French cruiser Cosmao

Cosmao was the third and final member of the Troude class of protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The class was built as part of a construction program intended to provide scouts for the main battle fleet. They were based on the preceding Forbin class, the primary improvement being the addition of armor to the conning tower. Cosmao was built in the 1880s and was completed in 1890. She was armed with a main battery of four 138 mm (5.4 in) guns, protected with an armor deck that was 41 mm (1.6 in) thick, and had a top speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph).

Cosmao's sister ship Lalande early in her career, c. 1890–1892
History
France
Name: Cosmao
Builder: Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde
Laid down: 1887
Launched: August 1889
Completed: 1891
Stricken: 1922
Fate: Broken up
General characteristics
Class and type: Troude-class protected cruiser
Displacement: 1,923 long tons (1,954 t)
Length: 95 m (311 ft 8 in) (lwl)
Beam: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)
Draft: 5.18 m (17 ft)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Complement: 201
Armament:
Armor: Deck: 41 mm (1.6 in)

Cosmao served in the Mediterranean Squadron through most of the 1890s, where she was primarily occupied with training exercises with the rest of the unit. She was relieved of that assignment in 1898 and had been placed in reserve by 1901. She saw no further activity until the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, when she was assigned to a patrol group in French Morocco. Tasked with patrolling for German U-boats and protecting Allied merchant shipping, Cosmao saw no combat during the conflict. After the war, she was struck from the naval register in 1922 and thereafter sold to ship breakers.

Design
Main article: Troude-class cruiser

Beginning in 1879, the French Navy's Conseil des Travaux (Council of Works) had requested designs for small but fast cruisers of about 2,000 long tons (2,032 t) displacement that could be used as scouts for the main battle fleet. The unprotected cruiser Milan was the first of the type, which was developed into Forbin-type of protected cruisers after the Conseil requested light armor protection for the ships. The design was further refined with the Troude class, which added several minor improvements. All of the ships were ordered by Admiral Théophile Aube, then the Ministre de la Marine (Minister of the Navy) and an ardent supporter of the Jeune École doctrine.[1][2]

Cosmao was 95 m (311 ft 8 in) long at the waterline, with a beam of 9 m (29 ft 6 in) and a draft of 5.18 m (17 ft). She displaced 1,923 long tons (1,954 t). Her crew amounted to 201 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of compound steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by five coal-burning fire-tube boilers that were ducted into two funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 5,800 indicated horsepower (4,300 kW) for a top speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph).[3]

The ship was armed with a main battery of four 138 mm (5.4 in) 30-caliber guns in individual pivot mounts, all in sponsons located amidships with two guns per broadside. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried four 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and four 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannon, all in individual shielded pivot mounts. She was also armed with four 350 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline, and she had provisions to carry up to 150 naval mines. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 41 mm (1.6 in) thick[3]

Service history
Map of the western Mediterranean, where Cosmao operated for much of her career

Work on Cosmao began with her keel laying at the Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde shipyard in Lormont in 1887. She was launched in August 1889, conducted her sea trials in 1890, and was completed the following year.[3][4] By 1893, Cosmao had been assigned to the Escadre de la Méditerranée (Mediterranean Squadron), the main French battle fleet. At that time, the unit also included several modern ironclad warships, the armored cruiser Dupuy de Lome, and the protected cruisers Amiral Cécille, Jean Bart, Troude, and Lalande.[5] In 1894, Cosmao was sent to Toulon to have her guns replaced with quick-firing versions.[6]

She returned to service with the unit in 1895, by which time the fleet's cruiser division consisted of Cosmao, her sister ships Lalande and Troude, Tage, and Suchet.[7] She took part in the annual fleet maneuvers that year, which began on 1 July and took place in three phases. The first consisted of squadron exercises and shooting practice, the second included a cruise between several French ports in the Mediterranean, and the third centered on a simulated battle between elements of the fleet organized into three separate divisions. The maneuvers concluded on 26 July.[8]

She remained part of the Mediterranean Squadron in 1896,[9] and the maneuvers for that year took place from 6 to 30 July.[10] The ship remained assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron in 1897.[11] The annual maneuvers were conducted in July, and during the exercises, Cosmao failed to detect the ships of the Reserve Squadron, which were serving as the simulated enemy fleet.[12] Cosmao continued operating with the unit into 1898,[13] but in April, her place in the unit was taken by the new cruiser Lavoisier. On 3 May, the latter vessel arrived in Toulon and men from Cosmao were taken to complete the new vessel's crew.[14] Cosmao and her sister ships had been deactivated and placed in the reserve fleet by January 1901.[15]

By the start of World War I in August 1914, the ship lay at Casablanca in French Morocco. She was assigned to the Division du Maroc (Morocco Division), along with the cruiser Cassard. The two cruisers, soon to be joined by the armored cruisers Amiral Charner, Bruix, and Latouche-Tréville, were tasked with patrolling the sea lanes off the coast of northwestern Africa and protect merchant shipping from commerce raiders. They were also responsible for escorting convoys and patrolling anchorages in the Canary Islands to ensure German U-boats were not using them to refuel. The cruisers operated out of Oran, French Morocco. By late September, it had become clear that German raiders were not operating in the area, so the armored cruisers were transferred elsewhere, though Cosmao remained on station with Cassard, and they were joined by the protected cruiser Friant. The three cruisers patrolled for German arms shipments to Spain and Spanish Morocco.[16] Cosmao was struck from the naval register in 1922,[3] and she was subsequently broken up for scrap.[17]

Notes
  1. Gardiner, pp. 309–310.
  2. Ropp, pp. 129–130, 172.
  3. Gardiner, p. 310.
  4. Ships: France, p. 601.
  5. Brassey 1893, p. 70.
  6. Naval and Military Notes, p. 563.
  7. Brassey 1895, p. 50.
  8. Barry, pp. 190–202.
  9. Brassey 1896, p. 62.
  10. Thursfield 1897, pp. 164–167.
  11. Brassey 1897, p. 57.
  12. Thursfield 1898, pp. 138–140.
  13. Brassey 1898, p. 57.
  14. Meirat, p. 21.
  15. Jordan & Caresse 2017, p. 219.
  16. Jordan & Caresse 2019, pp. 219, 227.
  17. Gardiner & Gray, p. 193.
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References
  • Barry, E. B. (July 1896). "Naval Manoeuvres of 1895". Notes on the Year's Naval Progress. Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Naval Intelligence. XV: 163–214. OCLC 727366607.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1893). "Chapter IV: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 66–73. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1895). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 49–59. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1896). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 61–71. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1897). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 56–77. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1898). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 56–66. OCLC 496786828.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
  • Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2017). French Battleships of World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-639-1.
  • Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9.
  • Meirat, Jean (1975). "Details and Operational History of the Third-Class Cruiser Lavoisier". F. P. D. S. Newsletter. Akron: F. P. D. S. III (3): 20–23. OCLC 41554533.
  • "Naval and Military Notes: France". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. London: J. J. Keliher & Co. XXXVIII (193): 562–564. May 1894. OCLC 1077860366.
  • Ropp, Theodore (1987). Roberts, Stephen S. (ed.). The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871–1904. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.
  • "Ships: France". Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers. III (4): 599–604. 1891. OCLC 1153223376.
  • Thursfield, J. R. (1897). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Naval Manoeuvres in 1896". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 140–188. OCLC 496786828.
  • Thursfield, J. R. (1898). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "II: French Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 138–143. OCLC 496786828.
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