French cruiser Fleurus

The Wattignies-class cruisers were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Condor class by Louis de Bussy in 1888. The design was created in response to the 1884 publication La marine de guerre, son passé et son avenir, cuirassé et torpilleurs (The navy, its past and its future, battleship and torpedo boat), in which Minister of Marine, Auguste Gougeard, articulated his vision of the warship of the future. The ships measured 70.985 m (232 ft 10.7 in) overall and 68.012 m (223 ft 1.6 in) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 8.908 m (29 ft 2.7 in) and an average draft of 4.211 m (13 ft 9.8 in), increasing to 4.698 m (15 ft 5.0 in) aft. Fleurus displaced 1,297 tonnes (1,277 long tons).[1] By 1904, this was listed as 1,310 t (1,290 long tons).[2]

Fleurus was initially powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft, using steam provided by four coal-burning Admiralty boilers at a pressure of 11.26 kg/cm² (160.2 psi). he machinery was designed to produce a total of 4,000 PS (2,900 kW) intended to give them a maximum speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). The boilers were found to be defective in trials and were replaced.[1] The ship was finally equipped with eight Niclausse boilers.[3] Reported output was 4,189 indicated horsepower (3,124 kW) for a speed of 18.61 kn (34.47 km/h; 21.42 mph).[4] The cruiser carried 160 t (160 long tons; 180 short tons) of coal, which gave a range of 1,800 nautical miles (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at a speed of 12.5 kn (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph). The ship's complement amounted to 185 officers and enlisted men.[1]

The main battery of the Wattignies class consisted of five 100 mm (3.9 in) 26.2-calibre M1881 QF guns. Two were located under the forecastle, two amidships on sponsons and one on the poop deck. For close-range defence against torpedo boats, they carried six 47 mm (1.9 in) M1885 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and four 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannons, all mounted singly. The ships were armed with four 356 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes, two carried forward and two on the sides. The deck was armoured with curved wrought iron that was 40 mm (1.6 in) thick in a similar way to the preceding Condor class. The armament was modified during service. By 1896, the torpedo tubes had been removed. At the same time, two of the 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannons had been replaced by QF guns of the same bore.[5]

Fleurus was authorised in the 1890 budget and ordered from Arsenal de Rochefort on 20 April. The authorisation was for a ship (bâtiment) rather than torpedo cruiser (croiseur torpilleur). Named after the Battle of Fleurus, the ship was laid down at the shipyard in Rochefort on 11 March 1891, the machinery having been ordered on 18 February. The cruiser was launched on 18 March 1893, and handed over for trials on 16 August.[1] The total cost of the ship was £40,684.[6] The cruiser was commissioned into the Mediterranean Squadron (Escadre de la Méditerranée).[7]

Trials proved that there were issues in the boilers. After two years, the ship had been demoted to the second category of reserve. The boilers were replaced and trials resumed in January 1896, but the troubles remained. The upper plates in the new boilers leaked and the ship was taken back to the yard for further work before returning to trials in March.[8] The boilers were replaced twice, but this did not solve the problem. In 1897 the cruiser returned to the dockyard and the Admiralty designs were replaced by eight Niclausse boilers. Trials resumed the following year. The ship was moved to the Northern Squadron (Escadre du Nord).[1] The complement was reduced to 173.[3]

Once trials were completed in March 1901, Fleurus was commissioned and deployed to Brest, joining the reserve of the Northern Squadron. After 30 months, the cruiser was decommissioned and was struck from the naval register on 8 March 1910. The ship was transferred to the school for engineers at Lorient. After a year, the vessel was put up for sale. Unable of finding a buyer, the navy moved the ship back to Rochefort. Fleurus acted as a hulk until 1927. In 1928, the vessel was sold to be broken up.[1]

• de Beauvoir, Henri Roger (1898). Annuaire Illustré de L'Armée Française [Illustrated Directory of the French Army] (in French). Paris: Plon, Nourrit et Cie.
• Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1892). "XII: French Navy Estimates". The Naval Annual 1892. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 440–446. OCLC 496786828.
• Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1894). "II The Progress of Foreign Navies: France". The Naval Annual 1894. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 21–32. OCLC 970959455.
• Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1897). "II The Progress of Foreign Navies: France". The Naval Annual 1897. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 18–30. OCLC 1342523853.
• Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 283–333. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Jane, Fred T. (1905). All the World's Fighting Ships. London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co. OCLC 609930286.
• Roberts, Stephen (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
• Rodogno, Davide (2012). Against Massacre: Humanitarian Interventions in the Ottoman Empire, 1815–1914. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-69115-133-5.