French battleship Iéna (1898)

The "Iéna" was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy.

Her design was derived, and similar to that of the preceding "Charlemagne" class battleships.

In 1906, she was dispatched to provide assistance to Napoli after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

On 12 March 1907, an accidental explosion occurred aboard as "Iéna" was refitting. A first explosion started a fire which detonated the torpedo and gunnery magazines. The "Suffren", moored beside the "Iéna", almost capsized under the strength of the blast. 118 were killed. The origin of the explosion was traced to the nitrocellulose used in the ammunition, which tends to become instable with age and self-ignites. This triggered a major scandal, dubbed "affaire des poudres" ("gunpowder scandal"). A similar accident cause the loss of the "Liberté" in 1911.

In 1908, "Iéna" was used as a target ship. She was instrumental in the perfection of armour-piercing shells.

ources

*"L’Illustration" n°3342 (16 March 1907) and 3343 (23 March 1907)
*"Le Petit Journal supplément illustré" 31 March 1907, 21 April 1907
*E Gille, "Cent ans de cuirassés français", Marines Editions, 1999, ISBN 2909675505
* [http://le.fantasque.free.fr/php3/ship.php3?page_code=iena CUIRASSE Iéna]