French ironclad Jemmapes
Jemmapes was the lead ship of a class of two coastal defense ships built for the French Navy in the 1890s. Launched in 1892, the vessel joined the Northern Squadron of the French Navy at Brest. Armed with a main armament of two [Canon de 340 mm Modèle 1887 gun|] guns, the vessel was designed within the principles of the Jeune École. The ship initially joined the Northern Squadron, which was called, "the most homogenous and dangerous squadron that one could meet at sea". In 1902, the vessel was subject to underway replenishment when coal was transferred from the bunkers of other battleships during a naval exercise with the Mediterranean Squadron. Jemmapes also took part in large naval exercises in 1895 and 1900 but otherwise had an uneventful career as French naval doctrine moved from a fleet of smaller coastal defense ships to larger ocean-going battleships. The ship was decommissioned in 1910 and served as a hulk before being sold in 1927 to be broken up.
Design and description
A larger and more capable design based on the launched in 1883, Jemmapes was the lead ship of a class of two coastal defense ships designed by Louis de Bussy for the French Navy as part of a wider adoption of the principles of Jeune École. The design was to have a similar level of armament, armour, draught and fuel storage as the preceding design but with a more modern powerplant based on Belleville boilers that would provide an increase in speed to. The design proposal was accepted by the Board of Construction on 26 February 1889, finalised on 2 July and approved by the Minister of the Navy Jules François Émile Krantz on 6 July.Jemmapes had an overall length of, at the waterline and between perpendiculars, a beam of at the waterline and a mean draught of at deep load. The vessel displaced and had a ship's complement that numbered 299 sailors of all ranks.
Jemmapes was powered by two triple-expansion steam engines that each drove one propeller shaft using steam provided by 16 Lagrafel and d'Allest Belleville boilers. The engine was rated at at 108rpm. While undertaking sea trials, Jemmapes reached a speed of from. In service, speed was restricted as a bow wave was created at which, by became impossible to push forward, meaning this became the de facto maximum speed. The ship carried of coal, which gave a range of at a cruising speed of. The maximum load of coal was. Once in service, a range of at was claimed.
Jemmapes carried a main battery of two Canon de Modèle 1887 guns in a two single-gun turrets, one forward of the superstructure and the other aft. The guns were manually-loaded and fired one round every five minutes, but this was sped up between 1900 and 1902 with new equipment. Secondary armament was provided by four 45-calibre M1891 QF guns mounted at the corners of the shelter deck. Defence from torpedo boats was provided by six Canon de Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns and eight Hotchkiss revolving cannon.
The ship had a full-length waterline armor belt that tapered from the maximum thickness of amidships to aft and forward. The belt was high amidships. The armor was hammered steel on the port side and compound armor on the starboard. The turrets were protected by thick compound armor that was mounted on fixed bases thick while the gun shields for the secondary armament was provided by hammered steel armor thick. The main deck was protected by thick iron plates. The laminated steel plates protecting the conning tower measured in thickness.
Construction and career
Ordered on 18 December 1889 from Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire of Saint-Nazaire and Saint-Denis, Jemmapes was laid down on 26 December, and launched on 27 April 1892. The vessel cost £525,000. The ship's machinery was fully installed on 3 July 1893 and the vessel was moved to Brest on 24 December. Initially commissioned for trials on 19 January 1884, Jemmapes had to wait until her machinery was accepted on 31 January the following year before being fully commissioned on 4 March. She joined the Northern Squadron of the French Navy 12 days later. On 12 March, as part of the naval budget debate, Vice Admiral Armand Bernard declared that the squadron, which included three other ships alongside Jemmapes, was "the most homogenous and dangerous squadron that one could meet at sea". They were considered more than equal to their smaller German contemporaries, the and.Jemmapes had a generally uneventful career. Between 1 and 23 July 1895, the vessel took part in a large naval exercise in the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Northern Squadron. The manoeuvres included a forced landing at Quiberon and a mock blockade and attack on Cherbourg and Rochefort. The vessel served as part of the defending force, which was successful in resisting the attack. The ship also took part in the maneuvers the following year, conducted from 6 to 26 July in conjunction with the local defense forces of Brest, Rochefort, Cherbourg, and Lorient. The squadron was divided into three divisions for the maneuvers, and Jemmapes was assigned to the 2nd Division along with her sister ship, the cruiser and the aviso, which represented part of the defending French squadron. In 1898, the vessel was based at Toulon as part of a Reserve Fleet.
At the end of the century, the vessel was part of the Coastal Defence Division alongside the ironclads, and Valmy. The four ships of the division were transferred to the Mediterranean to support the Mediterranean Squadron. The combined fleet arrived on 5 July 1900 in Quiberon Bay for exercises against the Northern Squadron. Prior to the exercise, Jemmapes suffered from boiler troubles but these did not hinder the exercise. This was followed, on 19 July, by a fleet review in front of Émile Loubet, the President of France. In 1902, the ship joined the Northern Squadron as part of an exercise in the Mediterranean. On 7 July, the squadron left its moorings off Lisbon and simulated an assault on the Mediterranean Squadron, which included a simulated on attack on Tunis on 29 July. During the exercise, on 31 July, Jemmapes required underway replenishment and coal was ferried across from the other battleships' bunkers by boats. The operation took two and a half hours. On 15 September, the submarine successfully conducted a torpedo attack on the ship while submerged during an exercise simulating a blockade of Cherbourg. On 16 October, the vessel then undertook more manoeuvres with French submarines off the coast of Barfleur, but this time the ship was able to make sufficient speed to avoid being attacked.
Meanwhile, French naval doctrine was changing and the focus on coastal defense was being replaced by one of larger sea-going warships. The size of ships was also increasing, and newer, more capable battleships entered service. Jemmapes was briefly decommissioned. Following repairs, the ship continued to operate successfully during trials in the following year. The ship was transferred to reserve at Cherbourg, returning to service at Brest on 20 September 1909 for just over two months before being briefly transferred to Rochefort on 9 December. The vessel was decommissioned at Rochefort on 22 March 1910 and struck on 3 August. Jemmapes served as a hulk for more than a decade until she was sold to Société Goldenberg on 5 November 1927 to be broken up.