French battleship Voltaire

Coordinates: 47°26′N 2°44′W / 47.433°N 2.733°W / 47.433; -2.733
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Voltaire in Toulon harbour
History
France
NameVoltaire
NamesakeVoltaire
Builder
FC de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer
Laid down20 July 1907
Launched16 January 1909
Completed1 August 1911
ReclassifiedAs training ship, 1927
Stricken1935
FateSold for scrap, December 1949
General characteristics
Class and typeDanton-class semi-dreadnought battleship
Displacement18,754 t (18,458 long tons) (normal)
Length146.6 m (481 ft) (
o/a
)
Beam25.8 m (84 ft 8 in)
Draft8.44 m (27 ft 8 in)
Installed power
  • 26
    Belleville boilers
  • 22,500 
    kW
    )
Propulsion4
shafts; 4 steam turbines
Speed19.25 knots (35.7 km/h; 22.2 mph)
Complement25 officers and 831 enlisted men
Armament
Armor

Voltaire was one of the six

Straits of Otranto and the Dardanelles to prevent German, Austro-Hungarian and Turkish warships from breaking out into the Mediterranean. Voltaire was hit by two torpedoes fired by a German submarine in October 1918, but was not seriously damaged. After the war, she was modernized in 1923–1925 and subsequently became a training ship. She was condemned in 1935 and later sold for scrap
.

Design and description

Although the Danton-class battleships were a significant improvement from the preceding Liberté class, they were outclassed by the advent of the dreadnought well before they were completed. They were not well liked by the navy, although their numerous rapid-firing guns were of some use in the Mediterranean.[1]

Voltaire was 146.6 meters (481 ft 0 in)

Belleville boilers. The turbines were rated at 22,500 shaft horsepower (16,800 kW) and provided a top speed of around 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).[1] Voltaire, however, reached a top speed of 20.7 knots (38.3 km/h; 23.8 mph) during her sea trials.[2] She carried a maximum of 2,027 tonnes (1,995 long tons) of coal which allowed her to steam for 3,370 nautical miles (6,240 km; 3,880 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[1]

Voltaire's main battery consisted of four 305mm/45 Modèle 1906 guns mounted in two twin gun turrets, one forward and one aft. The secondary battery consisted of twelve 240mm/50 Modèle 1902 guns in twin turrets, three on each side of the ship. A number of smaller guns were carried for defense against torpedo boats. These included sixteen 75 mm (3.0 in) L/65 guns and ten 47-millimetre (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns. The ship was also armed with two submerged 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. The ship's waterline armor belt was 270 mm (10.6 in) thick and the main battery was protected by up to 300 mm (11.8 in) of armor. The conning tower also had 300 mm thick sides.[1]

Wartime modifications

During the war 75 mm anti-aircraft guns were installed on the roofs of the ship's two forward 240 mm gun turrets.[3] During 1918, the mainmast was shortened to allow the ship to fly a captive kite balloon and the elevation of the 240 mm guns was increased which extended their range to 18,000 meters (20,000 yd).[1]

Career

Construction of Voltaire was begun on 26 December 1906

launched on 16 January 1909 and was completed on 5 August 1911.[4] The ship was assigned to the Second Division of the 1st Squadron (escadre) of the Mediterranean Fleet when she was commissioned. The ship participated in combined fleet maneuvers between Provence and Tunisia in May–June 1913[5] and the subsequent naval review conducted by the President of France, Raymond Poincaré on 7 June 1913.[3] Afterwards, Voltaire joined her squadron in its tour of the Eastern Mediterranean in October–December 1913 and participated in the grand fleet exercise in the Mediterranean in May 1914.[5]

World War I

In early August 1914, the ship cruised the

Mudros to prevent Goeben from breaking out into the Mediterranean.[5]

The ship was overhauled from May to October 1918 in Toulon. While returning to Mudros on 10 October, the ship was torpedoed by UB-48 off the island of Milos. Despite being struck by two torpedoes, she able to make temporary repairs at Milos before sailing to Bizerte for permanent repairs. Voltaire was based in Toulon throughout 1919 and was modernized in 1922–25[5] to improve her underwater protection. The ship became a training ship in 1927 and was condemned in on 17 March 1937. She was scuttled in Quiberon Bay (France) on 31 May 1938 for long-term use as a target; the wreck was sold in December 1949 and broken up from March 1950 onwards.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Gardiner & Gray, p. 196
  2. ^ a b Gille, p. 120
  3. ^ a b Meirat, p. 5
  4. ^ Dumas & Prévoteaux 2011, p. 85.
  5. ^ a b c d Gille, p. 118
  6. ^ Dumas & Prévoteaux 2011, p. 170.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Voltaire.

47°26′N 2°44′W / 47.433°N 2.733°W / 47.433; -2.733

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