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French cruiser Descartes
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French cruiser Descartes
Descartes was the lead ship of the Descartes class of protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The Descartes-class cruisers were ordered as part of a construction program directed at strengthening the fleet's cruiser force. At the time, France was concerned with the growing naval threat of the Italian and German fleets, and the new cruisers were intended to serve with the main fleet, and overseas in the French colonial empire. Descartes was armed with a main battery of four 164.7 mm (6.5 in) guns, was protected by an armor deck that was 20 to 40 mm (0.79 to 1.57 in) thick, and was capable of steaming at a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
Descartes served overseas in French Indochina for much of her career, being sent there immediately after entering service in 1897. She was present in the region during the Boxer Uprising in Qing China in 1900. After returning to France in 1902, she was assigned to the North Atlantic station with several other cruisers. The ship made a second deployment to East Asia in 1905, later being briefly stationed in Madagascar in 1907, before returning for a tour with the Mediterranean Squadron that year. Descartes was then transferred to the Northern Squadron. By 1914, the ship was operating with the Division de l'Atlantique (Division of the Atlantic) and was in Central American waters when World War I started in July. She joined the unsuccessful search for the German cruiser SMS Karlsruhe in August, and spent the next three years patrolling the West Indies. She was decommissioned and disarmed in 1917, her guns being used as field artillery and to arm patrol vessels. She was struck from the naval register in 1920 and sold to ship breakers the following year.
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 Descartes class—Descartes and Pascal—was ordered to as part of the program. The design for the Descartes class was based on the earlier cruiser Davout, but was enlarged to incorporate a more powerful gun armament.
Descartes was 100.7 m (330 ft 5 in) long overall, with a beam of 12.95 m (42 ft 6 in) and an average draft of 6.01 m (19 ft 9 in). She displaced 4,005 t (3,942 long tons; 4,415 short tons) as designed. Her crew varied over the course of her career, and consisted of 383–401 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 sixteen coal-burning Belleville-type water-tube boilers that were ducted into two funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 8,300 indicated horsepower (6,200 kW) for a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph), but she exceeded these figures on trials, reaching 19.59 knots (36.28 km/h; 22.54 mph) from 8,828 ihp (6,583 kW). She had a cruising radius of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 19.5 knots.
The ship was armed with a main battery of four 164.7 mm (6.48 in) guns. They were placed in individual sponsons clustered amidships, two guns per broadside. These were supported by a secondary battery of ten 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, which were carried in sponsons, casemates, and individual pivot mounts. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried eight 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and four 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder guns. She was also armed with two 356 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 20 to 40 mm (0.79 to 1.57 in) thick on its sloped sides and 25 mm (1 in) on the flat portion, along with 80 mm (3.1 in) plating on the sides of the conning tower. The main and secondary guns were fitted with 54 mm (2.1 in) gun shields.
Descartes underwent a series of modifications over the course of her construction and career. While the ship was being built in June 1893, the originally planned 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes were replaced with 356 mm tubes. In June 1894, the military masts that had been intended to be installed were cancelled in favor of lighter pole masts. And in late 1896, while she was still undergoing her initial testing, her funnels were shortened by 1 m (3 ft 3 in).
In 1908, she had her torpedo tubes removed. Her forward set of boilers were limited to 10 kg/cm2 (140 psi) after a boiler explosion killed a crewman. A second accident with one of her aft boilers the following year prompted those to be modified to the lower pressure in 1909. During World War I, the ship progressively lost most of her armament as guns were removed for other purposes. Two of her 47 mm guns and two 37 mm guns were placed ashore in Fort de France to strengthen the harbor defenses in 1916. Early the next year, two of her 100 mm guns were removed to be installed aboard the cruiser Cosmao, and then in March, she was almost entirely disarmed so those guns could be used in other ships or converted into field artillery. At that time, she retained only the forward two 164.7 mm guns and two 37 mm guns.
Descartes was built by the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard in Nantes; she was ordered on 17 August 1892 and her keel was laid down in late January 1893. She was launched on 27 September 1894, and after completing fitting out, she was moved to Brest on 3 February 1896. She was commissioned to begin sea trials there on 12 February. On 28 August, she sailed to Cherbourg to be present for the visit of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia the following day. During her initial trials, Descartes reportedly reached a top speed of 21.8 knots (40.4 km/h; 25.1 mph). The ship was found to suffer from stability problems and had to receive additional ballast to correct the problem. Her funnels were also altered. She was decommissioned at Brest for the modifications to be carried out. After this work was completed, Descartes was placed in full commission on 1 January 1897. She was immediately deployed to the colony of French Indochina in Southeast Asia, departing on 25 January. There, she joined the old ironclad Bayard, the protected cruiser Isly, and the unprotected cruiser Éclaireur.
