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French battleship Jean Bart (1911)
Encyclopedia
Jean Bart was the second ship of the s, the first dreadnoughts built for the French Navy
. She was completed before World War I
as part of the 1910 naval building programme. She spent the war in the Mediterranean and helped to sink the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser
on 16 August 1914. She spent most of the rest of 1914 providing gunfire support for the Montenegrin Army until she was torpedoed by the submarine on 21 December. Even with three compartments flooded, she was able to steam to Malta
on her own for repairs that required three and a half months. Upon her return she spent the remainder of the war participating in the Otranto Barrage
, in the Adriatic.
After the end of World War I she and her sister ship were sent to the Black Sea
to support Allied troops in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
. Jean Barts crew mutinied
out of sympathy for the Bolshevik
s, but the mutiny was put down and she returned to the Mediterranean in 1920. She was partially modernized twice during the 1920s, but was deemed in too poor condition to be refitted again in the 1930s. Therefore she was renamed Océan, disarmed and hulk
ed in 1936 and became a harbour training ship in Toulon
. The Germans captured her intact when they occupied Toulon in 1942 and used her for testing large shaped charge
warheads. She was sunk by Allied bombing in 1944, but was raised and scrap
ped in 1945.
Jean Bart was 166 metre long overall. She had a beam
of 27 metre and at full load a draft of 9.04 metre at the bow. She displaced 23475 tonnes (23,104.2 LT) at standard load and 25579 tonnes (25,174.9 LT) at full load. She proved to be rather wet in service as she was bow-heavy because of her superimposed
turrets forward.
Jean Bart had four propeller
s powered by four Parsons
direct-drive steam turbine
s which were rated at 28000 shp. Twenty-four Belleville water-tube boiler
s provided steam for her turbines. These boilers were coal-burning with auxiliary oil sprayers. She had a designed speed of 21 knots. She carried up to 2700 long tons (2,743.3 t) of coal and 906 long tons (920.5 t) of oil and could steam for 4200 nautical miles (7,778.4 km) at a speed of 10 kn (12.2 mph; 19.6 km/h).
Jean Barts main armament consisted of twelve 305 millimetres (12 in) Mle 1910
45-calibre
guns mounted in six twin gun turret
s, with two turrets superimposed fore and aft, and one on each flank of the ship. For anti-torpedo boat
defence she carried twenty-two 138 millimetres (5.4 in) Mle 1910
guns, which were mounted in casemate
s. Four 47 millimetres (1.9 in) Modèle 1902 Hotchkiss gun
s were fitted, two on each beam. She was also armed with four 450 millimetres (17.7 in) submerged Modèle 1909 torpedo tube
s with twelve torpedoes.
Jean Barts waterline armoured belt extended well below the waterline as the French were concerned about protection from underwater hits. Her main armour was also thinner than that of her British or German counterparts, but covered more area. It was 270 millimetres (10.6 in) thick between the fore and aft turrets and tapered to 180 mm (7.1 in) towards the bow and stern. It extended 2.4 metre below the normal waterline. Above the main belt was another belt, 180 mm thick, that covered the sides, and the secondary armament, up to the forecastle deck, 4.5 metre deep, between the fore and aft turrets. The conning tower had armour 300 mm (11.8 in) thick. The main gun turrets had 290 millimetres (11.4 in) of armour on their faces, 250 millimetres (9.8 in) on their sides and roofs 100 millimetres (3.9 in) thick. Their barbettes had 280 millimetres (11 in) of armour. There was no anti-torpedo bulkhead
although there was a longitudinal bulkhead abreast the machinery spaces that was used either as a coal bunker or left as a void.
. Her keel was laid down on 15 October 1910 and was launched on 22 September 1911. She was completed on 19 November 1913 and finished her trials before World War I began the following year. Jean Bart escorted France, which was carrying the President of the French Republic, Raymond Poincaré
, on a state visit to Saint Petersburg
, Russia
in July 1914. They were returning from Russia when World War I began, but made it to France without encountering German ships.
Shortly after the start of the war, the commander of the Allied
naval forces in the Mediterranean decided to sweep the Adriatic, to surprise the Austrian vessels enforcing a blockade of Montenegro
. The Anglo-French force, which included Jean Bart, succeeded in cutting off and sinking the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser Zenta in an engagement off Antivari
on 16 August 1914, although her accompanying destroyer managed to escape. Jean Bart spent most of the rest of 1914 providing gunfire support for the Montenegrin Army until she was torpedoed by the submarine off Sazan Island
on 21 December. The one torpedo struck her in the wine store
just before the forward magazine
. She was able to steam to Malta
on her own for repairs that required three and a half months, but this attack forced the battleships to fall back to either Malta or Bizerte
. After the French occupied the neutral Greek island of Corfu
in 1916 the ships moved forward to Corfu and Argostoli
, but their activities were very limited as many of their crews were used to man anti-submarine ships. In 1918, she served off Greece. Before the end of the war she was fitted with seven 75 millimetres (3 in) Mle 1897 anti-aircraft
(AA) guns in single mounts. These guns were adaptations of the famous French Mle 97 75-mm
field gun
.
