Léon Gambetta-class cruiser

Léon Gambetta-class cruiser
Léon Gambetta
Class overview
Name:	Léon Gambetta-class criser
Operators:	French Navy
In commission:	1903 - 1928
Completed:	3
Lost:	1
Retired:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Armoured cruiser
Displacement:	12,400 tonnes (12,204 long tons)
Length:	146.45 m (480 ft 6 in)
Beam:	21.41 m (70 ft 3 in)
Draught:	8.05 m (26 ft 5 in)
Propulsion:	3 vertical triple expansion steam engines, 28 Niclausse boilers, 28,500 hp (21,252 kW)
Speed:	22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
Complement:	728 men
Armament:	• 4 × 193 mm (7.6 in)/40 M1896 guns in twin turrets • 16 × 164 mm (6.46 in)/45 M1893 guns in four single and six twin turrets • 24 × 3-pounder guns in single mountings • 2 × 17.7 in (450 mm) submerged torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 2.8–6 in (71–152 mm) Krupp armour Turrets: 8 in (200 mm) Krupp armour C.T.: 8 in (200 mm) Krupp armour
Notes:	Ships in class include: Léon Gambetta, Jules Ferry, Victor Hugo

The Léon Gambetta class was a class of armoured cruisers of the French Navy which were commissioned in 1903. They were named after the notable French Republican statesmen. The Ministry of the Navy, from 1902 to 1905, Camille Pelletan, by giving these names to the French armoured cruisers, wished to honor Republican statesmen, philosophers or historians, such as Waldeck-Rousseau, Jules Michelet, Ernest Renan, or Edgar Quinet, as the officers of the French Navy (so called La Royale) were reputed to have rather Royalist sympathies. Under his authority, and for the same reason, six battleships were given names as République, Patrie, Démocratie, Justice, Liberté, or Vérité.

Description and History

Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1923

• Léon Gambetta was torpedoed and sunk in 1915.
• Jules Ferry served until 1927.
• Victor Hugo until 1928.