French battleship Jauréguiberry

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For other ships with the same name, see French ship Jauréguiberry.
Jauréguiberry steaming at high speed, probably during her sea trials in 1896–1897
Class overview
Preceded byCarnot
Succeeded byMasséna
History
France
NameJauréguiberry
NamesakeBernard Jauréguiberry
Ordered8 April 1891
Builder
Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer
Laid down23 April 1891
Launched27 October 1893
Completed30 January 1897
Commissioned16 February 1897
Decommissioned30 March 1919
Stricken20 June 1920
FateSold for scrap, 23 June 1934
General characteristics
TypePre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement
  • 11,818 t (11,631 long tons) (normal)
  • 12,229 t (12,036 long tons) (
    full load
    )
Length111.9 m (367 ft 2 in)
Beam23 m (75 ft 6 in)
Draft8.45 m (27 ft 9 in)
Installed power
  • 24
    boilers
  • 14,441 ihp (10,769 kW)
Propulsion2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Range3,920 nmi (7,260 km; 4,510 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement597 (1905)
Armament
Armor

Jauréguiberry was a

battery of 305 mm (12 in), 274 mm (10.8 in) and 138 mm (5.4 in) guns. Constraints on displacement
imposed by the French naval command produced a series of ships that were significantly inferior to their British counterparts, suffering from poor stability and a mixed armament that was difficult to control in combat conditions.

In peacetime the ship participated in routine training exercises and cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, primarily as part of the Mediterranean Squadron. The ship was involved in several accidents, including a boiler explosion and an accidental torpedo detonation that delayed her entry into service in 1897. Two more torpedo explosions occurred in 1902 and 1905, and she ran aground during a visit to Portsmouth in August 1905. By 1907, she had been transferred to the Reserve Division, although she continued to participate in maneuvers and other peacetime activities.

Following the outbreak of

accommodation hulk until 1932. The ship was sold for scrap
in 1934.

Background and design

Right elevation and section, from Brassey's Naval Annual 1897

In 1889, the British

coastal-defense battleships, cruisers, and torpedo boats. The first stage of the program was to be a group of four squadron battleships built to different designs, but meeting the same basic requirements, including armor, armament, and displacement.[1]

The naval high command issued the basic characteristics on 24 December 1889; displacement should not exceed 14,000 metric tons (13,779 long tons), the main battery was to consist of 34-centimeter (13.4 in) and 27 cm (10.6 in) guns, the belt armor should be 45 cm (17.7 in), and the ships should maintain a top speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph). The secondary armament was to be either 14 cm (5.5 in) or 16 cm (6.3 in) caliber, with as many guns fitted as space would allow.[2]

The basic design for the ships was based on the previous battleship

wings.[3] Although the navy had stipulated that displacement could be up to 14,000 metric tons, political considerations, namely parliamentary objections to increases in naval expenditures, led the designers to limit displacement to around 12,000 metric tons (11,810 long tons).[4]

Five naval architects submitted proposals to the competition. The design for Jauréguiberry was prepared by

Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée shipyard in La Seyne-sur-Mer. Lagane had previously supervised the construction of the Magenta-class ironclad Marceau, which influenced his design for Jauréguiberry. Though the program called for four ships to be built in the first year, five were ultimately ordered: Jauréguiberry, Charles Martel, Masséna, Carnot, and Bouvet. Jauréguiberry used a very similar hull form to Marceau's, and as a result, was shorter and wider than the other vessels.[5]

The design for Jauréguiberry was also influenced by the Chilean battleship Capitán Prat, then under construction in France (and which also had been designed by Lagane). A small vessel, Capitán Prat had adopted twin-gun turrets for her secondary battery to save space that would have been taken up by traditional casemate mountings. Lagane incorporated that solution in Jauréguiberry, though she was the only French battleship of the program to use that arrangement owing to fears that the rate of fire would be reduced and that the turrets would be more vulnerable to being disabled by a single lucky hit. She was the first French battleship to use electric motors to operate her main-battery turrets.[6]

She 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 the splashes of relatively similarly sized shells were hard to differentiate and thus made it difficult to calculate corrections to hit the target. Many of the problems that plagued the ships in service were a result of the limitation on their displacement, particularly their stability and seakeeping.[7]

General characteristics and machinery

Jauréguiberry was 111.9 meters (367 ft 2 in) long

fighting tops. In 1905 her captain described her as an excellent sea-boat and a good fighting ship, although her secondary armament was too light. He also said that she was stable and well laid-out with good living conditions.[6][8] She had a crew of 631 officers and enlisted sailors.[9]

