Normandie class battleship

Artist's impression of a Normandie-class battleship
Class overview
Preceded by:	Bretagne-class
Succeeded by:	Lyon-class (planned) Dunkerque-class (actual)
Planned:	5
Completed:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	25,230 tons
Length:	170.6 metres
Beam:	27 metres
Draught:	8.65 metres
Propulsion:	4 shaft Triple expansion (cruising) and Turbines (speed), (Bearn Turbine only intended) 21 or 28 coal fired boilers 40,000 shp
Speed:	21.5 knots
Range:	6500 nmi at 12 knots
Complement:	1200
Armament:	3 x 4 - 340mm/45 Modèle 1912 guns 24 x 1 - 138.6 mm Mle 1910 guns 6 x 1 - 47 mm guns 6 x 450 mm torpedo tubes
Armour:	300 mm belt, 284 mm barbettes, 50 mm upper deck, 50 mm lower deck, 250mm-350 mm turrets, 160-180 mm casemates

The Normandie-class dreadnought battleships were ordered for the French Navy before the First World War. They were named after provinces of France. These ships were never completed as battleships because the war stopped their construction. After the war, a number of proposals for reconstruction were considered, but they were eventually scrapped under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Only one, Bearn, was completed, as an aircraft carrier.

Design

The Normandie class was authorised under the French Naval Law of 30 March 1912, and orders for four ships were placed in 1912-3. The fifth ship, Béarn, was authorised on 3 December 1913, to make sure a four-ship squadron would always be available for action.

The most notable feature of the design was the adoption of quadruple turrets at a time when double turrets were most common and triple turrets still rare. Concentrating guns in fewer turrets meant weight could be saved. The main armament of twelve 340 mm compared well with the British Iron Duke class which had been launched just as the Normandies were ordered, but would have been outclassed by the 15-inch guns coming into use on the newer models in both the British and German navies.

The armour of the class, 300 mm (11.8 in) at its thickest, was broadly comparable to other ships of the same generation. The first four ships of the class were designed with a mixed propulsion of steam turbines for speed and triple-expansion steam engines for cruising. This arrangement gave greater fuel economy at low speed; nevertheless, the design for Béarn proposed a switch to all-turbine propulsion. As it happened, Béarn was eventually fitted with the mixed engine-set intended for Normandie. The design speed under both turbines and reciprocating engines was 21.5 knots, roughly equal to the preceding Provence class with which they were intended to operate.

Fate

Work on the class was suspended at the outbreak of World War I, as all resources were needed for the Army. The first four ships were completed to the point of being launched, but only so the slipways could be used for other purposes. Some of the boilers intended for the ships were fitted to torpedo boats. Some of the heavy guns were used as land artillery (including a few which were captured by the Germans and then used against French troops); some were also used to replace worn gun barrels on the Provence-class ships.

At the end of the war, there were suggestions to complete the ships to an improved design. It was considered that 24-knot speed, improved fire control, updated armour protection, and an improved gun would make the ships useful modern vessels. It was also suggested that Béarn should be given a new turbine propulsion system for 25 knots and perhaps entirely new 16-inch guns. These proposals would have been very expensive. With the German navy scuttled and the Italians willing to give up their newest Caracciolo class, it was an easy decision to sign the Washington Naval Treaty and spare the expense of completing the ships. Bearn was retained initially for experiments with aircraft and then as an aircraft carrier. Hampered by slow speed of the class, she was not a success, but was retained into the Second World War; after joining the Free French, she played a role in the Allied war effort by acting as a transport for aircraft.

Ships

• Bearn - built by Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne - laid down 10 January 1914, launched April 1920, converted into an aircraft carrier and completed in 1927, laid up in the early 1950s and scrapped in 1967
• Normandie - built by A & CH St Nazaire - laid down 18 April 1913, launched 19 October 1914, broken up 1924
• Flandre - built by Arsenal de Brest - laid down 1 October 1913, launched 20 October 1914, broken up 1924
• Gascogne - built by Arsenal de Lorient - laid down 1 October 1913, launched 20 September 1914, broken up 1924
• Languedoc - built by FC de la Gironde Bordeaux - laid down 18 April 1913, launched 1 May 1916, broken up 1929

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See also

Media related to Normandie class battleship at Wikimedia Commons

References

• Breyer, Siegrifed. Battleships and Battlecruisers of the World, 1905-1970. London, Macdonald, 1973. Pp. 426-9.
• Preston, Anthony,The World's Worst Warships. Conway Maritime Press (2002). ISBN 0-85177-754-6