French ironclad Friedland
Encyclopedia
The French ironclad Friedland was originally intended to be an iron-hulled version of armoured frigate built for the French Navy
during the 1870s, but she was much altered during her prolonged construction. Named after the French victory at the Battle of Friedland
in 1807, the ship spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and supported the French occupation of Tunisia
in 1881. She was condemned in 1902.
.
The ship measured 101.1 metre overall, with a beam
of 17.7 metre. Friedland had a maximum draft of 8.6 metre and displaced 8540 tonnes (8,405.1 LT), some 750 tonnes (738.2 LT) larger than the Ocean-class ironclads. Her crew numbered around 750 officers and men.
Five 100 millimetres (4 in) watertight bulkhead
s divided the hull into compartments, although they only reached up to the main deck. Friedland did not have a double bottom
. The metacentric height
of the ship was low, a little above 3 foot (0.9144 m).
. Its engine was powered by eight oval boiler
s. On sea trial
s the engine produced 4428 ihp and Friedland reached 13.3 knots (7.2 m/s). She carried 630 metric tons (620 LT) of coal which allowed her to steam for approximately 2666 nautical miles (4,937.4 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). Friedland was initially ship rigged with three masts, then barque
-rigged and finally fore-and-aft rig
ged after her mainmast was removed.
s on the upper deck, one gun at the forward corner of the battery, with the remaining six 274-millimetre Modèle 1870 guns on the battery deck below the barbette
s. Eight 138-millimetre Modèle 1870 guns were on the upper deck, fore and aft of the barbettes, and on the battery deck.
The 18-calibre
274 millimetres (10.8 in) gun fired an armour-piercing
, 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
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
armour at the muzzle. The 138 millimetres (5.4 in) gun was 21 calibres long and weighed 2.63 long tons (2.7 t). It fired a 61.7 pounds (28 kg) explosive shell
that had a muzzle velocity of 1529 ft/s (466 m/s). The guns could fire both solid shot
and explosive shells.
At some point the ship received 22 37 millimetres (1.5 in) Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns
. 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. The hull was not recessed to enable any of the guns on the battery deck to fire forward or aft. However, the guns mounted in the barbettes sponson
ed out over the sides of the hull did have some ability to fire fore and aft. In 1884 two above-water 356 millimetres (14 in) torpedo tube
s were added. Two more were added in 1891.
Friedland had a complete 220 millimetres (8.7 in) wrought iron
waterline belt
. The sides and the transverse bulkheads of the battery itself were armoured with 160 millimetres (6.3 in) of wrought iron. The barbettes were unarmoured.
in January 1865 and launched on 15 October 1873. While the exact reason for such prolonged construction time is not known, the budget for the French Navy was cut after the Franco-Prussian War
of 1870–71 and the French dockyards had not been reformed with working practices more suitable for the industrial age. The ship began her sea trials on 1 May 1875, but was not completed until 20 June 1877. Friedland joined the Mediterranean Squadron in 1878 and the ship bombarded the Tunisian port of Sfax
from 6–16 July 1881 as part of the French occupation of Tunisia
. She was reduced to reserve in 1887 and decommissioned in 1893. Friedland returned to active duty in 1893, but was paid off in 1898 and condemned in 1902.
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...
during the 1870s, but she was much altered during her prolonged construction. Named after the French victory at the Battle of Friedland
Battle of Friedland
The Battle of Friedland saw Napoleon I's French army decisively defeat Count von Bennigsen's Russian army about twenty-seven miles southeast of Königsberg...
in 1807, the ship spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and supported 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...
in 1881. She was condemned in 1902.
Design and description
Friedland was a central battery ironclad with the armament concentrated amidships. Like most ironclads of her era she was fitted 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...
.
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 17.7 metre. Friedland had a maximum draft of 8.6 metre and displaced 8540 tonnes (8,405.1 LT), some 750 tonnes (738.2 LT) larger than the Ocean-class ironclads. Her crew numbered around 750 officers and men.
Five 100 millimetres (4 in) watertight bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
s divided the hull into compartments, although they only reached up to the main deck. Friedland did not have a double bottom
Double bottom
A double bottom is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom of the ship has two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is somewhat higher in the ship, perhaps a few feet, which forms a...
. 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 3 foot (0.9144 m).
Propulsion
Friedland had one Indret 3-cylinder horizontal return connecting rod compound steam engine driving a single propellerPropeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
. Its engine was powered by eight oval boiler
Boiler (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. 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 4428 ihp and Friedland reached 13.3 knots (7.2 m/s). She carried 630 metric tons (620 LT) of coal which allowed her to steam for approximately 2666 nautical miles (4,937.4 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). Friedland was initially ship rigged with three masts, then barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
-rigged and finally fore-and-aft rig
Fore-and-aft rig
A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing rig consisting mainly of sails that are set along the line of the keel rather than perpendicular to it. Such sails are described as fore-and-aft rigged....
ged after her mainmast was removed.
Armament and Armour
Two 274-millimetre Modèle 1870 guns were 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 corner of the battery, with the remaining six 274-millimetre Modèle 1870 guns on the battery deck below the barbette
Barbette
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. Eight 138-millimetre Modèle 1870 guns were on the upper deck, fore and aft of the barbettes, and on the battery deck.
The 18-calibre
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 millimetres (10.8 in) gun fired an armour-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...
armour at the muzzle. The 138 millimetres (5.4 in) gun was 21 calibres 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 22 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. The hull was not recessed to enable any of the guns on the battery deck to fire forward or aft. However, the guns mounted in the barbettes sponson
Sponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
ed out over the sides of the hull did have some ability to fire fore and aft. In 1884 two 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. Two more were added in 1891.
Friedland had a complete 220 millimetres (8.7 in) 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...
waterline 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....
. The sides and the transverse bulkheads of the battery itself were armoured with 160 millimetres (6.3 in) of wrought iron. The barbettes were unarmoured.
Service
Friedland was laid down at LorientLorient
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...
in January 1865 and launched on 15 October 1873. While the exact reason for such prolonged construction time is not known, the budget for the French Navy was cut 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 the French dockyards had not been reformed with working practices more suitable for the industrial age. The ship began her sea trials on 1 May 1875, but was not completed until 20 June 1877. Friedland joined the Mediterranean Squadron in 1878 and the ship 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...
from 6–16 July 1881 as part of 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...
. She was reduced to reserve in 1887 and decommissioned in 1893. Friedland returned to active duty in 1893, but was paid off in 1898 and condemned in 1902.