WW1 French Navy

WW1 French Escorts

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WW1 French Escorts France (1893) French ASW warfare during the great war Because of the considerable maritime traffic amount between the British Empire and its colonies, as with the USA, we often forget that many other belligerent nations had a sizeable trade fleet at the start of the war, and that German submarine warfare impacted … Read more

WW1 French Submarines

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WW1 French Submarines About 80 submersibles 1865-1919 Introduction As a matter of fact, submarines like aviation had many fathers. Although Clement Ader claimed to have “flown” his Eole in 1890, a small hop of about 50 m at 20 cm off the ground, it remained unofficial. The feat would have to wait 1903’s Wright brothers … Read more

Armoured Cruiser Dupuy de Lôme (1890)

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France (1890) – Armoured Cruiser The cruiser Dupuy de Lôme was not only the first French armoured cruiser, but also one of the most revolutionary of her time. She was named after French engineer Dupuy de Lôme, a visionary that -among others- created the first steam battleship, seagoing ironclad, and submarine. The cruiser was also … Read more

WW1 French Destroyers

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WW1 French Destroyers France (1899-1918), about 90 destroyers Foreworld After having turned hundreds of torpedo boats in two decades under the influence of the “Young School”, France started creating destroyers in 1900, at first 300 tons, short range ships, but soon from 1908, 500+ tons, and eventually 800 tons ships in 1911, true fleet destroyers … Read more

Charles Martel class Battleships (1891)

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France (1891-95) Brennus, Charles Martel, Jauréguiberry, Carnot, Masséna, Bouvet “A navy of prototypes” Prior to 1890, France, still Britain’s main naval rival at that point, paused its battleship construction because of the influence of the Jeune Ecole doctrine. The latter blindly and radically favoured torpedo boats and torpedo-carrying ships in general, at the expense of … Read more

WW1 French Torpedo Boats

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WW1 French Torpedo Boats 350 Torpedo Boats (1870s-1914) Introduction: French doctrine about TBs The French did not invented the torpedo boat, which was, for all purposes, merely a British crossed invention. Robert Whitehead indeed invented the modern torpedo concept in 1866, later refined by French and German innovations. John Thornycroft brings the turbine with her … Read more

WW1 French Battlecruisers (Projects)

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WW1 French Battlecruisers (Projects) Paper projects (1913) French what-if battlecruisers A bit provocative in its title, this article is dedicated to French prewar battlecruisers paper projects, proposed by officers Durant-Viel and P.Gille. These were part of the ambitious 1912 naval plan that gets rid of the noxious Jeune Ecole school of thought, to concentrate on … Read more

Jurien de la Gravière (1899)

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France (1899) – Protected Cruiser A “tin-clad cruiser” The term was used often to describe rival Italian and French cruisers of the interwar, sacrificing all for speed. But the French cruiser Jurien de la Gravière twenty years before was at the same time the last French “protected” cruiser and one of the thinnest built. The … Read more

Edgar Quinet class armoured cruisers (1907)

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France (1907): Edgar Quinet, Waldeck-Rousseau France’s last armoured cruisers The last French cruiser-battleships, and by far the most imposing, were the two Edgar Quinet, which constituted at the same time a synthesis of all the acquired experience in design for this particular type of ship and at the same time an additional milestone in the … Read more

Seaplane Carrier La Foudre (1895)

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France (1895) – Torpedo mothership/Seaplane carrier First life: As a torpedo boat mothership The Foudre in still well remembered from, studied, and related upon as an interesting experiment and pioneering ship at the fall of the XIXth century. The Foudre “Lightning” was originally a pure product of the Jeune Ecole (“Young School”). It was a … Read more