In April 1919, while Jean Bart was helping to defend Sevastopol
from the advancing Bolshevik
s, her crew mutinied
, along with that of the France
, but the mutiny collapsed when Vice-Admiral Jean-Françoise-Charles Amet agreed to meet the mutineers' main demand to take the ships home. Three crewmen were sentenced to prison terms upon her return, although the sentences were commuted in 1922 as part of a bargain between Prime Minister
Raymond Poincaré
and the parties of the Left. The ship returned to Toulon in 1920 and received the first of her two refits between 12 October 1923 and 29 January 1925. This included replacing one set of boilers with oil-fired boilers, trunking together her two forward funnels, increasing the maximum elevation of the main armament from 12° to 23°, removal of her bow armour to make her more seaworthy, the installation of a fire-control director, with a 4.57 metres (15 ft) rangefinder
, atop the new tripod foremast, and the replacement of her Mle 1897 AA guns with four Mle 1918 guns and 24 8 millimetre (0.31496062992126 in) machine guns.
Jean Bart was refitted again between 7 August 1929 and 29 September 1931. This was much more extensive than her earlier refit as another set of boilers was converted to oil-firing, her direct-drive cruising turbines were replaced by geared turbines and her fire-control systems were comprehensively upgraded. A large cruiser-type fire-control director was added atop the foremast with a 4.57-m coincidence rangefinder
and a 3 metre stereo rangefinder. The rangefinder above the conning tower was replaced by a duplex unit carrying two 4.57-m rangefinders and another 4.57-m rangefinder was added in an armoured hood next to the main mast. Two directors for the secondary guns were added on the navigation bridge, each with a 2 metre coincidence rangefinder. A 8.2 metre rangefinder was added to the roof of 'B' turret, the second one from the bow. Her Mle 1897 AA guns were exchanged for Mle 1918 guns and they were provided with three 1.5 metre rangefinders, one on top of the duplex unit on the conning tower, one on 'B' turret and one in the aft superstructure. Her condition was poor enough that she was not thought to be worth the expense of a third refit like those her sisters were given. She was hulked, disarmed and became a harbour training ship in 1936. She was renamed Océan that year to free her name for use by the new then being constructed.
The new Océan was captured intact by the Germans on 27 November 1942, the day the French Fleet was scuttled
. The Germans used her for experiments with very large shaped charge warheads as delivered by the Mistel
composite aircraft
. She was sunk by Allied
aircraft in 1944 and later raised for scrapping beginning on 14 December 1945.
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...
. She was completed before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as part of the 1910 naval building programme. She spent the war in the Mediterranean and helped to sink the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
on 16 August 1914. She spent most of the rest of 1914 providing gunfire support for the Montenegrin Army until she was torpedoed by the submarine on 21 December. Even with three compartments flooded, she was able to steam to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
on her own for repairs that required three and a half months. Upon her return she spent the remainder of the war participating in the Otranto Barrage
Otranto Barrage
The Otranto Barrage was an Allied naval blockade of the Otranto Straits between Brindisi in Italy and Corfu on the Albanian side of the Adriatic Sea in World War I. The blockade was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from escaping into the Mediterranean and threatening Allied operations...
, in the Adriatic.
After the end of World War I she and her sister ship were sent to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
to support Allied troops in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War
The Allied intervention was a multi-national military expedition launched in 1918 during World War I which continued into the Russian Civil War. Its operations included forces from 14 nations and were conducted over a vast territory...
. Jean Barts crew mutinied
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
out of sympathy for the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s, but the mutiny was put down and she returned to the Mediterranean in 1920. She was partially modernized twice during the 1920s, but was deemed in too poor condition to be refitted again in the 1930s. Therefore she was renamed Océan, disarmed and 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...
ed in 1936 and became a harbour training ship in 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....
. The Germans captured her intact when they occupied Toulon in 1942 and used her for testing large shaped charge
Shaped charge
A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Various types are used to cut and form metal, to initiate nuclear weapons, to penetrate armor, and in the oil and gas industry...
warheads. She was sunk by Allied bombing in 1944, but was raised and scrap
Scrap
Scrap is a term used to describe recyclable and other materials left over from every manner of product consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has significant monetary value...
ped in 1945.
