Suffren (1899) Battleship pre-dreadnought, France

Battleship SUFFREN, France 1899 Файл:Suffren 1899 frmalkov 01.gif

SUFFREN

Cuirassé (1903 - 1916)

Chantier :

Brest. Commencé le 05.01.1899 ; Mis à flot le 25.07.1899 ; En service le 08.09.1903 ; Retiré le 26.11.1916 Caractéristiques : 12 000 t ; 15 500 cv ; 125,5 x 21,4 x 8,4 m Plans Thibaudier Cuirasse en acier cémenté 24 chaudières Belleville puis Niclause 3 machines ; 17 nds ; 630 h ; IV 305 + X 164 + VIII 100 + 2 T.

Observations :

04.1898 : Commandé ; 02.1905 ou 1906 : Abordé par le sous-marin Bonite en plongée (Suffren rentre au bassin avec une voie d'eau) 09.08.1914 : Division de protection des troupes d'Algérie 24.09.1914 : Envoyé aux Dardanelles avec la Vérité (division Guépratte) 03.11.1914 : Bombardement des forts de l'entrée des Dardanelles avec la Vérité 12.1914 - 03.1915 : Dardanelles 02.1915 : Bombardement du cap Hellès et des forts turcs 18.03.1915 : Bombarde Tchanak 26.11.1916 : Torpillé par le sous-marin U52 au large de Lisbonne alors qu'il repartait à Lorient pour réparations. Perdu corps et biens.

Design and description

To save time Suffren was only intended to be an updated version of Iéna with modest improvements in armament and armour, but the number of improvements grew as the project was discussed by the Naval Council (Шаблон:Lang-fr) so that she was essentially a new design, only retaining some of IénaШаблон:'s layout. The biggest changes were the mounting of the bulk of the secondary armament in turrets, rather than IénaШаблон:'s casemates, and the constant thickness of the waterline belt armour compared to IénaШаблон:'s belt which thinned towards the ends of the ship. Stowage of shells for the main armament also increased from 45 to 60 rounds per gun.

General characteristics

Файл:SuffrenPlanView.jpg

Plan and right elevation from Brassey's Naval Annual 1912

Suffren was slightly larger than Iéna being Шаблон:Convert long overall. She had a beam of Шаблон:Convert and a draft of Шаблон:Convert forward and Шаблон:Convert aft. She was only slightly heavier than the Iéna and displaced Шаблон:Convert at normal displacement, and Шаблон:Convert at full load. Suffren was only Шаблон:Convert longer and displaced over Шаблон:Convert more than the earlier ship. She was fitted with bilge keels to reduce her rolling.

Propulsion

Suffren used three Indret vertical triple expansion steam engines, one engine per shaft. The centre shaft drove a three-bladed screw propeller and the wing propellers were four-bladed. Each propeller was Шаблон:Convert in diameter. The engines were powered by 24 Niclausse boilers that had a working pressure of Шаблон:Convert. The engines were rated at Шаблон:Convert and produced Шаблон:Convert and gave a top speed of Шаблон:Convert on sea trials, just slightly less than her designed speed of Шаблон:Convert. The ship carried a maximum of Шаблон:Convert of coal which allowed her to steam for Шаблон:Convert at a speed of Шаблон:Convert. Шаблон:Convert of fuel oil was carried to be sprayed on the coal to improve its burn rate. The ship's 80 V electrical power was provided by two 600-ampere and three 1200-ampere dynamos.

Armament

Like the Iéna which preceded her, the Suffren carried her main armament of four 40-calibre Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893/96 guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft. The guns had a maximum elevation of 15°. They fired Шаблон:Convert projectiles at the theoretical rate of 1 round per minute. They had a muzzle velocity of Шаблон:Convert which gave a range of Шаблон:Convert at maximum elevation. Suffren carried 60 rounds for each gun.

The ship's secondary armament consisted of ten 45-calibre Canon de 164 mm Modèle 1893 guns. Six of these were carried in single turrets on each side of the superstructure and the remaining four were mounted in individual casemates below them on the 1st Deck. The casemates were sponsoned out over the tumblehome of the sides. The guns fired Шаблон:Convert shells at a muzzle velocity of Шаблон:Convert to a maximum range of Шаблон:Convert. Their theoretical rate of fire was between two and three rounds per minute. She carried 1906 shells for these guns. Suffren also carried eight 45-calibre Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1893 guns in shielded mounts on the shelter deck and on the superstructure. These guns fired a Шаблон:Convert projectile at Шаблон:Convert, which could be trained up to 20° for a maximum range of Шаблон:Convert. Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was six rounds per minute, but only three rounds per minute sustained. The ship carried 2264 shells for these guns.

Twenty 50-calibre Canon de 47 mm Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns were mounted as anti-torpedo boat guns. They were mounted in the fighting tops and on the superstructure. They fired a Шаблон:Convert projectile at Шаблон:Convert to a maximum range of Шаблон:Convert. Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was fifteen rounds per minute, but only seven rounds per minute sustained. Suffren carried 15,000 rounds for these Шаблон:Convert guns. Two Шаблон:Convert Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns were mounted on the upper bridge. They fired a shell weighing about Шаблон:Convert at a muzzle velocity of about Шаблон:Convert to a range about Шаблон:Convert. Their rate of fire was about 25 rounds per minute.

Four Шаблон:Convert torpedo tubes were also carried. Two tubes were submerged, abaft the forward turret, and fixed at a 30° angle to the beam. The two above-water tubes had a central pivot and limited traverse. Twelve reserve Modèle 1892 torpedoes were carried, of which eight were combat models.

Armour

Suffren had a complete waterline armour belt of Harvey armour that was Шаблон:Convert high and Шаблон:Convert thick. The lower edge of this belt was a uniform Шаблон:Convert in thickness. The upper armour belt protected the casemates and was Шаблон:Convert thick. The maximum thickness of the armoured deck was Шаблон:Convert and the fore and aft armoured transverse bulkheads were 110 mm thick.

The main turret armour was Шаблон:Convert in thickness with a Шаблон:Convert roof and the barbettes were protected by Шаблон:Convert of armour. The armour for the secondary turrets ranged from Шаблон:Convert thick at the front to Шаблон:Convert at the rear. The conning tower had walls Шаблон:Convert thick and its communications tube was protected by Шаблон:Convert of armour.