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French battleship Iéna (1898)
Encyclopedia
Iéna was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy
. The ship's keel
was laid in 1898 and she was completed four years later. Her design was derived from the preceding s with a heavier secondary battery
and thicker armour. She retained the tumblehome
characteristic of all large French warships of this period that caused stability issues. Upon completion Iena was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and remained there for the duration of her career. She participated in the annual fleet manoeuvers and made many visits to French ports in the Mediterranean.
While docked for repairs, Iéna was gutted on 12 March 1907 by a magazine
explosion caused by the decomposition of well-aged "Powder B" propellant. While it was possible to repair her, the ship was not thought worth the time or expense. Her hulk
was used as a gunnery target before it was sold for scrap in 1912.
of 20.83 metre and, at deep load, a draft of 7.45 metre forward and 8.45 metres (27.7 ft) aft. She was only slightly heavier than the Charlemagne class and displaced 11688 metric tons (11,503.4 LT) normally, and 12105 metric tons (11,913.8 LT) at full load, 700 metric tons more than the earlier ships.
Iéna was fitted with large bilge keels, but was reported to roll considerably and pitch heavily, although this is contradicted by the ship's captain's report of November 1905: "From the sea-keeping point of view the Iéna is an excellent ship. Pitching and rolling movements are gentle and the ship rides the waves well."
that was 4.5 metre in diameter on the wing shafts and 4.4 metre in diameter on the center shaft. The engines were powered by twenty Belleville water-tube boiler
s at a working pressure of 18 kg/cm2. The engines were rated at a total of 16500 ihp and produced 16590 ihp during the ship's sea trial
s. Iena reached a top speed of 18.11 knots on her trials. She carried a maximum of 1165 tonnes (1,146.6 LT) of coal which allowed her to steam for 4500 nautical miles (8,334 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). The ship's 80-volt
electrical power was provided by 600-ampere
and 1200-ampere dynamo
s.
Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893/96 guns in two twin-gun turret
s, one each fore and aft. The guns fired 340 kilograms (749.6 lb) projectiles at the rate of 1 round per minute at a muzzle velocity
of 780 m/s (2,559.1 ft/s). This gave a range of 12000 metres (13,123.4 yd) at the maximum elevation of 15°. The magazines stored 180 shells per gun, enough for three hours of fighting.
The ship's secondary armament consisted of eight 45-calibre Canon de 164 mm Modèle 1893
guns, which were mounted in individual casemate
s. The guns fired 164.7 mm (6.5 in), 52 kilograms (114.6 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity of 865 m/s (2,837.9 ft/s) to a maximum range of 9000 metres (9,842.5 yd). A total of 1606 rounds were carried, enough for three hours of fighting at the practical 1–2 rounds per minute per gun. Iéna also carried eight 100 mm (3.9 in), 45-calibre Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1893 guns in shielded
mounts on the shelter deck. These guns fired a 12 kilograms (26.5 lb) projectile at 710 m/s (2,329.4 ft/s), which could be trained up to 20° for a maximum range of 9500 metres (10,389.3 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was six rounds per minute, but only three rounds per minute could be sustained. 2074 shells were carried to ensure three hours of fire. The guns were 6.26 metre above the waterline.
Ienas anti-torpedo boat
defences consisted of 16 47 mm (1.9 in) 40-calibre Canon de 47 mm Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns
, fitted in platforms on both masts and on the superstructure. They fired a 1.49 kilograms (3.3 lb) projectile at 610 m/s (2,001.3 ft/s) to a maximum range of 4000 metres (4,374.5 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was fifteen rounds per minute, but only seven rounds per minute sustained. 15,000 shells were kept in the magazines. Admiral Marquis criticized the arrangements for the 47 mm guns in a 1903 report:
Iena mounted four 450 millimetres (17.7 in) torpedo tube
s. Two tubes were submerged and the other two were above the waterline. Twelve Modèle 1889 torpedoes were carried, of which four were training models.
that was 2.4 metre high and tapered from the maximum thickness of 320 mm (12.6 in) that covered 84 metre amidships to 230 mm (9.1 in) at the ship's ends. The lower edge of this belt was a uniform 120 mm (4.7 in) in thickness. The upper armour belt was in two strake
s, the lower 120 mm thick and the upper 80 mm (3.1 in). Their combined height was 2 metre amidships. The maximum thickness of the armoured deck was 80 mm and the fore and aft armoured transverse bulkheads were 90 mm (3.5 in) thick. The main turret armour ranged from 278 – in thickness with a 50 mm (2 in) roof and the ammunition shafts were protected by 250 mm (9.8 in) of armour. The casemates for the 164 mm guns were 90 mm thick and their ammunition tubes had 200 mm (7.9 in) of armour.
