Republique pre-dreadnought class, République

Mathll · February 25, 2026, 10:48pm

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Hello everyone and welcome to this new suggestion.

Today I’m presenting a new class of French battleship, the République class, and to begin, its flagship of the same name: Le République.

Le République was a French pre-dreadnought laid down in 1901 in Brest and commissioned in 1907. This ship was an attempt to catch up with France’s lag in the design of this type of vessel at that time. Assigned to the 1st Division of the Mediterranean Squadron, Le République returned to its home port of Toulon and participated in various fleet exercises in the area.

Like the majority of ships in this squadron, it was tasked with escorting and protecting merchant and transport vessels in the Mediterranean at the beginning of the First World War. It was later deployed to blockade the Austro-Hungarian forces in the Adriatic Sea and participated in the Battle of Antivari. With the changing conditions of war and the growing fear of submarine attacks, direct offensive operations became rare, and the République spent much of the conflict on monotonous patrols or presence missions. In 1916, it was sent to support the evacuation of Allied forces at Gallipoli and subsequently participated in diplomatic and political pressure operations in Greek waters, particularly around Thessaloniki, to encourage Greece to join the Allies. From 1917–1918 onward, its activity decreased significantly. Half of its main guns were even removed and reassigned to the army.

At the end of the war, the ship was converted into a training vessel for future gunners of the French Navy. It was decommissioned in 1921 and sent to an Italian shipyard to be dismantled and scrapped.

The République illustrates a pivotal period in maritime history: its entry into service just at the time of the emergence of dreadnought-type battleships quickly made it technologically obsolete, but it remained an essential player in the French Navy during its active service period.

Characteristics

Length: 135m

Width: 24.3m

Draft: 8.3m

Masse: 14,900 tons

The ship is powered by three steam engines developing 18,500 hp, fed by 24 coal-fired boilers. This allows it to reach a maximum speed of 19 knots and a range of 8,400 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots. Its crew consists of 850 sailors.

Weapons

The ship’s armament was substantial for its time, including:

Guns :

2 x 2 305mm Mle1893/96
6 x 2 164mm Mle1893/96
6 x 1 164mm Mle1893/96
13 65mm Mle 1902
10 47mm Mle 1902

Torpedoes :

2 Torpedo launchers

Armor

The ship is adequately armored for its role and era, with the following armor values:

Belt: 280mm
Turret:
- Primary: 360mm
- Secondary: 138mm
Conning Tower: 266mm
Deck:
- Upper: 54mm
- Lower: 51mm

In the game, this ship would be a particularly interesting addition to the French tree, providing an armored ship with substantial armament capable of emerging victorious from many situations, thus completing the tree in a unique and interesting way.

Pictures

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