French cruiser D'Assas
 D'Assas
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | D'Assas |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire |
| Laid down | 1894 |
| Launched | 28 March 1896 |
| Completed | March 1898 |
| Stricken | 1914 |
| Fate | Broken up |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Template:Sclass- |
| Displacement | 3,962 long tons (4,026 t) |
| Length | 96.14 m (315 ft 5 in) pp |
| Beam | 13.67 m (44 ft 10 in) |
| Draft | 6.25 m (20 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 370–392 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
D'Assas was the lead ship of the Template:Sclass- of protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s.
Design
In response to a war scare with Italy in the late 1880s, the French Navy embarked on a major construction program in 1890 to counter the threat of the Italian fleet and that of Italy's ally Germany. The plan called for a total of seventy cruisers for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire. The D'Assas class were ordered to as part of the program, and were very similar to the earlier Template:Sclass-s.[1][2]
D'Assas was 96.14 m (315 ft 5 in) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 13.67 m (44 ft 10 in) and a draft of 6.25 m (20 ft 6 in). She displaced 3,962 long tons (4,026 t). Her crew varied over the course of her career, and consisted of 370–392 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by twenty coal-burning Lagrafel d'Allest water-tube boilers that were ducted into three funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW) for a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[2]
The ship was armed with a main battery of six 164 mm (6.5 in) 45-caliber guns. They were placed in individual mounts; one was on the forecastle, two were in sponsons abreast the conning tower, and the last was on the stern. These were supported by a secondary battery of four 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, which were carried in sponsons, one pair abreast the center funnel and the other pair further aft. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried ten 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and five37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder guns. She was also armed with two 457 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 70 to 80 mm (2.8 to 3.1 in) thick, along with 100 mm plating on the conning tower.[2]
Service history
D'Assas was laid down at the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard Nantes in 1894. She was launched on 28 March 1896 and was completed in March 1898, the last member of her class to enter service.[2][3]
The ship was struck from the naval register in 1914 and sold for scrap; she was the only member of her class to have been discarded before the start of World War I.[3]
Notes
References
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|lastauthoramp=ignored (|name-list-style=suggested) (help) - 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.