The conning tower
face had 298 mm (11.7 in) of armour and its sides were 250 mm thick. Its roof was protected by two layers of armour, each 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) thick. The communications tube was protected by 200 mm of armour.
Iéna was laid down at Brest
on 15 January 1898 after being authorized on 3 April 1897. She was launched on 1 September 1898, but did not enter service until 14 April 1902. Iéna was assigned to the Second Division of the Mediterranean Squadron and sailed for Toulon
five days later. Enroute, the ship suffered from a number of problems with her rudder and had to be docked for repairs once she arrived at her destination. After the completion of the repairs the ship began a series of port visits in France and French North Africa which would be repeated for most of her career. Iena participated in the fleet review off Naples
in April–May 1904 on the occasion of the visit of the President of France with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
. Afterwards, the Mediterranean Squadron cruised the Levant
, calling in Beirut
, Suda Bay, Smyrna
, Mytilene
, Salonika and Piraeus
. In April 1906, she was dispatched to provide assistance to Naples after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
shaft. Eight days later, beginning at 1:35 a.m. and continuing until 2:45, a series of explosions began in the port No. 5 100-millimetre magazine of the Iéna which devastated the ship and the surrounding area. Because the ship was in a dry dock it was initially impossible to flood the magazines. The commanding officer of the battleship , which was moored nearby, fired a shell into the gate of the dry dock in an attempt to flood it, but the shell ricocheted without holing the gate. The dock was finally flooded when Ensign de Vaisseau Roux (who was killed shortly afterward by fragments from the ship) managed to open the sluice gates. The , moored in the No. 1 dock beside the Iéna, almost capsized under the strength of the blasts.
The origin of the first explosion was traced to Powder B, a nitrocellulose
-based propellant used in the ammunition, which tended to become unstable with age, and self-ignite. It was estimated that 80% of the contents of the ship's magazines were the suspect powder at the time of the accident. The explosion and loss of 120 lives, including two civilians killed by fragments in the suburb of Pont-Las, triggered a major scandal, dubbed "the gunpowder scandal" . As a result Gaston Thomson, the Navy Minister, was forced to resign. A similar accident later caused the loss of the in 1911.
where she was used as a target to test the effectiveness of the latest design of armour-piercing shells beginning on 9 August 1909. After the completion of numerous tests, and with the Iéna close to foundering, she was towed to deeper water. While under tow Iéna capsized and sank on 2 December 1909. The rights to the wreck were sold and she was subsequently broken up and salvaged
between 1912 and 1927.
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
. The ship's keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
was laid in 1898 and she was completed four years later. Her design was derived from the preceding s with a heavier secondary battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
and thicker armour. She retained the tumblehome
Tumblehome
In ship designing, the tumblehome is the narrowing of a ship's hull with greater distance above the water-line. Expressed more technically, it is present when the beam at the uppermost deck is less than the maximum beam of the vessel....
characteristic of all large French warships of this period that caused stability issues. Upon completion Iena was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and remained there for the duration of her career. She participated in the annual fleet manoeuvers and made many visits to French ports in the Mediterranean.
While docked for repairs, Iéna was gutted on 12 March 1907 by a magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
explosion caused by the decomposition of well-aged "Powder B" propellant. While it was possible to repair her, the ship was not thought worth the time or expense. Her hulk
Hulk (ship)
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
was used as a gunnery target before it was sold for scrap in 1912.
Design
Iéna was designed at the request of the Board of Construction to follow the Charlemagne class ships whose seakeeping qualities were not entirely satisfactory. But Constructor Thibaudier just modified the Charlemagnes design with a heavier secondary battery and thicker armour, distributed in a slightly different manner. This increased her displacement by 700 tonnes (688.9 LT) in comparison to the older ships and she retained the pronounced tumblehome that was the cause of the stability problems.General characteristics
The Iéna was longer than her predecessors, at 122.35 metre overall. She had a beamBeam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 20.83 metre and, at deep load, a draft of 7.45 metre forward and 8.45 metres (27.7 ft) aft. She was only slightly heavier than the Charlemagne class and displaced 11688 metric tons (11,503.4 LT) normally, and 12105 metric tons (11,913.8 LT) at full load, 700 metric tons more than the earlier ships.
