French ironclad Triomphante

	Triomphante at anchor
History
France
Name	Triomphante
Builder	Rochefort
Laid down	5 August 1869
Launched	28 March 1877
Commissioned	17 October 1880
Fate	Condemned 18 July 1896, sold 1903
General characteristics
Class and type	ironclad
Displacement	4,150 metric tons (4,080 long tons)
Length	76.85 m (252 ft 2 in)
Beam	14.88 m (48 ft 10 in)
Draft	6.3 m (21 ft) (mean)
Installed power	2,214 ihp (1,651 kW)
Propulsion	1 shaft, 2 vertical compound steam engines; 4 oval boilers;
Sail plan	Ship rig
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range	2,740 nautical miles (5,070 km; 3,150 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	352–382
Armament	6 × 1 - 240 mm (9.4 in) Mle 1870 guns; 1 × 1 - 194 mm (7.6 in) gun; 6 × 1 - 138 mm (5.4 in) guns; 4 × 1 - 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns; Harvey torpedoes;
Armor	Belt: 150 mm (5.9 in); Battery: 120 mm (4.7 in); Barbettes: 120 mm (5 in); Bulkheads: 120 mm (4.7 in);

Triomphante (Triumphant) was the third and last ship of the La Galissonnière class of wooden-hulled, armored corvettes built for the French Navy during the 1870s. Her construction was delayed for years and the navy took advantage of the extended construction time to upgrade her armament in comparison to the lead ship, La Galissonnière. She and her half-sister La Galissonnière participated in a number of battles during the Sino-French War of 1884–85. The ship remained in Asia and never returned to France after the war. She was condemned in 1896 and sold in 1903.

Design and description

The La Galissonnière-class

bow chaser under the forecastle and increased the caliber and number of the secondary armament.^[1]

Triomphante was 76.85 meters (252 ft 2 in) between perpendiculars and had a beam of 14.88 meters (48 ft 10 in). She had a mean draft of 6.3 meters (20 ft 8 in) and displaced 4,150 metric tons (4,080 long tons).[2] Her crew numbered between 352 and 382 officers and men.^[3]

Propulsion

Triomphante had a single vertical compound steam engine driving a single propeller. Her engine was powered by four oval

boilers.^[3] During sea trials her engine produced 2,214 indicated horsepower (1,651 kW) and the ship reached 12.75 knots (23.61 km/h; 14.67 mph).^[2] She only carried 330 metric tons (320 long tons)^[3] of coal which allowed her to steam for 2,740 nautical miles (5,070 km; 3,150 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Victorieuse was also ship-rigged with three masts and had a sail area of 1,730 square meters (18,600 sq ft).^[2]

Armament

Triomphante mounted four of her six 240-millimeter Modèle 1870

breech-loading guns in the central battery on the battery deck. The other two 240-millimeter guns were mounted in barbettes on the upper deck, sponsoned out over the sides of the ship, just forward of the funnel.^[4] A 194-millimeter breech-loading chase gun was fitted under the forecastle. Triomphante's secondary armament of six 138-millimeter (5.4 in) breech-loading guns was also mounted on the upper deck.^[5]

The

muzzle. The 20-caliber 194 mm gun fired an armor-piercing 165.3-pound (75.0 kg) shell while the gun itself weighed 7.83 long tons (7.96 t). The gun fired its shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,739 ft/s (530 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal 12.5 inches (320 mm) of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The 138 mm gun was 21 calibers long and weighed 2.63 long tons (2.67 t). It fired a 61.7-pound (28.0 kg) explosive shell with velocity of 1,529 ft/s (466 m/s). The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells.^[6]

For defense against torpedo boats the ship also mounted four 37-millimeter (1.5 in)

Harvey torpedoes.^[5]

Armor

The La Galissonnière-class ships had a complete 150-millimeter (5.9 in) wrought iron waterline belt, approximately 2.4 meters (7.9 ft)^[1] high laid over 650 millimeters (26 in) of wood.^[8] The sides of the battery itself were armored with 120 millimeters (4.7 in) of wrought iron backed by 520 millimeters (20 in) of wood and the ends of the battery were closed by bulkheads of the same thickness. The barbette armor was 120 millimeters (4.7 in) thick.^[1] The unarmored portions of their sides were protected by thin iron plates.^[3]

Service

Triomphante was laid down at

Saigon.^[9]

Triomphante, and her half-sister La Galissonnière, were assigned to the

Pescadores Campaign, losing two killed and five wounded from her landing party. She became the flagship of the Far East Squadron on 1 April 1885 and remained as such until 5 February 1894 when she was reduced to reserve. Triomphante was condemned on 18 July 1896 and sold for scrap in 1903.^[9]

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 27
^ ^a ^b ^c de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 26
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gardiner, p. 302
^ Wright, pp. 59–60
^ ^a ^b ^c de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac, p. 31
^ Brassey, p. 477
^ "United States of America 1-pdr (0.45 kg) 1.46" (37 mm) Marks 1 through 15". Navweps.com. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
^ Wright, p. 59
^ ^a ^b ^c de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 32
^ Ropp, pp. 31, 55–58
^ ^a ^b Wilson, pp. 4–12
^ Wright 2000, p. 64