French ironclad Héroïne

The French ironclad Héroïne was one of 10 Provence-class ironclads built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) during the 1860s. She was the only one of the Provence class to be built in iron.[1]

Portrait of Héroïne in 1883, by James Scott Maxwell (1845-1922)
History
France
Name: Héroïne
Namesake: Hero (feminine form)
Ordered: 16 November 1860[1]
Builder: Arsenal de Lorient
Laid down: 10 June 1861
Launched: 10 December 1863
Commissioned: 7 June 1865
Stricken: 1883?
Fate: Scuttled, 29 December 1901
General characteristics
Class and type: Provence-class ironclad frigate
Displacement: 5,700–6,000 t (5,600–5,900 long tons)
Length: 80.72 m (264 ft 10 in)
Beam: 17 m (55 ft 9 in)
Draft: 7.7–8.8 m (25 ft 3 in–28 ft 10 in)
Installed power:
  • 8 boilers
  • 2,918 PS (2,146 kW) (trials)
Propulsion: 1 shaft, 1 horizontal-return connecting rod-steam engine
Sail plan: Barque-rig
Speed: 13.68 knots (25.34 km/h; 15.74 mph) (trials)
Range: 2,410 nautical miles (4,460 km; 2,770 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 579–594
Armament: 11 × single 194 mm (7.6 in) smoothbore muzzle-loading guns
Armor:

Design and description
Right elevation line drawing of the class; the shaded area shows the armor protection

The Provence class was designed as an enlarged version of the Gloire-class ironclads with thicker armor, more powerful guns, and better seakeeping qualities. The ships had an overall length of 80.72 meters (264 ft 10 in), with a beam of 17 meters (55 ft 9 in), and a draft of 7.7–8.8 meters (25 ft 3 in–28 ft 10 in), depending on the load. They displaced between 5,700–6,000 metric tons (5,600–5,900 long tons).[2] Like most ironclads of their era they were equipped with a metal-reinforced ram.[3] They had a crew of 579–594 officers and enlisted men.[4]

The ships of the Provence class had a single horizontal-return connecting-rod compound steam engine that drove a single propeller shaft,[5] using steam provided by eight boilers[Note 1].[4] The engine was rated at 1,000 nominal horsepower or 3,200 metric horsepower (2,400 kW) and was intended to give the ships a speed in excess of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). During her sea trials, Héroïne achieved a speed of 13.68 knots (25.34 km/h; 15.74 mph) from 2,918 metric horsepower (2,146 kW).[4] The Provence class carried enough coal to allow them to steam for 2,410 nautical miles (4,460 km; 2,770 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[6] They were fitted with a three-masted barque rig that had a sail area of 1,960 square meters (21,100 sq ft).[5]

Armament and protection

The main battery of the Provence-class ships was intended to be thirty 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) Modèle 1858–60 rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns, but this was changed to eleven 194-millimeter (7.6 in) Modèle 1864 smoothbore muzzle-loading guns in 1865.[4][5][6] It is uncertain if any received their intended armament, although naval historian N. J. M. Campbell states that Héroïne, Provence and Flandre, three of the first ships completed, were armed with a mix of ten 164.7 mm smoothbores, twenty-two 164.7 mm RMLs and a pair of 220-millimeter (8.7 in) RML howitzers.[3] Ten of the 194 mm Modèle 1864 guns were mounted on the broadside and one was on a pivot mount below the forecastle deck as a chase gun. Three years later, their armament was changed to eight 240-millimeter (9.4 in) RMLs and four 194 mm smoothbores.[4][Note 2]

From the upper deck down to below the waterline, the sides of the ships were completely armored with 150 mm (5.9 in) of wrought iron. The sides of the battery itself were protected with 110 mm (4.3 in) of armor.[4] The conning tower's sides consisted of 102-millimeter (4 in) armor plates.[6]

Construction and career

Héroïne (Heroine)[8] was laid down on 10 June 1861 by the Arsenal de Lorient, launched on 10 December 1863 and commissioned on 7 June 1865.[4] In 1870, at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Héroïne was part of the North squadron.[1] She blockaded the neutral harbour of Vigo, in Spain, where the German commerce raider SMS Augusta was resupplying. Héroïne arrived in mid-January 1871, and was reinforced by three more ships in the following days, trapping Augusta until the Armistice of Versailles of 28 January.[9][10]

In 1876, under Captain Sellier, she sailed to Thessaloniki after the Salonika Incident, where a mob assassinated the French and German Consuls in Thessaloniki on 6 May 1876.[1]

The Navy decommissioned Héroïne in 1883, and struck her form the lists in 1893. Her engine was then removed, and on 11 January 1894 she departed Toulon, bound for Dakar, where she arrived on 6 February to served as a hulk. She then served as a floating workshop under Commander Havard. In 1898, she was converted into a floating battery, first under Commander Leudet Delavallée, and later under Commander Ytier. On 2 November 1901, she was definitely struck after a yellow fever outbreak started aboard, notably killing Ytier. She was eventually scuttled off Dakar on 29 December 1901.[1]

Notes
  1. Sources differ on the number of boilers. Gille states that all ships had eight, Campbell says nine and Silverstone says that all of the ships except Revanche had eight while that ship had nine.[3][4][6]
  2. Sources vary regarding the armament of these ships, especially since dates are not often given. Campbell only gives the 1865 armament while naval historian Angus Konstam only provides the 1868 armament, except for agreeing with Campbell regarding the guns of Héroïne, Provence and Flandre.[3][7]

Citations
  1. Roche, p. 243
  2. Gille, pp. 26, 30
  3. Campbell, p. 287
  4. Gille, p. 30
  5. de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1975, p. 10
  6. Silverstone, p. 62
  7. Konstam, p. 20
  8. Silverstone, p. 110
  9. Hildebrand, Röhr & Steinmetz, p. 276.
  10. Stenzel, p. 587.

Bibliography
  • de Balincourt, Captain; Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain (1975). "The French Navy of Yesterday: Ironclad Frigates: Second Group – Provence Type". F.P.D.S. Newsletter. III (2): 9–13. OCLC 41554533.
  • Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 282–333. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
  • Gille, Eric (1999). Cent ans de cuirassés français [A Century of French Battleships] (in French). Nantes: Marines. ISBN 2-909-675-50-5.
  • Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe (Band 1) [The German Warships (Volume 1)] (in German). Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 3-78220-237-6.
  • Jones, Colin (1996). "Entente Cordiale, 1865". In McLean, David & Preston, Antony (eds.). Warship 1996. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-685-X.
  • Konstam, Angus (2019). European Ironclads 1860–75: The Gloire Sparks the Great Ironclad Arms Race. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-47282-676-3.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 243. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922. (1671-1870)
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
  • Stenzel, Alfred (1900). "The Fleet and the Coast". In Maurice, J. F. (ed.). The Franco-German War, 1870–71. London: Swan Sonnenschein and Co.
  • Wilson, H. W. (1896). Ironclads in Action: A Sketch of Naval Warfare From 1855 to 1895. 1 and 2. Boston: Little, Brown.
  • Winfield, Rif & Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786–1861. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.
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