French ironclad Redoutable

Redoutable in her original configuration
History
France
Name	Redoutable
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient[1]
Laid down	December 1872[2] 18 July 1873[1]
Launched	18 September 1876.[1][2]
Commissioned	22 November 1878 for trials.[2] 31 December 1878 for service.[2] 8 February 1879[1]
Stricken	9 March 1910[1][3]
Fate	Sold 17 August 1911 for 100,000 francs.[3] 1912 broken up at Saigon.[3] Sold for demolition at Saigon 1913[1]
General characteristics
Type	Central-battery ironclad
Displacement	9,430 tonnes (9,280 long tons)[1] 8,858.02 tonnes (8,718.12 long tons)[5]
Length	95 m (311 ft 8 in) between perpendiculars[6] 100.7 m (330 ft 5 in) total[6]
Beam	19.76 m (64 ft 10 in)[6]
Draft	7.8 m (26 ft)[6]
Installed power	6,700 ihp (5,000 kW) 8 oval boilers [1]
Propulsion	2 shafts, 2 horizontal return connecting rod compound steam engines
Sail plan	Square rig, sail area 2,033 square metres (21,880 sq ft)[7] 2,700 square metres (29,000 sq ft).[1]
Speed	14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph) max speed on trials[12]
Range	2,840 nautical miles at 10 knots (5,260 km at 19 km/h)[4]
Complement	709[8]
Armament	7 × 27cm Model 1875[9] 6 × 14cm[10] Model 1870[11] 1 × 47mm[10] 12 × 37mm Hotchkiss revolving cannons[10] 4 × torpedo launchers[10]
Armour	Belt: 350 mm (13.8 in) Battery: 240–300 mm (9.4–11.8 in) Deck: 45–60 mm (1.8–2.4 in)

Redoutable was a central battery and barbette ship of the French Navy. She was the first warship in the world to use steel as the principal building material.^[13] She was preceded by the Colbert-class ironclads and was succeeded by Dévastation-class.

Compared to iron, steel allowed for greater structural strength for a lower weight. France was the first country to manufacture steel in large quantities^{[citation needed]}, using the Siemens process. At that time, steel plates still had some defects, and the outer bottom plating of the ship was made of wrought iron.

All-steel warships were later built by the Royal Navy, with the dispatch vessels Iris and Mercury, laid down in 1875–1876.

Construction

Contemporary description in Scientific American

The Redoutable is built partly of iron and partly of steel and is similar in many respects to the ironclads Devastation and Courbet of the same fleet, although rather smaller. She is completely belted with 14 in [360 mm] armour, with a 15 in [380 mm] backing, and has the central battery armoured with plates of 9½ in [240 mm] in thickness.

The engines are two in number, horizontal, and of the compound two cylinder type, developing a horsepower of 6,071 [4.527 MW], which on the trial trip gave a speed of 14.66 knots. Five hundred and ten tons of coal are carried in the bunkers, which at a speed of 10 knots should enable the ship to make a voyage of 2,800 nautical miles [5,200 km]. Torpedo defense netting is fitted, and there are three masts with military tops carrying Hotchkiss revolver machine guns.

The offensive power of the ship consists of seven breechloading rifled guns of 27 centimeters (10.63 in.), and weighing 24 tons each, six breechloading rifled guns of 14 centimeters (5.51 in.), and quick-firing and machine guns of the Hotchkiss systems. There are in addition four torpedo discharge tubes, two on each side of the ship.^[14]

The positions of the guns are as follows: Four of 27 centimeters in the central battery, two on each broadside; three 27 centimeter guns on the upper deck in barbettes, one on each side amidships, and one aft. The 14 centimeter guns are in various positions on the broadsides, and the machine guns are fitted on deck, on the bridges, and in the military tops, four of them also being mounted on what is rather a novelty in naval construction, a gallery running round the outside of the funnel, which was fitted when the ship was under repairs some months ago. There are three electric light projectors, one forward on the upper deck, one on the bridge just forward of the funnel, and one in the mizzen top.^[14]

Crew

Full complement: 30 officers + 679 ratings.^[8]

Trials or 1st category reserve: 8 officers + 371 ratings.^[8]

2nd category reserve: 5 officers + 139 ratings.^[8]

3rd category reserve: 0 officers + 27 ratings.^[8]

Service

Redoutable formed part of the French Mediterranean squadron.

Redoutable was present during the negotiation of the Boxer Protocol, a treaty signed on 7 September 1901 with China.

Commanding officers of the Redoutable

• Lieutenant Arnauld was the director of movements of the port of Saigon, and commander of the naval auxiliaries and naval barracks.^[15]

• 
  Redoutable in dry dock
• 
  Redoutable in Brest, 1882
• 
  Barbette of the Redoutable, around 1890(?)
• 
  Barbette of the Redoutable
• 
  Original configuration
• 
  Dismantling of Redoutable in Toulon, 1912

References

Bibliography

• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1992). Steam, Steel and Shellfire: the Steam Warship 1815-1905. Conway's History of the Ship. France: Conway Marine Édition. ISBN 2-909675-16-5.
• Roberts, Stephen (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
• Roche, Jean-Michel. Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française, Tome II (1870-2006) (December 2005 ed.). Levallois-Perret, France: Netmarine.
• Saibene, Marc (1995). Les Cuirasses Redoutable, Dévastation, Courbet, Programme de 1872. Bourg en Bresse, France: Marine Édition Press. ISBN 2-909675-16-5.
• Saibene, Mark (1994–1995). "The Redoubtable, Parts I-III". Warship International. XXXI–XXXII (1, 2, 1). Toledo, Ohio: International Naval Research Organization: 15–45, 117–139, 10–37. ISSN 0043-0374.

In pop culture

• The_Rebel_(2007_film) - shown in a postcard early in the film

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Redoutable (ship, 1876).