Jauréguiberry had two

kW) and drove the ship to a maximum speed of 17.71 knots (32.80 km/h; 20.38 mph). Each engine drove a 5.7-meter (18 ft 8 in) propeller. Twenty-four Lagraffel d'Allest water-tube boilers provided steam for the engines at a pressure of 15 kg/cm2 (1,471 kPa; 213 psi). The boilers were distributed between six boiler rooms and were ducted into a pair of closely spaced funnels. She normally carried 750 metric tons (738 long tons) of coal, but could carry a maximum of 1,080 metric tons (1,063 long tons). This gave her a radius of action of 3,920 nautical miles (7,260 km; 4,510 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[6][10]

Armament

Line-drawing showing the arrangement and firing arcs of the ship's main battery

Jauréguiberry's main armament consisted of two 45-

armor-piercing (AP) and semi-armor-piercing (SAP) shells at a muzzle velocity of 780 to 815 meters per second (2,560 to 2,670 ft/s). The 274 mm guns were also supplied with a mix of CI, AP, and SAP shells, with the same muzzle velocity as the larger guns.[12] The ship's offensive armament was completed by a secondary battery of eight 45-caliber Canon de 138.6 mm (5.5 in) Modèle 1891 guns mounted in manually operated twin-gun turrets. The turrets were placed at the corners of the superstructure with 160° arcs of fire.[11] They fired 30 kg (66 lb) CI or 35 kg (77 lb) AP or SAP shells at a muzzle velocity of 730 to 770 meters per second (2,400 to 2,500 ft/s).[13]

Defense against torpedo boats was provided by a variety of light-caliber weapons. Sources disagree on the number and types, possibly indicating changes over the ship's lifetime. All sources agree on four 50-caliber (

Canon de 47 mm Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns that were mounted in the fighting tops and on the superstructure. They fired a 1.49-kilogram (3.3 lb) projectile at 610 meters per second (2,000 ft/s) to a maximum range of 4,000 meters (4,400 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was fifteen rounds per minute, but only seven rounds per minute sustained.[16] Gibbons and Gardiner agree that eight 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns were mounted on the fore and aft superstructures,[9][15] although none are listed by d'Ausson.[10]

The ship was initially fitted with 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, though sources disagree on the number. Gardiner states that she had two submerged tubes and two above-water tubes,[9] but d'Ausson states that she had six tubes, two each above water in the bow and stern and one on each broadside underwater. The above-water tubes were removed during a refit in 1906.[10] The M1892 torpedoes carried a 75 kg (165 lb) warhead, and could be set at 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) or 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph), which could reach targets at 1,000 m (3,300 ft) or 800 m (2,600 ft), respectively.[17]

Armor

Jauréguiberry had a total of 3,960 metric tons (3,897 long tons) of

nickel-steel armor; equal to 33.5% of her normal displacement. Her waterline belt ranged from 160–400 mm (6.3–15.7 in) in thickness. Above the belt was a 100 mm (3.9 in) thick strake of side armor that created a highly divided cofferdam. Around the above-water torpedo tubes, the upper strake increased to 170 mm (6.7 in). The 90-millimeter (3.5 in) armored deck rested on the top of the waterline belt. Her 305 mm gun turrets were protected by 370 mm (15 in) of armor on the sides and faces while her 274 mm turrets had 280 mm (11 in) of armor. The ship's secondary turrets were protected by 100 millimeters (3.9 in) of armor. The walls of her conning tower were 250 mm (9.8 in) thick.[6][10]

Service

Jauréguiberry was ordered on 8 April 1891 and

voice tubes that were in standard use in the world's navies at the time.[8][18] Immediately on entering service, she and her half-sisters Charles Martel and Carnot were sent to join the International Squadron that had been assembled beginning in February. The multinational force also included ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Imperial German Navy, the Italian Regia Marina, the Imperial Russian Navy, and the British Royal Navy, and it was sent to intervene in the 1897–1898 Greek uprising on Crete against rule by the Ottoman Empire.[19]

Throughout the ship's peacetime career, she was occupied with routine training exercises, which included gunnery training, combined maneuvers with torpedo boats and

naval review in Cherbourg on 19 July for President Émile Loubet. On 1 August, the Mediterranean Squadron departed for Toulon, arriving on 14 August.[20]

Jauréguiberry at Spithead in 1905

On 20 January 1902 the air chamber of another torpedo exploded, killing one sailor and wounding three. In September she transported the

