cruiser class type armored cruiser built french_navy ships class built based previous cruiser primary improvement powerful uniform main battery guns class powerful type armored cruiser built france entered service years british battlecruiser hms invincible big gun armament rendered armored cruisers ships operated mediterranean_fleet entering service remained fleet world war participated blockade adriatic contained early war period took august unsuccessfully attacked twice austro hungarian boats participated allied intervention russian civil war black_sea remained mediterranean contemporaneous converted training ship running aground coast january pulled free sank days later served flagship far_east fleet decommissioned returning france scrapped development 1890s naval france particularly admiral advocated building fleet armored cruisers based french ship type ships capable long range commerce raiding action line battle older battleships reconnaissance main fleet french navy subsequently built series armored cruisers culminating class ships design ships based heavily predecessor like design repeatedly reworked construction produced lengthy construction times powerful armored cruisers built france entered service years british battlecruiser hms invincible british ship big gun armament turbine propulsion rendered armored cruisers description general characteristics machinery ships class meters long overall beam draft displaced metric tons long tons short tons hulls constructed mild steel fitted improve stability ships military foremast fighting pole mainmast forecastle deck extended ship far main mast crew officers enlisted men power plant consisted cylinder triple expansion engines powered coal fired belleville boilers boilers boilers funnels groups engines rated indicated horsepower produced speed knots mph engines divided individual watertight compartments boilers grouped pairs watertight compartments maximum coal capacity amounted long tons short tons permitted cruising range nautical miles speed knots mph electrical power supplied electric generators armament armor ships armed main battery fourteen caliber guns twin gun turrets forward aft single gun turrets broadside turret allowed loading angle elevation electrically operated forward turrets range train degrees guns mounted casemates abreast main aft conning towers upper main decks respectively gun rate fire rounds minute ships ammunition magazines equipped standardized french warships following accidental destruction battleship magazine close range defense torpedo boats provided battery pounder guns casemates ship hull ships guns removed pair anti aircraft guns pair guns installed equipped torpedo tubes submerged hull ships protected armored belt thick amidships reduced forward aft armored decks lower main deck thick upper deck gun turrets thick plating thick barbettes casemates marginally thinner protection pairs casemates linked transverse armored bulkheads outer bulkhead thick inner bulkhead thick main conning tower thick sides underwater protection consisted built lower hull longitudinal watertight bulkhead ships service history entering service early respectively assigned mediterranean_fleet participated international naval demonstration included british german austro hungarian vessels albania demonstration protest siege balkan war succeeded forcing serbian army withdraw allowing international force occupy city saw service mediterranean world war joined hunt german battlecruiser august ships participated blockade austro hungarian navy adriatic later august present battle saw sinking austro hungarian cruiser patrol mouth adriatic attacked twice austro hungarian boats submarine able hit cruiser action october austro hungarian destroyers briefly boat attacked cruisers involved seizure january end war ships continued service eastern mediterranean black seas joined allied intervention russian civil war operated support white russians shortly arriving crew poor conditions quickly resumed duties remained mediterranean turkish war great fire climax conflict rescued people city converted training ship role filled remainder decade january ran aground coast freed sank days later assigned flagship far_east fleet remained returned france decommissioned arrival broken scrap
Edgar Quinet-class cruiser