Name Gloire Preceded by Gueydon class In commission 1904–1933 | Operators French Navy Succeeded by Léon Gambetta class Completed 5 | |
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The Gloire-class cruisers were a group of five armored cruisers built for the French Navy during the first decade of the 20th century.
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Design and description
The Gloire-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the Gueydon-class armored cruisers by the naval architect Emile Bertin. Their crew numbered 612 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured 139.8 meters (458 ft 8 in) overall, with a beam of 20.2 meters (66 ft 3 in) and a draft of 7.7 meters (25 ft 3 in) Designed to displace 9,856 metric tons (9,700 long tons), they actually displaced 9,458 to 10,212 metric tons (9,309 to 10,051 long tons).
The ships had three vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft. The engines were rated at a total of 20,500 indicated horsepower (15,300 kW), using steam provided by 24 Belleville water-tube boilers, except for Condé and Gloire, which had 28 Niclausse boilers. They had a designed speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph). They carried up to 1,590 long tons (1,620 t) of coal and could steam for 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).
The main armament of the Gloire-class cruisers consisted of two 194-millimeter (7.6 in) guns mounted in single-gun turrets fore and aft. Their intermediate armament was eight Canon de 164 mm Modèle 1893 guns. Four of these were in single gun turrets on the sides of the ship and the other four were in casemates. For anti-torpedo boat defense, they carried six 100-millimeter (3.9 in) guns in casemates and eighteen 47-millimeter (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns. They were also armed with five 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes; two of these were submerged and the others were above water.
The waterline armored belt of the Gloire-class ships was 170 millimeters (6.7 in) thick amidships and tapered to 106 millimeters (4.2 in) towards the bow and stern. Above the main belt was a thinner strake of armor, 127 millimeters (5 in) thick that also tapered to 106 mm at the ends of the ship. The conning tower had armored sides 150 millimeters (5.9 in) thick. The main gun turrets were protected by 173 millimeters (6.8 in) of armor and the intermediate turrets by 120 millimeters (4.7 in). The flat part of the lower armored deck was 45 millimeters (1.8 in), but increased to 64 millimeters (2.5 in) as it sloped down to the sides of the ship.