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French cruiser Dubourdieu

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Dubourdieu off Mare Island around 1890
Class overview
Preceded byAréthuse
Succeeded byMilan
History
France
NameDubordieu
BuilderArsenal de Cherbourg
Laid down1880
Launched1884
CompletedSeptember 1886
Stricken1899
General characteristics
Displacement3,700 long tons (3,800 t)
Length77.26 m (253 ft) loa
Beam14.02 m (46 ft)
Draft6.6 m (21 ft 8 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Sail planFull ship rig
Speed13.9 knots (25.7 km/h; 16.0 mph)
Complement412
Armament
  • 4 × 165 mm (6.5 in) guns
  • 12 × 140 mm (5.5 in) guns
  • 1 × 37 mm (1.5 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannon
  • 10 × 25 mm (1 in) 1-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannon
  • 2 × 350 mm (13.8 in) torpedo tubes

Dubordieu was an unprotected cruiser built for the French Navy in the early 1880s. Intended to serve as a long-range commerce raider, the ship was fitted with a sailing rig to supplement its steam engine on long voyages, and she carried an armament of four 165 mm (6.5 in) and twelve 140 mm (5.5 in) guns. She was among the final French unprotected cruisers, thereafter being replaced by more durable protected cruisers. The French Navy was not satisfied with the vessel, owing to her obsolescent design, since she too weak to defeat the more powerful protected cruisers and was too slow to escape from them.

The ship served as the flagship of the Pacific station after entering service in 1889, but was forced to return home the following year to correct defects in her propulsion system. Dubourdieu returned to the Pacific later in 1890 and served there for the next several years. She was recalled home by 1895, and the next year she became the flagship of the North Atlantic station, a role she filled through 1899. The ship was placed in reserve in April that year, before being converted into a training ship; her ultimate fate is unknown.

Design

In 1878, the French Navy embarked on a program of cruiser construction authorized by the Conseil des Travaux (Council of Works) for a strategy aimed at attacking British merchant shipping in the event of war. The program called for ships of around 3,000 long tons (3,048 t) with a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). Four vessels were ordered, and Dubourdieu was the last of the group; she was to be the last wooden-hulled cruiser to be built in France.[1] France was among the last countries to build wooden-hulled cruisers, along with the United States; the French Navy preferred the use of wood, both because it was cheaper than steel, and it also allowed steel production to be concentrated on the ironclad warships then being built.[2]

The ship was poorly regarded as a result of her dated design; she was significantly weaker than the new protected cruisers that began to enter service in foreign navies by the time she was completed. She was also too slow to escape more powerful vessels. Admiral Jules François Émile Krantz is believed to have remarked that Dubourdieu was "nothing more than nice accommodations."[1] Dubourdieu and the other three vessels were the final generation of unprotected cruisers built in France, that type thereafter being replaced by protected cruisers beginning with Sfax in the early 1880s.[1]

Characteristics

One of Dubourdieu's main guns

Dubourdieu was 77.26 m (253 ft) long overall, with a beam of 14.02 m (46 ft) and a draft of 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in). She displaced 3,700 long tons (3,800 t). Her hull was constructed with wood; she had a clipper bow and an overhanging stern. The ship had no armor protection. Her crew consisted of 412 officers and enlisted men.[3]

The ship was propelled by a single horizontal compound steam engine that drove a screw propeller. Steam was provided by twelve coal-burning fire-tube boilers that were ducted into a single funnel located amidships. Coal storage amounted to 330 long tons (340 t). The power plant produced 3,000 indicated horsepower (2,200 kW) for a top speed of 13.9 knots (25.7 km/h; 16.0 mph). The ship's engines proved to be troublesome in service, a common problem with French cruisers of the period. To supplement her steam engines, she was fitted with a three-masted full ship rig.[3]

The ship was armed with a main battery of four 165 mm (6.5 in) M1881 28-caliber guns that were placed in sponsons on the upper deck, two per side. These were supported by a secondary battery of twelve 140 mm (5.5 in) M1881 30-caliber guns, which were placed in a central gun battery on the main deck. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried a tertiary battery of a single 37 mm (1.5 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannon and ten 25 mm (1 in) 1-pounder revolver cannon. Dubourdieu was also fitted with two 350 mm (13.8 in) torpedo tubes in above-water mounts.[3]

