french cruiser armoured cruiser built french_navy late 1880s 1890s considered world armoured cruiser intended attack enemy merchant ships ship named naval architect completion delayed years problems boilers finally commissioned assigned based brest career ship number visits foreign ports began lengthy reconstruction time completed cruiser regarded obsolete placed reserve aside assignment morocco ship sold paid installments ship remained inactive brest world war french agreed ship keeping money paid sold belgian shipping company converted freighter ship engines broke towed destination cargo coal discovered fire maiden voyage merchant vessel deemed repair towed antwerp later scrapped design description designed fill commerce raiding strategy considered true armoured cruiser superior existing british italian protected cruisers especially relatively thick steel armour control engagement range superior speed heavy armament quick firing guns mounted gun turrets marked contrast intended opponents mounted guns lightly protected casemates pivot mounts ship measured metres perpendiculars beam metres mean draught metres displaced tonnes long tons normal load deep load displaced tonnes long tons metacentric height metres gave ship long slow roll uncertain gunnery platform long cut away bow resembled spur type ram armoured reduced profile reduce blast damage forward guns fired fitted large military masts triple expansion steam engines vertical type centre shaft horizontal types shafts engine drove single propeller shaft propellers metres diameter shaft metre propeller centre shaft steam engines provided fire tube boilers rated total metric horsepower ship designed speed knots mph sea trials april engines produced metric horsepower gave maximum speed knots mph carried tonnes long tons short tons coal steam nautical miles speed knots mph main armament consisted calibre canon modèle guns mounted single gun turrets broadside amidships secondary armament comprised calibre canon modèle guns single gun turrets bow stern turrets stern upper deck interfere anti torpedo boat defence carried millimetre millimetre hotchkiss guns armed millimetre torpedo tubes mounted broadside water ship protected millimetres steel armour edge protective deck metres waterline edge weather deck curved protective deck total thickness millimetres rise ship waterline protecting boiler rooms engine rooms magazines splinter deck millimetres thick space protective splinter decks filled coal increase effective thickness ship armour cramped coal difficult access watertight internal filled ran length protective deck height metre waterline protective deck ship divided watertight transverse bulkheads protective deck ship conning tower protected turrets armour service laid brest shipyard july launched october number forged steel armour plates proved tests techniques development plates accepted ship commissioned preliminary sea trials april boiler tube burst june burning men necessary modifications fix problem delayed ship completion year testing october showed engines attain metric horsepower hour trial boilers structurally manufacturer agreed replace necessary work delayed ship completion year commissioned new set sea trials november proved reasonably satisfactory finally commissioned assigned based atlantic coast represented france ironclad cruiser opening ceremony following month port visits spain june escorted russian imperial yacht russia began state visit october ship escorted president france visited russia april fitted brief refit began october effectively reduced ship roll half june visited ports spain portugal represented france queen_victoria funeral january february ship began extensive reconstruction brest installation new temple water tube boilers took years complete boilers operating pressure cm2 kpa psi required funnel added necessitated extensive structural modifications rear military mast replaced simple pole mast sea trials july showed ship attain knots mph metric horsepower placed reserve completing refit october recommissioned september service station time ship plates entire water distribution system dismantled cleaning later year placed reserve deemed repair decommissioned march final decision strike navy list february prompted rumoured purchase small italian protected cruiser ecuador peru offered buy french armoured cruiser price million agreed paid peru agreed france costs repairing repairs completed march ship formally transferred renamed instalment paid bought haiti instead ecuador lost interest completing purchase ship left care french october proposals use world war rejected thought obsolete worth january ship officially returned france money paid cost repair money excess estimated scrapping bring turned peru october sold belgian firm converted freighter conventional bow built pseudo ram space accommodate crew engines associated boilers propeller shafts removed forward funnels ship deck armour removed compromise structural strength delivered december began voyage carrying tonnes long tons coal cardiff rio_de_janeiro january engine repairs day completed february engine broke mid atlantic towed spanish arriving march towed ship arrival june coal hold found fire extinguished june ship remained harbour october towed antwerp arriving november lay idle sold scrap march towed
French cruiser Dupuy de Lôme