French battleship Charlemagne (1895)
| File:Charlemagne-Marius Bar-img 3122.jpg Charlemagne | |
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Charlemagne |
| Builder: | Brest shipyard |
| Laid down: | 1894 |
| Launched: | 12 October 1895[1] |
| Commissioned: | December 1899 |
| Struck: | 1920 |
| Fate: | Broken up |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Charlemagne class battleship |
| Displacement: | 11,300 tonnes |
| Length: | 118 m (387 ft) |
| Beam: | 20.5 m (67 ft) |
| Draught: | 8.40 m (27.6 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 steam engines, 3 shafts, 14,500 HP |
| Speed: | 18 knots |
| Complement: | 725 men |
| Armament: |
2 × 2 - 305 mm Mle 1893/96 guns |
| Armour: |
belt : 250-400 mm |
The Charlemagne was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. In 1915, along with her sister-ship Gaulois, she took part in the Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, under admiral Émile Paul Amable Guépratte. She was named after Charlemagne, a famous Frankish king.
Design
The Charlemagne displaced 11,300 tonnes (11,100 long tons), was 118 metres (387 ft) long, had a beam of 20.5 metres (67 ft) and a draught of 8.4 metres (28 ft). She was manned by 694 men.[2] Equipped with a set of two steam engines rated at 14,500 indicated horsepower (10,800 kW), the Charlemagne could move at a maximum speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[2] She was one of the first French ships to be armed with twin mounted main guns, although a low displacement severely diminished the capability of them.[2]Those were four 305 mm Mle 1893/96 guns. [3] The main battery was augmented by a secondary battery of ten single 138 millimetres (5.4 in) guns and a tertiary battery of eight 100 millimetres (3.9 in). She was also armed with four 450 millimetres (18 in) torpedo tubes.[2][3]
Service History
After she was commissioned, Charlemagne joined the 3rd Battle Squadron. In World War One, she and her sister Gaulois bombarded Ottoman fortifications and ports in February and March of 1915 as part of the Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign.[4] After the war, she returned to duties performing training cruises and exercises in the western Mediterranean sea for nearly two years, before she was scrapped in 1920.[2]