Minister of the Navy to Bizerte. By this time, the ship had been assigned to the 2nd Battle Division of the Mediterranean Squadron, along with Bouvet and the new battleship Iéna, the latter becoming the divisional flagship. In October, Jauréguiberry and the rest of the Mediterranean Squadron battleships steamed to Palma de Mallorca, and on the return to Toulon they conducted training exercises.[21] Jauréguiberry was transferred to the Northern Squadron in 1904, her place in the Mediterranean Squadron being taken by the new battleship Suffren. Jauréguiberry arrived at Brest on 25 March. She was lightly damaged when she touched a rock while entering Brest in fog on 18 July and, in another incident, her steering compartment was flooded when a torpedo air chamber burst between her screws during a torpedo-launching exercise on 18 May 1905.[10]

While visiting

dreadnought battleships.[24] She became the flagship of the Special Division in April 1914; in August, the commander of the division was Contre-amiral (Rear Admiral) Darrieus. At that time, the division also included the battleship Charlemagne and the cruisers Pothuau and D'Entrecasteaux.[10][25]

World War I

Jauréguiberry in Port Said in 1915

Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, France announced general mobilization on 1 August. The next day, Admiral Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère ordered the entire French fleet to begin raising steam at 22:15 so the ships could sortie early the next day. The bulk of the fleet, including the Division de complément, was sent to French North Africa, where they escorted the vital troop convoys carrying elements of the French Army from North Africa back to France to counter the expected German invasion. The French fleet was tasked with guarding against a possible attack by the German battlecruiser Goeben, which instead fled to the Ottoman Empire.[26] As part of her mission, Jauréguiberry was sent to Oran, French Algeria on 4 August, in company with Bouvet, Suffren, and Gaulois.[27] She also escorted a convoy of Indian troops passing through the Mediterranean in September. Beginning in December, Jauréguiberry was stationed at Bizerte, remaining there until February 1915 when she sailed to Port Said to become flagship of the Syrian Division,[28] commanded by Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet. At that time, the division included Saint Louis, the coast defence battleship Henri IV, and D'Entrecasteaux.[29]

On 25 March, Jauréguiberry departed Port Said for the

Émile Guépratte requested that Jauréguiberry and Saint Louis be transferred to his command. On 1 April, Guépratte transferred his flag from Charlemagne to Jauréguiberry. By late May, the French squadron had been restored to effective strength, and included the battleships Saint Louis, Charlemagne, Patrie, Suffren, and Henri IV. The formation was designated the 3rd Battle Division.[30] Jauréguiberry provided gunfire support to the troops during the Landing at Cape Helles on 25 April, during which the French forces made a diversionary landing on the Asian side of the straits. During the operation, Jauréguiberry and the other French ships kept the Ottoman guns on that side of the strait largely suppressed, and prevented them from interfering with the main landing at Cape Helles.[31] She continued operations in the area until 26 May, including supporting the Allied attack during the Second Battle of Krithia on 6 May. She was lightly damaged by Turkish artillery on 30 April and 5 May, but continued to fire her guns as needed.[28][32]

Jauréguiberry was recalled to Port Said on 19 July and bombarded Ottoman-controlled

Navy List on 20 June 1920, but remained assigned to the Engineer's School until 1932. Jauréguiberry was sold for scrap on 23 June 1934 for the price of 1,147,000 francs.[28]

Notes

  1. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 22–23.
  2. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 22.
  3. ^ Ropp, p. 223.
  4. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 23–24.
  5. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 25, 29–30.
  6. ^ a b c d Jordan & Caresse, p. 30.
  7. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 32, 38–40.
  8. ^ a b d'Ausson, pp. 22–23.
  9. ^ a b c d Gardiner, p. 294.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i d'Ausson, p. 23.
  11. ^ a b Gibbons, p. 140.
  12. ^ Friedman, pp. 210, 216–217.
  13. ^ Friedman, p. 224.
  14. ^ Friedman, p. 227.
  15. ^ a b Gibbons, p. 141.
  16. ^ Caresse, pp. 121–122.
  17. ^ Friedman, p. 345.
  18. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 30, 36.
  19. ^ Robinson, pp. 186–187.
  20. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 217–218.
  21. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 218–222.
  22. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 222, 225.
  23. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 239.
  24. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 152.
  25. ^ Jordan & Caresse, p. 252.
  26. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 252–254.
  27. ^ Corbett 1920, p. 61.
  28. ^ a b c d'Ausson, p. 24.
  29. ^ Corbett 1921, p. 143.
  30. ^ Jordan & Caresse, pp. 266–267.
  31. ^ Corbett 1921, pp. 314, 338.
  32. ^ Corbett 1921, pp. 377–378.

References

Further reading

External links

Media related to Jauréguiberry (ship, 1893) at Wikimedia Commons

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