french battleship class pre dreadnought battleships built french_navy spent career assigned usually chosen serve flagship ship involved accidental incidents french warships career sank submarine world war began escorted allied troop convoys months ordered dardanelles november guard sortie mediterranean german battlecruiser transferred participated bombarding turkish positions palestine ship returned dardanelles provided fire support transferred squadron assigned prevent interference greeks allied operations lengthy refit france ship placed reserve april briefly training ship converted serve accommodation hulk listed disposal scrap find buyer design description metres long overall beam metres deep load draught metres forward metres aft displaced metric tons long tons deep load crew consisted officers sailors private ship officers men fleet flagship ship cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines engine shaft rated produced metric horsepower ship sea trials steam generated belleville water tube boilers reached speed knots mph trials carried maximum tonnes long tons coal allowed steam miles nmi speed knots mph carried main armament calibre canon modèle guns twin gun turrets fore aft ship secondary armament consisted calibre modèle guns mounted individual casemates remaining pair shielded mounts forecastle deck amidships carried calibre canon modèle guns shielded mounts superstructure ship anti torpedo boat defences consisted calibre canon modèle hotchkiss guns fitted platforms masts superstructure casemates hull mounted millimetre torpedo tubes broadside submerged angled ship axis waterline provided modèle torpedoes common ships generation built shaped ram class ships carried total tonnes long tons harvey armour complete waterline armour belt metres high armour belt tapered maximum thickness thickness lower edge armoured deck thick flat reinforced additional plate angled downwards meet armoured belt main turrets protected armour roofs thick barbettes thick outer walls casemates millimetre guns thick protected transverse bulkheads thick conning tower walls thick roof consisted armour plates communications tube protected armour plates thick construction career named king louis catholic saint authorised september class battleships ship laid arsenal march launched september commissioned september completing sea trials cost formally commissioned participated naval review conducted president france july ship assigned arrived toulon september squadron flagship october retained duty february transported minister war minister marine tours tunisia later october following year participated international naval review president toulon ships spain italy russia june ship received king spain aboard visiting april ships escorted president state visit italy visited morocco december return toulon following month flagship march flagship april ship briefly transferred flagship october participated large naval review president september days later struck destroyer relieved northern squadron flagship november began repairs combined refit completed april ship resumed role squadron flagship april months later accidentally rammed submarine june killing submarine crew transferred months later arrived toulon november flagship squadron march transferred division flagship february world war older french pre dreadnoughts ship mission war escort troop convoys north_africa france september ordered escort british convoy carrying troops india remained escort duties november ordered dardanelles guard sortie german battlecruiser ship remained station january given brief refit completion ordered flagship newly formed february ships intended attack turkish positions lines communication syria lebanon palestine participated bombardment april transferred dardanelles time naval operations limited bombarding turkish positions support allied troops ship flagship des dardanelles august relieved major refit october refit completed ordered joined french squadron assigned prevent interference greeks allied operations greece arrived flagship division orient october transferred february ship placed reserve april remained january transferred toulon disarmed decommissioned february training ship engineers toulon ship condemned june converted accommodation hulk listed disposal june purchased
French battleship Saint Louis