French battleship République
French lead ship of Republique-class / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
République was a pre-dreadnought battleship, the lead vessel of the République class built for the French Navy built in the early 1900s. Laid down in December 1901, she was launched in September 1902 and commissioned in January 1907. Armed with a main battery of four 305 mm (12.0 in) guns, she was outclassed before even entering service by the revolutionary British battleship HMS Dreadnought, that had been commissioned the previous December and was armed with a battery of ten guns of the same caliber. Though built to an obsolescent design, République proved to be a workhorse of the French fleet, particularly during World War I.
Illustration of République | |
History | |
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France | |
Name | République |
Namesake | French Republic |
Laid down | 27 December 1901 |
Launched | 4 September 1902 |
Commissioned | 12 January 1907 |
Stricken | 1921 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | République-class pre-dreadnought battleship |
Displacement | 14,870 metric tons (14,640 long tons) |
Length | 135.25 meters (443 ft 9 in) loa |
Beam | 24.25 m (79 ft 7 in) |
Draft | 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | |
Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Range | 8,400 nautical miles (15,600 km; 9,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Armor |
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During the ship's peacetime career, République served with the Mediterranean Squadron; this period was occupied with training exercises and cruises in the western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic. She was moored near the battleship Liberté when the latter exploded accidentally in 1911, and she was damaged by flying debris. Following the outbreak of war in July 1914, République was used to escort troopship convoys carrying elements of the French Army from French North Africa to face the Germans invading northern France. She thereafter steamed to contain the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, taking part in the minor Battle of Antivari in August. The increasing threat of Austro-Hungarian U-boats and the unwillingness of the Austro-Hungarian fleet to engage in battle led to a period of monotonous patrols that ended with Italy's entry into the war on the side of France, which allowed the French fleet to be withdrawn.
In 1916, République was sent to cover the withdrawal from the Gallipoli campaign, and thereafter became involved in events in Greece, being stationed in Salonika to put pressure on the Greek government to enter the war on the side of the Allies. She contributed men to a landing party that went ashore in Athens to support a pro-Allied coup. She saw little activity in 1917 and 1918 after the coup succeeded. In January 1918, she had half of her main guns removed for use by the French Army and was reclassified as a training ship. She served in that role until replaced by other ships in 1920. République was decommissioned in May 1921 and broken up in Italy beginning in November.