broadside, one submerged and the other above water. The submerged tubes were fixed at a 60° angle from the centreline and the above-water mounts could traverse 80°.[16] Twelve Modèle 1889 torpedoes were carried, of which four were training models in peacetime.[14]

The ship had a complete waterline belt of

mild steel plate laid over two 9 mm (0.35 in) plates. The splinter deck beneath it comprised two layers of 17 mm (0.67 in) plates.[17]

The Harvey armour plates protecting the sides of the turrets were 290 mm (11.4 in) in thickness and the mild steel of the turret roofs was 50 mm (2 in) thick. The barbettes were protected by 250 mm (9.8 in) of Harvey armour. The sides and rear of the central battery were 90 mm (3.5 in) thick. The forward transverse bulkhead ranged in thickness from 55–150 millimetres (2.2–5.9 in), the thicker plates protecting the central battery, and reduced in thickness the further down it went until it met the armoured deck. The 164 mm guns were protected by 70-millimetre (2.8 in) gun shields. The armour plates protecting the conning tower ranged in thickness from 258 to 298 mm (10.2 to 11.7 in) on its face and rear, respectively. Its communications tube was protected by 200 mm (7.9 in) of armour.[18]

Construction and career

Iéna in March 1907

Ordered on 3 April 1897,

Alfonso XIII of Spain during a visit to Cartagena in June. After another refit from 20 August to 10 September, Iéna, together with the rest of the Mediterranean Squadron, visited the Balearic Islands in October. During the return voyage, two crewmen died while training with the manual steering gear in heavy seas. Marquis was relieved by Rear-Admiral Léon Barnaud on 3 November. Iéna conducted training exercises off the coast of Provence from 19 November to 17 December.[22]

Iéna participated in the

Marseilles on 16 September with British, Spanish and Italian ships. While exercising off Toulon shortly afterwards, the ship accidentally collided with and sank Torpedo Boat No. 96.[23]

Loss

A postcard showing the amidships portion of Iéna, with charred and scorched paint prominent

On 4 March 1907 Iéna was moved into Dry dock No. 2 in the Missiessy Basin at Toulon to undergo maintenance of her hull as well as an inspection of her leaking rudder shaft. Eight days later, beginning at 13:35 and continuing until 14:45, a series of explosions began near the aft 100-millimetre magazines which devastated the ship and the surrounding area. The explosions blew the roofs off three nearby workshops and gutted the area between the aft funnel and the aft turret. Because the ship was in a dry dock with the water pumped out, it was initially impossible to flood the magazines, which had not been unloaded before docking. The commanding officer of the battleship Patrie, which was moored nearby, fired a shell into the dry dock gates in an attempt to flood it, but the shell ricocheted without holing the gate. They were manually opened shortly afterwards by one of the ship's officers. A total of 118 crewmen and dockyard workers were killed by the explosions, as were 2 civilians in the suburb of Pont-Las who were killed by fragments.[24]

Inauguration of the monument to the victims of the explosion, 1908

On 17 March, the President of France,

chairmanship of Ernest Monis; the Chamber of Deputies followed eight days later with Henri Michel as chair.[25]

The origin of the first explosion was traced to a 100 mm magazine and was believed to have been caused by decomposing

Paul Vieille, that failed to come to a definite conclusion. The navy's Propellant Branch (Service des Poudres et Saltpêtres) objected to the criticisms of its product, claiming that it was tested to resist 43 °C (110 °F) temperatures for 12 hours, although it never explained how that test was relevant to the long-term storage of Poudre B in magazines limited to natural ventilation, as was used by every ship in the fleet.[27] The Monis Commission published its report on 9 July, blaming the explosion on Poudre B, and was debated on 21–26 November. The Michel Commission published its report on 7 November 1908, although its contents had been debated on 16–19 October, and was "a model of vagueness and imprecision".[28] The reason for the explosion became a cause célèbre with accusations of gross negligence by the government such that Thomson was forced to resign on the last day of the debate.[29]

Disposal

The multiple explosions ripped open the ship's side between Frames 74 and 84 down to the lower edge of the armour belt, and all the machinery in this area was destroyed. After it was estimated that it would take seven million francs and two years to fully repair Iéna, which was

capsized and sank in shallow water. The rights to the wreck were sold on 21 December 1912 for 33,005 francs and she was slowly broken up and salvaged between 1912 and 1927. Another company was contracted to remove the remnants of the wreck in 1957.[30]

Notes

  1. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 64–65
  2. ^ Gille, p. 101
  3. ^ a b c d e Caresse, p. 121
  4. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 67
  5. ^ a b Campbell, p. 296
  6. ^ Caresse, p. 127
  7. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 74
  8. ^ a b Jordan & Caresse, p. 71
  9. ^ a b Jordan & Caresse, p. 68
  10. ^ Friedman, p. 221
  11. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 68–69
  12. ^ Friedman, p. 227
  13. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 69
  14. ^ a b Caresse, pp. 121–122
  15. ^ Caresse, p. 126
  16. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 55, 69
  17. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 70
  18. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 60, 70
  19. ^ Caresse, p. 122
  20. ^ Silverstone, p. 100
  21. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 66, 68
  22. ^ Caresse, pp. 125–127; Jordan & Caresse, pp. 219, 221–222, 246
  23. ^ Caresse, pp. 127–128; Jordan & Caresse, pp. 223–224, 246
  24. ^ Caresse, pp. 129–130, 132
  25. ^ Caresse, pp. 134, 136
  26. ^ "The American Marine Engineer". March 1906. p. 18. Retrieved 30 July 2020 – via Google Books.
  27. ^ Caresse, pp. 132, 136–137
  28. ^ Caresse, pp. 136–137
  29. ^ Caresse, p. 137
  30. ^ Caresse, pp. 129, 134, 137–138

References

Further reading

External links

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