Description
Beam (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 27 metre and at full load a draft of 9.04 metre at the bow. She displaced 23475 tonnes (23,104.2 LT) at standard load and 25579 tonnes (25,174.9 LT) at full load. She proved to be rather wet in service as she was bow-heavy because of her superimposed
Superfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
turrets forward.
Jean Bart had four propeller
Propeller
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...
s powered by four Parsons
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne.-History:The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for...
direct-drive steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s which were rated at 28000 shp. Twenty-four 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 provided steam for her turbines. These boilers were coal-burning with auxiliary oil sprayers. She had a designed speed of 21 knots. She carried up to 2700 long tons (2,743.3 t) of coal and 906 long tons (920.5 t) of oil and could steam for 4200 nautical miles (7,778.4 km) at a speed of 10 kn (12.2 mph; 19.6 km/h).
Jean Barts main armament consisted of twelve 305 millimetres (12 in) Mle 1910
305mm/45 Modèle 1906 gun
The 305mm/45 Modèle 1906 gun was a heavy naval gun of the French Navy.The type was used on the s, mounted in two twin turrets. An improved variant, the 305mm/45 Modèle 1910 gun, was installed on the Courbet class.-See also:...
45-calibre
Caliber (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....
guns mounted in six 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, with two turrets superimposed fore and aft, and one on each flank of the ship. For 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...
defence she carried twenty-two 138 millimetres (5.4 in) Mle 1910
Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1910 Naval gun
The Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1910 was a medium calibre naval gun of the French Navy used during World War I and World War II. It was carried by the dreadnoughts of the Courbet and Bretagne classes as their secondary armament and planned for use in the Normandie class battleships...
guns, which were mounted in 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. Four 47 millimetres (1.9 in) Modèle 1902 Hotchkiss gun
Hotchkiss gun
The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch light mountain gun; there was also a 3-inch Hotchkiss gun...
s were fitted, two on each beam. She was also armed with four 450 millimetres (17.7 in) submerged Modèle 1909 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 with twelve torpedoes.
Jean Barts waterline armoured belt extended well below the waterline as the French were concerned about protection from underwater hits. Her main armour was also thinner than that of her British or German counterparts, but covered more area. It was 270 millimetres (10.6 in) thick between the fore and aft turrets and tapered to 180 mm (7.1 in) towards the bow and stern. It extended 2.4 metre below the normal waterline. Above the main belt was another belt, 180 mm thick, that covered the sides, and the secondary armament, up to the forecastle deck, 4.5 metre deep, between the fore and aft turrets. The conning tower had armour 300 mm (11.8 in) thick. The main gun turrets had 290 millimetres (11.4 in) of armour on their faces, 250 millimetres (9.8 in) on their sides and roofs 100 millimetres (3.9 in) thick. Their barbettes had 280 millimetres (11 in) of armour. There was no anti-torpedo bulkhead
Torpedo bulkhead
A torpedo bulkhead is a type of armor common on the more heavily armored warships, especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull was struck underneath the belt armor by a shell or by a torpedo...
although there was a longitudinal bulkhead abreast the machinery spaces that was used either as a coal bunker or left as a void.
Career
Jean Bart was built by the Arsenal de Brest at BrestBrest, 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...
. Her keel was laid down on 15 October 1910 and was launched on 22 September 1911. She was completed on 19 November 1913 and finished her trials before World War I began the following year. Jean Bart escorted France, which was carrying the President of the French Republic, Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
, on a state visit to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in July 1914. They were returning from Russia when World War I began, but made it to France without encountering German ships.
Shortly after the start of the war, the commander of the Allied
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
naval forces in the Mediterranean decided to sweep the Adriatic, to surprise the Austrian vessels enforcing a blockade of Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
. The Anglo-French force, which included Jean Bart, succeeded in cutting off and sinking the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser Zenta in an engagement off Antivari
Battle of Antivari
The Battle of Antivari was a naval engagement between the French, British and Austro-Hungarian navies at the start of World War I. The Austrian light cruiser and the destroyer were bombarding the town of Antivari, today known as Bar, when on 16 August 1914 they were cut off by a large...
on 16 August 1914, although her accompanying destroyer managed to escape. Jean Bart spent most of the rest of 1914 providing gunfire support for the Montenegrin Army until she was torpedoed by the submarine off Sazan Island
Sazan Island
-Fauna of Sazan:Sazan Island contains 7 species of amphibians of which 3 are rare species. The island contains 15 species of reptiles of which 13 are rare species. Some of these amphibian and reptile species include the:* Blue-throated Keeled Lizard...
on 21 December. The one torpedo struck her in the wine store
Wine cellar
A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae or plastic containers. In an active wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. In contrast, passive wine cellars are not...
just before the forward 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:...
