French frigate Colbert
Encyclopedia
The French ironclad Colbert was the lead ship
Lead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
of the s that were 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...
in the 1870s. The ship was the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the Mediterranean Squadron for most of her career. She took part in the French occupation of Tunisia
French occupation of Tunisia
The French conquest of Tunisia occurred in two phases in 1881: the first consisting of the invasion and securing of the country before the signing of a treaty of protection, and the second consisting in the suppression of a rebellion...
, notably shelling and landing troops in Sfax
Sfax
Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Taparura and Thaenae, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate , and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has population of 340,000...
on 15–16 July 1881. Colbert was paid off
Ship decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
in 1895 and condemned in 1900. The ship was finally sold for scrap
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
in 1909.
Design and description
The Colbert-class ships were designed by Constructor Sabattier as improved versions of the ironclad . As a central battery ironclad, Colbert had her armament concentrated amidships. Like most ironclads of her era she was equipped with a plough-shaped ramNaval ram
A naval ram was a weapon carried by varied types of ships, dating back to antiquity. The weapon consisted of an underwater prolongation of the bow of the ship to form an armoured beak, usually between six and twelve feet in length...
. Her crew numbered 774 officers and men. The metacentric height
Metacentric height
The metacentric height is a measurement of the static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre . A larger metacentric height implies greater stability against overturning...
of the ship was low, a little above 2 foot (0.6096 m).
The ship measured 101.1 metre overall, with 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 17.4 metre. Colbert had a maximum draft of 8.5 metre and displaced 8617 tonnes (8,480.9 LT).
Propulsion
Colbert reverted to a single propeller shaft to improve her sailing qualities. She had one Wolf 3-cylinder horizontal return connecting rod compound steam engine. The engine was powered by eight oval boilerBoiler (steam generator)
A boiler or steam generator is a device used to create steam by applying heat energy to water. Although the definitions are somewhat flexible, it can be said that older steam generators were commonly termed boilers and worked at low to medium pressure but, at pressures above this, it is more...
s and was designed for a capacity of 4600 ihp. On sea trial
Sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...
s the engine produced 4652 ihp and Colbert reached 14.75 knots (8 m/s). She carried a maximum of 620 metric tons (610.2 LT) of coal which allowed her to steam for approximately 3300 nautical miles (6,111.6 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). Colbert was ship rigged with three masts and had a sail area around 23000 square foot.
Armament
Colbert had two 274 millimetres (10.8 in) guns mounted in barbetteBarbette
A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
s on the upper deck, one gun at the forward corners of the battery, with six additional guns on the battery deck below the barbettes. The side of the upper deck were cut away to improve the ability of the barbette guns to bear fore and aft. One 240 millimetres (9.4 in) was mounted in the forecastle as a chase gun
Chase gun
The chase guns, usually distinguished as bow chasers and stern chasers were cannons mounted in the bow or stern of a sailing ship...
. The ship's secondary armament consisted of six 138 millimetres (5.4 in) guns, four forward of the battery and two aft. These latter two guns were replaced in 1878 by another 240-millimetre gun as a stern chaser. The ship also mounted four above-water 356 millimetres (14 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 added.
The 18-caliber
Caliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
274-millimeter Modèle 1870 gun fired an armor-piercing
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
, 476.2 pounds (216 kg) shell while the gun itself weighed 22.84 long tons (23.2 t). The gun fired its shell 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 1424 ft/s (434 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal 14.3 inches (36.3 cm) of wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
armor at the muzzle. The armor-piercing shell of the 19-caliber 240-millmeter Modèle 1870 gun weighed 317.5 pounds (144 kg) while the gun itself weighed 15.41 long tons (15.7 t). It had 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 1624 ft/s (495 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal 14.4 inches (366 mm) of wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
armor at the muzzle. The 138-millimeter gun was 21 calibers long and weighed 2.63 long tons (2.7 t). It fired a 61.7 pounds (28 kg) explosive shell
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
that had a muzzle velocity of 1529 ft/s (466 m/s). The guns could fire both solid shot
Round shot
Round shot is a solid projectile without explosive charge, fired from a cannon. As the name implies, round shot is spherical; its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the gun it is fired from.Round shot was made in early times from dressed stone, but by the 17th century, from iron...
and explosive shells.
At some point the ship received fourteen to eighteen 37 millimetres (1.5 in) Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns
Hotchkiss gun
The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch light mountain gun; there was also a 3-inch Hotchkiss gun...
. They fired a shell weighing about 500 g (1.1 lb) at a muzzle velocity of about 610 m/s (2,001.3 ft/s) to a range of about 3200 metres (3,499.6 yd). They had a rate of fire of about 30 rounds per minute.
Armor
The Colbert-class ships had a complete wrought ironWrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
waterline
Waterline
The term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...
belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
that was 220 millimetres (8.7 in) thick amidships and tapered to 180 millimetres (7.1 in) at the stern. It was backed by 89 millimetres (3.5 in) of wood. The sides of the battery itself were armored with 160 millimetres (6.3 in) of wrought iron, backed by 62 millimetres (2.4 in) of wood, and the ends of the battery were closed by transverse armored bulkheads 120 millimetres (4.7 in) thick, backed by 480 millimetres (18.9 in) of wood. The barbettes were unarmored, but the deck
Deck (ship)
A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary deck is the horizontal structure which forms the 'roof' for the hull, which both strengthens the hull and serves as the primary working surface...
was 15 millimetre (0.590551181102362 in) thick.
Service
Colbert was named in honor of Jean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
, Controller-General of Finances
Controller-General of Finances
The Controller-General of Finances was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. The position replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances , which was abolished with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet.- History :The term "contrôleur général" in...
from 1665 to 1683 under King Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. She was laid down at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
in 1869 and launched on 16 September 1875. While the exact reason for such prolonged construction time is not known, it is believed that reduction of the French Navy's budget after the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870–71 and out-of-date work practices in French dockyards were likely causes. The ship began her sea trials on 23 May 1877, but became flagship of the Reserve Squadron on 31 August 1878. On 1 October 1879 she became the flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron; which post she would hold until 14 January 1890 when she was placed in reserve. Colbert bombarded the Tunisian port of Sfax
Sfax
Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Taparura and Thaenae, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate , and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has population of 340,000...
on 15–16 July 1881 as the French occupied Tunisia. She became flagship of the Reserve Squadron again on 12 April 1892 until she was paid off
Ship decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
in 1895. She was condemned on 11 August 1900, before being sold for scrap in 1909.