Before Italy entered war with the triple entente in May 1915, the Regia Marina was the only possible serious adversary for the French battlefleet, and once colors were announced, there was only one left: Austria Hungary and its small fleet trapped in Pola in the Adriatic. It was in effect devoid of any real naval threat. Their main theatre of operation was the Mediterranean, by agreement with the British. They were also caricatured by the French themselves as ‘Castles’.įrench battleships fought little during WWI. They looks quite unique, and their most popular nickname by extension from the Hoche, was the “hotels”. Virtually all French battleships of the 1890 to 1905 generation were different from one another, and they used a very peculiar design, between single turrets in lozenge, considerable tumble-home and heavy military masts. With just four dreadnoughts barely in service in August 1914, of the Courbet class, all the rest of the battlefleet, except the last homogenous classes in 1902-1911, was a mess of prototypes or semi-prototypes, without a single clear class in sight. ![]() When WWI broke out, France was found ill-prepared, with a large collection of mismatched vessels, the young school result of fifteen years of experimental playground. France was slow to keep up, only planning a class of “semi-dreadnought”, instead, the Danton. ![]() In 1906, it was Great Britain who took the lead, and kept it until the end of WWI, with the dreadnought. From then on, the old rivalry went on under Napoleon III and the third Republic. France, 40 Battleships (1888-1917) The Design of French Battleshipsįrance invented the concept of sea going ironclad back in 1859 with the armoured frigate “Gloire”, immediately answered by the British Navy with the first all-iron armoured frigate, the Warrior, twice her size.
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