French ironclad Atalante
Atalante in the Fitzroy Dock, Sydney Harbour, 1873
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History | |
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France | |
Name | Atalante |
Builder | Cherbourg |
Laid down | June 1865 |
Launched | 9 April 1868 |
Commissioned | 1869 |
Fate | Condemned 1887; foundered afterwards and sank |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | ironclad |
Displacement | 3,825 t (3,765 long tons) |
Length | 68.78 m (225 ft 8 in) |
Beam | 14.2 m (46 ft 7 in) |
Draft | 6.56 m (21 ft 6 in) (mean) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 1 shaft, 1 steam engine |
Sail plan | Barque-rig |
Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
Range | 1,460 nmi (2,700 km; 1,680 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 316 |
Armament |
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Armor |
The French ironclad Atalante was a wooden-hulled armored
Design and description
The
Atalante measured 68.78 meters (225 ft 8 in)
Propulsion
The ship had a single horizontal
Armament
Atalante mounted her four 194-millimeter (7.6 in) Modèle 1864
Armor
Atalante had a complete 150-millimeter (5.9 in) wrought iron waterline belt, approximately 2.4 meters (7.9 ft) high. The sides of the battery itself were armored with 120 millimeters (4.7 in) of wrought iron and the ends of the battery were closed by bulkheads of the same thickness. The barbette armor was 100 millimeters (3.9 in) thick, backed by 240 millimeters (9.4 in) of wood.[3] The unarmored portions of her sides were protected by 15-millimeter (0.6 in) iron plates.[2]
Service
Atalante was laid down at Cherbourg in June 1865 and launched on 12 April 1867. Her sea trials began on 1 April 1869 and she joined the reserve at Brest on 11 July 1869. Atalante was commissioned on 23 February 1870 and was initially assigned to the Evolutionary Squadron before transferring to the Northern Squadron in July 1870 at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. The squadron was ordered to lift its blockade of the Prussian North Sea ports on 16 September and return to Cherbourg.[5] Atalante went back into reserve in November 1870, but she was recommissioned the following year.[6]
She was named as the
She returned on 27 February 1874 where she placed into reserve but was recommissioned on 28 December 1875 as the flagship of the China Squadron under
Atalante was transferred to the new Tonkin Coast Division (
The ship was assigned to the
Notes
- ^ Ironclad is the all-encompassing term for armored warships of this period. Armored corvettes were originally designed for the same role as traditional wooden corvettes, but this rapidly changed as the size and expense of these ships caused them to be used as second-class armored ships.
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 26
- ^ a b c d e Gardiner, p. 302
- ^ a b de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 27
- ^ Brassey, p. 477
- ^ de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1975, pp. 29–30
- ^ a b c d e f de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 29
- ^ "Docking of the Atalante". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 August 1873. p. 13. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ISBN 0-8020-3695-3.
Loti Figaro Thuan An.
- ^ "French Forces Resting". The New York Times. New York. 7 September 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
References
- Brassey, Thomas (1888). The Naval Annual 1887. Portsmouth, England: J. Griffin.
- de Balincourt, Captain; Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain (1976). "The French Navy of Yesterday: Ironclad Corvettes". F.P.D.S. Newsletter. IV (4). Akron, Ohio: F.P.D.S.: 26–32. OCLC 41554533.
- de Balincourt, Captain; Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain (1975). "The French Navy of Yesterday: Ironclad Frigates". F.P.D.S. Newsletter. III (4). Akron, Ohio: F.P.D.S.: 26–30. OCLC 41554533.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Roberts, Stephen (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.