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Hello everyone and welcome to this new presentation.
Today, I invite you to discover a truly unique French ship from the First World War: the Pothuau.
The Pothuau can be considered a genuine experimental vessel. Indeed, it entered service after the first two classes of French armored cruisers, thus representing an initial attempt to correct the shortcomings observed in their predecessors. It is distinguished in particular by a different engine and an improved hull design, giving it better seakeeping, unlike its predecessors, which were often considered unstable. Laid down in 1893 at the Le Havre shipyards for the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée shipyard, the Pothuau was a French armored cruiser. It entered service in 1897 with the French Navy and was assigned to the Northern Squadron. A true symbol of the French fleet, it represented France during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. It was also used to transport the President of the Republic and French representatives to Russia in 1894, as part of the rapprochement leading to the Franco-Russian Alliance.
Subsequently, the ship joined the Mediterranean Squadron, where it served as a command ship, before being reassigned as a training ship.
However, its story does not end there. In 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, the Pothuau was returned to active service. It was sent to the German colony of Kamerun to support operations conducted by French, British, and Belgian forces, notably by providing barrage fire on German positions along the coast. After a period in France for maintenance, it was deployed to the Red Sea and then to the Indian Ocean, where it participated in hunting down German and Austro-Hungarian ships attacking Allied convoys.
At the end of the conflict, the ship returned to France and resumed its role as a training vessel, having undergone several modifications to adapt it to this mission. Finally, in 1926, it was decommissioned and sold for scrap.
The ship was named in honor of Louis Pierre Alexis Pothuau, a French admiral, politician, and ambassador, notably known for his numerous acts of bravery during the Crimean War and the Siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War.
Characteristics
Length : 113.10 m
Width : 15.30 m
Draught : 6.40 m
Mass : 5800 tons
The ship was powered by two triple-expansion engines fed by a total of 18 Belleville boilers, giving it a total power output of 10,000 hp. Its maximum speed was 19 knots, and the ship could cover 4,500 nautical miles nonstop at a speed of 10 knots without refueling. The wartime crew consisted of 450 sailors.
Armor
The Pothuau boasted particularly impressive armor for a ship of its era. It featured a belt of nickel-steel alloy extending from one meter below the waterline to two meters above, with a thickness varying between 50 and 80 mm. The command beam was armored with 240 mm of plating, and the turrets had armor plating ranging from 180 mm (for the main turrets) to 80 mm (for the casemates). The armor represented more than one-fifth of the ship’s total mass.
Weapons
The ship’s armament is particularly interesting, being arranged to maximize firepower regardless of the ship’s orientation.
Guns :
- 2 x 1 194mm/40 Mle1893 (1 turret forward and 1 stern)
- 10 x 1 138mm/40 Mle1893 (in casemates)
- 12 x 1 QF 47mm Hotchkiss
- 8 x 1 QF 37mm Hotchkiss
Other :
4 x 450mm Torpedo tubes
In the game, this ship would be a particularly interesting addition, possessing armament and armor that allow it to engage many types of targets while withstanding a number of hits without flinching, thus complementing the French tree in an interesting way.
Pictures
Sources
- ImagesDéfense - 334. Marine Militaire. Le “Pothuau”. ND Phot. [légende d’origine]
- Pothuau (1895)
- Pothuau
- * POTHUAU (1897/1929)
- Le croiseur Cuirassé POTHUAU. Mais c’est quoi un Croiseur Cuirassé ? | by Clesius Néofolk | Medium
- Visite du croiseur Pothuau - Henri BELLIENI - 1900 - Fiche documentaire - IMAGE’EST - Pôle de l’image en région Grand Est
- Le Croiseur Cuirassé “POTHUAU” - Site de havre-secret !
- Ecole Navale / Espace tradition / Officiers célèbres
- Mémorial des officiers de marine
- POTHUAU - Croiseur cuirassé - Page 3 - Forum PAGES 14-18