Iéna was fitted with large bilge keels, but was reported to roll considerably and pitch heavily, although this is contradicted by the ship's captain's report of November 1905: "From the sea-keeping point of view the Iéna is an excellent ship. Pitching and rolling movements are gentle and the ship rides the waves well."
Propulsion
Iéna used three vertical triple expansion steam engines built by Les Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, one engine per shaft. Each shaft drove a three-bladed propellerPropeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
that was 4.5 metre in diameter on the wing shafts and 4.4 metre in diameter on the center shaft. The engines were powered by twenty Belleville water-tube boiler
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
s at a working pressure of 18 kg/cm2. The engines were rated at a total of 16500 ihp and produced 16590 ihp during the ship's sea trial
Sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...
s. Iena reached a top speed of 18.11 knots on her trials. She carried a maximum of 1165 tonnes (1,146.6 LT) of coal which allowed her to steam for 4500 nautical miles (8,334 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). The ship's 80-volt
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
electrical power was provided by 600-ampere
Ampere
The ampere , often shortened to amp, is the SI unit of electric current and is one of the seven SI base units. It is named after André-Marie Ampère , French mathematician and physicist, considered the father of electrodynamics...
and 1200-ampere dynamo
Dynamo
- Engineering :* Dynamo, a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator* Dynamo theory, a theory relating to magnetic fields of celestial bodies* Solar dynamo, the physical process that generates the Sun's magnetic field- Software :...
s.
Armament
Like the Charlemagne class which preceded her, Iéna carried her main armament of four 305 mm (12 in), 40-calibreCaliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893/96 guns in two twin-gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s, one each fore and aft. The guns fired 340 kilograms (749.6 lb) projectiles at the rate of 1 round per minute at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 780 m/s (2,559.1 ft/s). This gave a range of 12000 metres (13,123.4 yd) at the maximum elevation of 15°. The magazines stored 180 shells per gun, enough for three hours of fighting.
The ship's secondary armament consisted of eight 45-calibre Canon de 164 mm Modèle 1893
Canon de 164 mm Modèle 1893
The Canon de 164 mm Modèle 1893 was a medium-caliber naval gun used as the secondary armament of a number of French pre-dreadnoughts and armoured cruisers during World War I...
guns, which were mounted in individual casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s. The guns fired 164.7 mm (6.5 in), 52 kilograms (114.6 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity of 865 m/s (2,837.9 ft/s) to a maximum range of 9000 metres (9,842.5 yd). A total of 1606 rounds were carried, enough for three hours of fighting at the practical 1–2 rounds per minute per gun. Iéna also carried eight 100 mm (3.9 in), 45-calibre Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1893 guns in shielded
Gun shield
thumb|A [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]] manning an [[M240 machine gun]] equipped with a gun shieldA gun shield is a flat piece or section of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun or artillery piece, or, more rarely, to be used with an assault rifle...
mounts on the shelter deck. These guns fired a 12 kilograms (26.5 lb) projectile at 710 m/s (2,329.4 ft/s), which could be trained up to 20° for a maximum range of 9500 metres (10,389.3 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was six rounds per minute, but only three rounds per minute could be sustained. 2074 shells were carried to ensure three hours of fire. The guns were 6.26 metre above the waterline.
Ienas anti-torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
defences consisted of 16 47 mm (1.9 in) 40-calibre Canon de 47 mm Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns
QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss
The QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 47-mm naval gun introduced in 1886 to defend against new small fast vessels such as torpedo boats, and later submarines...
, fitted in platforms on both masts and on the superstructure. They fired a 1.49 kilograms (3.3 lb) projectile at 610 m/s (2,001.3 ft/s) to a maximum range of 4000 metres (4,374.5 yd). Their theoretical maximum rate of fire was fifteen rounds per minute, but only seven rounds per minute sustained. 15,000 shells were kept in the magazines. Admiral Marquis criticized the arrangements for the 47 mm guns in a 1903 report:
The number of ready-use rounds in insufficient and the hoists are desperately slow. The 47 mm guns, much more so than the large and medium-calibre guns, will have to fight at night; yet these are the only guns without a fire-control system designed for night operations. This is a deficiency which needs to be corrected as soon as possible.
Iena mounted four 450 millimetres (17.7 in) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s. Two tubes were submerged and the other two were above the waterline. Twelve Modèle 1889 torpedoes were carried, of which four were training models.
