French cruiser Montcalm (1900)
A French postcard of Montcalm at speed
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History | |
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France | |
Name | Montcalm |
Namesake | Louis-Joseph de Montcalm |
Builder | Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée |
Laid down | 27 September 1898 |
Launched | 27 March 1900 |
Commissioned | 24 March 1902 |
Renamed | Trémintin, 26 September 1934 |
Reclassified | Accommodation ship , 28 October 1928 |
Stricken | 28 October 1926 |
Fate | Sunk 16 August 1944 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | armoured cruiser |
Displacement | 9,177 tonnes (9,032 long tons) |
Length | 137.97 m (452 ft 8 in) |
Beam | 19.38 m (63 ft 7 in) |
Draught | 7.67 m (25 ft 2 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 3 Shafts, 3 vertical triple-expansion steam engines |
Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
Range | 8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 566 |
Armament |
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Armour |
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Montcalm was a
Design and description
Designed by the
The Gueydon class had three
The ships of the Gueydon class had a main armament that consisted of two 40-caliber 194 mm (7.6 in) guns that were mounted in single gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. Their secondary armament comprised eight 45-caliber quick-firing (QF) 164 mm (6.5 in) guns in casemates. For anti-torpedo boat defense, they carried four 45-caliber QF 100 mm (3.9 in) guns on the forecastle deck, as well as ten QF 47 mm (1.9 in) and four QF 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns. They were also armed with two submerged 450-millimetre (17.7 in) torpedo tubes.[1][2]
The Harvey armor belt of the Gueydon-class cruisers covered most of the ships' hull. The lower strake of armor was generally 150 millimetres (5.9 in) thick, although it reduced to 91 millimetres (3.6 in) forward, 81 millimetres (3.2 in) aft, and thinned to 51 millimetres (2 in) at its lower edge. The upper strake of armor had thicknesses of 97–81 millimetres (3.8–3.2 in) and 56–41 millimetres (2.2–1.6 in) between the main and upper decks. The curved lower protective deck ranged in thickness from 51 to 56 millimetres. In addition there was a light armor deck 20 millimetres (0.8 in) thick at the top of the lower armor strake. A watertight internal cofferdam, filled with cellulose, stretched between these two decks. The gun turrets were protected by 160–176-millimetre (6.3–6.9 in) armor and had roofs 23 millimetres (0.9 in) thick. The 100-millimetre guns were protected by gun shields and the sides of the conning tower were 160 millimetres thick.[1][2]
Construction and career
After the outbreak of World War I, Montcalm supported in the Australian capture of
Notes
- ^ a b c Campbell, p. 305
- ^ a b c Silverstone, p. 79
- ^ a b Silverstone, p. 105
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36899. London. 15 October 1902. p. 8.
- ^ Details in the Australian Official History of the 1914-18 War, Volume Ten. There was some comment on the profile of the ship, bows and stern sections effectively identical, it being thought that this was an attempt to confuse enemy range-finders.
References
- Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 283–333. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
- Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
- Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.