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French cruiser Descartes
Descartes was the lead ship of the Descartes class of protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The Descartes-class cruisers were ordered as part of a construction program directed at strengthening the fleet's cruiser force. At the time, France was concerned with the growing naval threat of the Italian and German fleets, and the new cruisers were intended to serve with the main fleet, and overseas in the French colonial empire. Descartes was armed with a main battery of four 164.7 mm (6.5 in) guns, was protected by an armor deck that was 20 to 40 mm (0.79 to 1.57 in) thick, and was capable of steaming at a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
Descartes served overseas in French Indochina for much of her career, being sent there immediately after entering service in 1897. She was present in the region during the Boxer Uprising in Qing China in 1900. After returning to France in 1902, she was assigned to the North Atlantic station with several other cruisers. The ship made a second deployment to East Asia in 1905, later being briefly stationed in Madagascar in 1907, before returning for a tour with the Mediterranean Squadron that year. Descartes was then transferred to the Northern Squadron. By 1914, the ship was operating with the Division de l'Atlantique (Division of the Atlantic) and was in Central American waters when World War I started in July. She joined the unsuccessful search for the German cruiser SMS Karlsruhe in August, and spent the next three years patrolling the West Indies. She was decommissioned and disarmed in 1917, her guns being used as field artillery and to arm patrol vessels. She was struck from the naval register in 1920 and sold to ship breakers the following year.
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 Descartes class—Descartes and Pascal—was ordered to as part of the program. The design for the Descartes class was based on the earlier cruiser Davout, but was enlarged to incorporate a more powerful gun armament.
Descartes was 100.7 m (330 ft 5 in) long overall, with a beam of 12.95 m (42 ft 6 in) and an average draft of 6.01 m (19 ft 9 in). She displaced 4,005 t (3,942 long tons; 4,415 short tons) as designed. Her crew varied over the course of her career, and consisted of 383–401 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 sixteen coal-burning Belleville-type water-tube boilers that were ducted into two funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 8,300 indicated horsepower (6,200 kW) for a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph), but she exceeded these figures on trials, reaching 19.59 knots (36.28 km/h; 22.54 mph) from 8,828 ihp (6,583 kW). She had a cruising radius of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 19.5 knots.
The ship was armed with a main battery of four 164.7 mm (6.48 in) guns. They were placed in individual sponsons clustered amidships, two guns per broadside. These were supported by a secondary battery of ten 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, which were carried in sponsons, casemates, and individual pivot mounts. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried eight 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and four 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder guns. She was also armed with two 356 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 20 to 40 mm (0.79 to 1.57 in) thick on its sloped sides and 25 mm (1 in) on the flat portion, along with 80 mm (3.1 in) plating on the sides of the conning tower. The main and secondary guns were fitted with 54 mm (2.1 in) gun shields.
Descartes underwent a series of modifications over the course of her construction and career. While the ship was being built in June 1893, the originally planned 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes were replaced with 356 mm tubes. In June 1894, the military masts that had been intended to be installed were cancelled in favor of lighter pole masts. And in late 1896, while she was still undergoing her initial testing, her funnels were shortened by 1 m (3 ft 3 in).
In 1908, she had her torpedo tubes removed. Her forward set of boilers were limited to 10 kg/cm2 (140 psi) after a boiler explosion killed a crewman. A second accident with one of her aft boilers the following year prompted those to be modified to the lower pressure in 1909. During World War I, the ship progressively lost most of her armament as guns were removed for other purposes. Two of her 47 mm guns and two 37 mm guns were placed ashore in Fort de France to strengthen the harbor defenses in 1916. Early the next year, two of her 100 mm guns were removed to be installed aboard the cruiser Cosmao, and then in March, she was almost entirely disarmed so those guns could be used in other ships or converted into field artillery. At that time, she retained only the forward two 164.7 mm guns and two 37 mm guns.
Descartes was built by the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard in Nantes; she was ordered on 17 August 1892 and her keel was laid down in late January 1893. She was launched on 27 September 1894, and after completing fitting out, she was moved to Brest on 3 February 1896. She was commissioned to begin sea trials there on 12 February. On 28 August, she sailed to Cherbourg to be present for the visit of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia the following day. During her initial trials, Descartes reportedly reached a top speed of 21.8 knots (40.4 km/h; 25.1 mph). The ship was found to suffer from stability problems and had to receive additional ballast to correct the problem. Her funnels were also altered. She was decommissioned at Brest for the modifications to be carried out. After this work was completed, Descartes was placed in full commission on 1 January 1897. She was immediately deployed to the colony of French Indochina in Southeast Asia, departing on 25 January. There, she joined the old ironclad Bayard, the protected cruiser Isly, and the unprotected cruiser Éclaireur.
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