Service history

Dubourdieu in dry-dock at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California around 1890

Dubourdieu was built at the Arsenal de Cherbourg; she was ordered on 24 December 1879 and her keel was laid down on 6 September 1880. She was launched on 6 December 1884. Delays with the design and manufacturing of the steam engines slowed work on the ship, and she was finally completed in 1886, being commissioned for sea trials on 15 June. After conducting her full-power trials on 9 September, she was placed in reserve. Further trials were carried out, beginning on 6 June 1887, and after defects were discovered during a test run on 16 July, she was placed in the 3rd category of reserve for alterations on 10 August. She carried out further trials and was moved to the 2nd category of reserve on 22 December, at which point the ship was pronounced complete.[4][2] At some point during the trials period, Dubourdieu received additional alterations, including the installation of admiral's quarters to allow the vessel to serve as a flagship. This work lasted two years, and on 18 November 1889, Dubourdieu was recommissioned to deploy to the Pacific station, replacing the cruiser Duquesne as the flagship there. The ship's arrival was delayed when engine damage forced her to return to Cherbourg for repairs on 15 February 1890. She departed again on 10 April. The ship sailed south through the Atlantic, rounded Cape Horn, and made calls in a series of ports along the way, including in Chile, Peru, and the Hawaiian Kingdom, before reaching Tahiti in French Polynesia.[4][1]

After arriving in the Pacific, she operated with the unprotected cruisers Volta and Champlain.[5] During this period, the ships were primarily responsible for patrolling the French colonies in the Pacific. She remained in the area through 1893; by that time, the unit also consisted of the unprotected cruisers Duguay-Trouin and Duchaffault.[6] By 1895, Dubourdieu had been recalled home and Duguay-Trouin sent to the East Indies, leaving only Duchaffault and a gunboat in the region.[7]

Dubourdieu was assigned to the North American station in 1896 to serve as its flagship, along with the unprotected cruiser Roland.[8] The following year, Roland was replaced by the unprotected cruiser Rigault de Genouilly, with Dubourdieu still the flagship.[9] In May that year, Dubourdieu steamed to Cherbourg to undergo an overhaul and receive a new crew before resuming her role as the station flagship.[10]

She remained on the station through 1899, by which time she had been joined by the protected cruiser Sfax.[11] By that time, Dubourdieu flew the flag of Rear Admiral Escande. She arrived in Brest on 16 April, where Escande hauled down his flag. Four days later, the ship moved to Lorient, where she was paid off into reserve. She was struck from the naval register later that year and was converted into a stationary training ship. The ship's ultimate fate is unknown.[3][12]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Ropp, p. 109.
  2. ^ a b Marshall, p. 98.
  3. ^ a b c d Campbell, p. 320.
  4. ^ a b Roberts, p. 102.
  5. ^ Brassey 1890, p. 67.
  6. ^ Brassey 1893, p. 71.
  7. ^ Brassey 1895, pp. 54–55.
  8. ^ Brassey 1896, p. 66.
  9. ^ Brassey 1897, p. 61.
  10. ^ Garbett 1897, p. 634.
  11. ^ Brassey 1899, p. 74.
  12. ^ Garbett 1899, p. 556.

References

  • Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1890). "Chapter V: The Foreign Stations". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 64–68. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1893). "Chapter IV: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 66–73. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1895). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 49–59. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1896). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 61–71. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1897). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 56–77. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1899). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 70–80. OCLC 496786828.
  • Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 283–333. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
  • Garbett, H., ed. (May 1897). "Naval Notes: France". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. XLI (231). London: J. J. Keliher & Co.: 634–637. OCLC 1077860366.
  • Garbett, H., ed. (May 1899). "Naval Notes: France". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. XLIII (255). London: J. J. Keliher & Co.: 555–559. OCLC 1077860366.
  • Marshall, Chris, ed. (1995). The Encyclopedia of Ships: The History and Specifications of Over 1200 Ships. Enderby: Blitz Editions. ISBN 1-85605-288-5.
  • "Naval Summary". The Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine. V. Pall Mall: W. H. Allen & Co.: 141–146 1890.
  • Roberts, Stephen (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
  • Ropp, Theodore (1987). Roberts, Stephen S. (ed.). The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871–1904. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.
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