Hoche (ship)

Hoche

Painting from the launch

Ship data flag  France Ship type Ironclad class mod. Amiral Baudin class Shipyard Lorient naval shipyard Keel laying June 1, 1881 Launch September 29, 1886 Commissioning January 1, 1890 Whereabouts Sunk as a target on November 25, 1913

Ship dimensions and crew length 102.59 m ( Lüa ) width 20.22 m Draft Max. 8.31 m displacement Construction: 10,820 t   crew 611 men

Machine system machine 8 steam boiler steam engine Machine performance 12,000 PS (8,826 kW) Top speed 16 kn (30 km / h)

Armament 2 × 1 340 mm L / 28 2 × 1 274 mm L / 28 18 × 1 138mm L / 45 5 × torpedo tube ⌀ 450 mm Armor Belt: 460 mm Armored deck: 80 mm Barbettes: 400 mm

The Hoche was an ironclad of the French Navy, named after the revolutionary officer Lazare Hoche . It was based on the Amiral-Baudin class , but had already been heavily modified in the planning stage, so that it is regarded as a separate class of ship. The Hoche was sunk in 1913 as a practice target.

history

Model of the Hoche that the Lorient shipyard used in the planning, with torpedo nets , in the Musée national de la Marine

This photograph of the Hoche illustrates the particularly high superstructures and the low freeboard

Planning and construction

construction

While the Amiral Baudin class had three individual 370 mm L / 28 guns Modèle 1875 in armored structures along the longitudinal axis of the ships on deck, the Hoche received two 340 mm L / 28 guns Modèle 1881, each one on the foredeck and one aft, which were erected in cylindrical towers. These towers, in turn, were framed by the partially armored superstructure, which extended from main gun to main gun over the ship and towered several stories high. In the middle of the ship, balcony-like structures were mounted on the sides of the superstructure, in each of which a 274 mm L / 28 gun was set up. The contemporary gun deck with nine 138 cm L / 45 cannons, which were installed behind gun ports on each side, was located in the hull just above the waterline.

Collision and remodeling

The ship was put into service in 1890, but quickly proved to be too heavy . On July 7, 1892, the Hoche rammed the 75-meter-long passenger ship Maréchal Canrobert off Marseille . The civil ship coming from Algeria sank within eight minutes. Five people died.

The Hoche was sent to the shipyard for overhaul in 1898. She received new boilers, partly new guns and their superstructures were reduced in size to save weight and make the ship more stable.

The End

On November 25, 1913, the ship was sunk as a training target.

Web links

Commons : Hoche  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• "Hoche" technical data and photos at battleships-cruisers.co.uk
• "FRA Hoche" technical data at navalhistory.flixco.info (engl.)

Footnotes

1. ^ "SS Maréchal Canrobert († 1892)" wrecksite.eu