The Bouvines class was a pair of coastal defense ship

Coastal defence ship

Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...

s built for the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

. The class comprised two ships: Bouvines, named after the Battle of Bouvines

Battle of Bouvines

The Battle of Bouvines, 27 July 1214, was a conclusive medieval battle ending the twelve year old Angevin-Flanders War that was important to the early development of both the French state by confirming the French crown's sovereignty over the Angevin lands of Brittany and Normandy.Philip Augustus of...

, and Amiral-Tréhouart, named after the prominent Admiral. The ships were very similar to the preceding s and differed mainly mainly by the addition of a forecastle deck and a smaller main armament of 305 mm (12 in) guns. They were sold for scrap after World War I.

General characteristics

The Bouvines class ships were half-sisters to the Jemmapes class laid down at the same time. They were virtually identical to them except that they were given a forecastle deck to improve seaworthiness and the main armament was lightened to offset the additional weight, 305 mm (12 in) Mle 1887 guns were installed rather than the 340 mm (13.4 in) Mle 1887 guns of the Jemmapes class.

Bouvines and Amiral-Tréhouart were 89.38 m (293.2 ft) long at the waterline and 122.35 m (401.4 ft) long overall. They had a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 17.86 m (58.6 ft) and a draft of 6.38 m (20.9 ft) forward and 7.54 m (24.7 ft) aft. She was only slightly heavier than the Jemmapes class and displaced 6798 metric tons (6,690.6 LT), only 300 metric tons (295.3 LT) more than the earlier ships. Once in service they proved to roll badly so bilge keels were later fitted

Propulsion

The Bouvines class ships used two inclined horizontal triple-expansion steam engines built by Menpenti of Marseilles, one engine per shaft. Bouvines's engines were powered by eighteen d'Allest-Lagrafel water tube boilers and had two funnels, but Amiral-Tréhouart used sixteen Belleville boilers instead and had only one funnel. The engines produced a total of 8865 ihp and gave a top speed of 16.05 knots on trials. The ships carried a maximum of 557 metric tons (548.2 LT) of coal which allowed the ship to steam for 3900 nautical miles (7,222.8 km) at a speed of 8 knots (15.7 km/h).

Armament

Like the Jemmapes class which preceded her, the Bouvines class ships carried their main armament of two 305 mm (12 in) 45 caliber Modèle 1887 guns in two single-gun turrets, one each fore and aft. The guns fired 340 kilograms (749.6 lb) projectiles at the rate of 1 round per minute at a muzzle velocity

Muzzle velocity

Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...

 of approximately 780 metres per second (2,559.1 ft/s). The guns could be depressed to −4° and elevated to +10°.

The ship's secondary armament consisted of eight 100 mm (3.9 in) 45 caliber Modèle 1892 guns, four of which were mounted in individual casemate

Casemate

A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...

s. The other four were carried on pivot mounts with gun shield

Gun shield

thumb|A [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]] manning an [[M240 machine gun]] equipped with a gun shieldA gun shield is a flat piece or section of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun or artillery piece, or, more rarely, to be used with an assault rifle...

s on the shelter deck directly above the four casemated guns on the corners of the superstructure. The guns fired 16 kilograms (35.3 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity of 703 metres per second (2,306.4 ft/s).

Initially four 47 mm (1.9 in) 40 caliber Canon de 47 mm Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns

QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss

The QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 47-mm naval gun introduced in 1886 to defend against new small fast vessels such as torpedo boats, and later submarines...

 were mounted as anti-torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

 guns in the fighting top

Top (sailing ship)

On a traditional square rigged ship, the top is the platform at the upper end of each mast. This is not the masthead "crow's nest" of the popular imagination – above the mainmast is the main-topmast, main-topgallant-mast and main-royal-mast, so that the top is actually about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way...

, but this was later increased to eight. They were mounted in platforms in the mainmast and on the superstructure. They fired a 1.49 kilograms (3.3 lb) projectile at 610 metres per second (2,001.3 ft/s) to a maximum range of 4000 metres (4,374.5 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was fifteen rounds per minute, but only seven rounds per minute sustained. Initially ten 37 m revolving Hotchkiss revolving cannon were carried on the superstructure, but this was reduced to three when the additional 47 mm guns were mounted. Two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tube

Torpedo tube

A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...

s were mounted above the waterline, but they were removed in 1906.

Armor

The Bouvines class ships had a complete waterline armor belt of Creusot steel that tapered from the maximum thickness of 464 mm (18.3 in) to 250 mm (9.8 in) at the ship's ends. The belt's height was an average of 1.9 m (6.2 ft), but increased to 2.86 metres (9.4 ft) at the bow and to 2.18 metres (7.2 ft) at the stern. The ship was intended to have 40 centimetres (15.7 in) of the belt showing above the waterline, but they were approximately 200 tonnes (196.8 LT) too heavy as completed and only 24 centimetres (9.4 in) of the belt was above the waterline. The hull above the belt was completely unarmored. The maximum thickness of the armored deck was 92 mm (3.6 in) and it was joined to the top of the armor belt. The main turret

Gun turret

A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...

 armor was 370 mm (14.6 in) in thickness although the turret bases were only 320 mm (12.6 in) thick. The conning tower

Conning tower

A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....

 had 80 mm (3.1 in) of armor.

Construction

Bouvines was authorized in the Supplementary Estimates of 1889 although Amiral-Tréhouart had been authorized in the 1889 Ordinary Naval Estimates. Bouvines was laid down at Les Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée at La Seyne-sur-Mer

La Seyne-sur-Mer

La Seyne-sur-Mer, or La Seyne is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is part of the agglomeration of Toulon, and is situated adjacent to the west of this city.-Economy:...

 30 September 1890. She was launched on 29 March 1892, began sea trials on 15 October 1894, but took until 1 December 1895 to enter service. Amiral-Tréhouart was laid down at Lorient

Lorient

Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...

 during October 1890, launched in May 1893 and entered service in May 1896.

History

Bouvines served as a flagship for the entirety of her active service where she served both in the Northern Squadron and Channel Flotilla in the Bay of Biscay

Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...

 and the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 as well as in the Mediterranean Squadron. She was stricken on 1 July 1913 and was used by the Inspection Service at Cherbourg between 1914 and 1917. She was condemned in 1918 and sold for scrapping in 1920.

Little is known of Amiral-Tréhouart's career other than she served as a submarine tender

Submarine tender

A submarine tender is a type of ship that supplies and supports submarines.Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies, nor to carry a full array of maintenance equipment and...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

and was sold for scrapping in 1922.

External links

• nice picture gallery of the ships once you scroll about 2/3 down