Armour
Iéna had a complete waterline armour belt of Harvey armourHarvey armor
Harvey armor was a type of steel armor developed in the early 1890s in which the front surfaces of the plates were case hardened. The method for doing this was known as the Harvey process....
that was 2.4 metre high and tapered from the maximum thickness of 320 mm (12.6 in) that covered 84 metre amidships to 230 mm (9.1 in) at the ship's ends. The lower edge of this belt was a uniform 120 mm (4.7 in) in thickness. The upper armour belt was in two strake
Strake
A strake is part of the shell of the hull of a boat or ship which, in conjunction with the other strakes, keeps the sea out and the vessel afloat...
s, the lower 120 mm thick and the upper 80 mm (3.1 in). Their combined height was 2 metre amidships. The maximum thickness of the armoured deck was 80 mm and the fore and aft armoured transverse bulkheads were 90 mm (3.5 in) thick. The main turret armour ranged from 278 – in thickness with a 50 mm (2 in) roof and the ammunition shafts were protected by 250 mm (9.8 in) of armour. The casemates for the 164 mm guns were 90 mm thick and their ammunition tubes had 200 mm (7.9 in) of armour.
The conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
face had 298 mm (11.7 in) of armour and its sides were 250 mm thick. Its roof was protected by two layers of armour, each 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) thick. The communications tube was protected by 200 mm of armour.
History
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
on 15 January 1898 after being authorized on 3 April 1897. She was launched on 1 September 1898, but did not enter service until 14 April 1902. Iéna was assigned to the Second Division of the Mediterranean Squadron and sailed for Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
five days later. Enroute, the ship suffered from a number of problems with her rudder and had to be docked for repairs once she arrived at her destination. After the completion of the repairs the ship began a series of port visits in France and French North Africa which would be repeated for most of her career. Iena participated in the fleet review off Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in April–May 1904 on the occasion of the visit of the President of France with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
Victor Emmanuel III was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy . In addition, he claimed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania , which were unrecognised by the Great Powers...
. Afterwards, the Mediterranean Squadron cruised the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
, calling in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Suda Bay, Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
, Mytilene
Mytilene
Mytilene is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the capital of the island of Lesbos. Mytilene, whose name is pre-Greek, is built on the...
, Salonika and Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
. In April 1906, she was dispatched to provide assistance to Naples after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Loss
On 4 March 1907 Iéna was moved into dry dock No. 2 in the Missiessy Basin at Toulon to undergo maintenance of her hull as well as inspection of her rudderRudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
shaft. Eight days later, beginning at 1:35 a.m. and continuing until 2:45, a series of explosions began in the port No. 5 100-millimetre magazine of the Iéna which devastated the ship and the surrounding area. Because the ship was in a dry dock it was initially impossible to flood the magazines. The commanding officer of the battleship , which was moored nearby, fired a shell into the gate of the dry dock in an attempt to flood it, but the shell ricocheted without holing the gate. The dock was finally flooded when Ensign de Vaisseau Roux (who was killed shortly afterward by fragments from the ship) managed to open the sluice gates. The , moored in the No. 1 dock beside the Iéna, almost capsized under the strength of the blasts.
The origin of the first explosion was traced to Powder B, a nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it is also known as guncotton...
-based propellant used in the ammunition, which tended to become unstable with age, and self-ignite. It was estimated that 80% of the contents of the ship's magazines were the suspect powder at the time of the accident. The explosion and loss of 120 lives, including two civilians killed by fragments in the suburb of Pont-Las, triggered a major scandal, dubbed "the gunpowder scandal" . As a result Gaston Thomson, the Navy Minister, was forced to resign. A similar accident later caused the loss of the in 1911.
Disposal
The multiple explosions gutted the superstructure between the mainmast and the rear funnel and collapsed the superstructure surrounding the mainmast. The ship's side between Frames 74 and 84 was ripped open down to the lower edge of the armour belt and all the machinery in this area was destroyed. After it was estimated that it would take seven million francs and two years to fully repair the Iéna it was decided to decommission the ship and use her as a target ship. All useful equipment was removed and she was towed to a mooring off the Île des PorquerollesPorquerolles
Porquerolles , also known as the Île de Porquerolles, is an island in the Îles d'Hyères, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Its population was about 200 inhabitants in 2004 and occupies ....
where she was used as a target to test the effectiveness of the latest design of armour-piercing shells beginning on 9 August 1909. After the completion of numerous tests, and with the Iéna close to foundering, she was towed to deeper water. While under tow Iéna capsized and sank on 2 December 1909. The rights to the wreck were sold and she was subsequently broken up and salvaged
Marine salvage
Marine salvage is the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or other property from peril. Salvage encompasses rescue towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship...
between 1912 and 1927.