. She was able to steam to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
on her own for repairs that required three and a half months, but this attack forced the battleships to fall back to either Malta or Bizerte
Bizerte
Bizerte or Benzert , is the capital city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia and the northernmost city in Africa. It has a population of 230,879 .-History:...
. After the French occupied the neutral Greek island of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
in 1916 the ships moved forward to Corfu and Argostoli
Argostoli
Argostoli is a town and a former municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Kefalonia, of which it is a municipal unit...
, but their activities were very limited as many of their crews were used to man anti-submarine ships. In 1918, she served off Greece. Before the end of the war she was fitted with seven 75 millimetres (3 in) Mle 1897 anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
(AA) guns in single mounts. These guns were adaptations of the famous French Mle 97 75-mm
Canon de 75 modèle 1897
The French 75mm field gun was a quick-firing field artillery piece adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and Soixante-Quinze .The French 75 is widely regarded as the first modern artillery piece...
field gun
Field gun
A field gun is an artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march and when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances, as to opposed guns installed in a fort, or to siege cannon or mortars which...
.
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
from the advancing Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s, her crew mutinied
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
, along with that of the France
French battleship France
France was the last ship of the s, the first dreadnoughts built for the French Navy. She was completed just before World War I as part of the 1911 naval building programme. She spent the war in the Mediterranean, covering the Otranto Barrage in the Adriatic...
, but the mutiny collapsed when Vice-Admiral Jean-Françoise-Charles Amet agreed to meet the mutineers' main demand to take the ships home. Three crewmen were sentenced to prison terms upon her return, although the sentences were commuted in 1922 as part of a bargain between Prime Minister
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
and the parties of the Left. The ship returned to Toulon in 1920 and received the first of her two refits between 12 October 1923 and 29 January 1925. This included replacing one set of boilers with oil-fired boilers, trunking together her two forward funnels, increasing the maximum elevation of the main armament from 12° to 23°, removal of her bow armour to make her more seaworthy, the installation of a fire-control director, with a 4.57 metres (15 ft) rangefinder
Rangefinder
A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. Some devices use active methods to measure ; others measure distance using trigonometry...
, atop the new tripod foremast, and the replacement of her Mle 1897 AA guns with four Mle 1918 guns and 24 8 millimetre (0.31496062992126 in) machine guns.
Jean Bart was refitted again between 7 August 1929 and 29 September 1931. This was much more extensive than her earlier refit as another set of boilers was converted to oil-firing, her direct-drive cruising turbines were replaced by geared turbines and her fire-control systems were comprehensively upgraded. A large cruiser-type fire-control director was added atop the foremast with a 4.57-m coincidence rangefinder
Coincidence rangefinder
A coincidence rangefinder is a type of rangefinder that uses mechanical and optical principles to allow an operator to determine the distance to a visible object....
and a 3 metre stereo rangefinder. The rangefinder above the conning tower was replaced by a duplex unit carrying two 4.57-m rangefinders and another 4.57-m rangefinder was added in an armoured hood next to the main mast. Two directors for the secondary guns were added on the navigation bridge, each with a 2 metre coincidence rangefinder. A 8.2 metre rangefinder was added to the roof of 'B' turret, the second one from the bow. Her Mle 1897 AA guns were exchanged for Mle 1918 guns and they were provided with three 1.5 metre rangefinders, one on top of the duplex unit on the conning tower, one on 'B' turret and one in the aft superstructure. Her condition was poor enough that she was not thought to be worth the expense of a third refit like those her sisters were given. She was hulked, disarmed and became a harbour training ship in 1936. She was renamed Océan that year to free her name for use by the new then being constructed.
The new Océan was captured intact by the Germans on 27 November 1942, the day the French Fleet was scuttled
Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon
The French fleet in Toulon was scuttled on 27 November 1942 on the order of the Admiralty of Vichy France to avoid capture by Nazi German forces during Operation Lila of the Case Anton takeover of Vichy France.- Context :...
. The Germans used her for experiments with very large shaped charge warheads as delivered by the Mistel
Mistel
The Mistel , also known as Beethoven-Gerät and Vati und Sohn , was a Luftwaffe composite aircraft type of bomber, that appeared late in World War II....
composite aircraft
Composite aircraft
A composite aircraft is made up of multiple component craft. It takes off and flies initially as a single aircraft, with the components able to separate in flight and continue as independent aircraft.-Design principles:...
. She was sunk by Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
aircraft in 1944 and later raised for scrapping beginning on 14 December 1945.